Giant Step
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Giant Step | |
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| Founded | 1990 |
| Founder | Maurice Bernstein, Jonathan Rudnick |
| Genre | Funk, Soul, Jazz, Electronica, Hip hop |
| Country of origin |  USA |
| Location | New York City |
| Official website | http://www.giantstep.net/ |
Giant Step is a New York based concert promoter, marketing company, and record label.
Contents |
[edit] History
Giant Step was established in New York in 1990 by Maurice Bernstein and Jonathan Rudnick. At that time Maurice, who came from England, and Jonathan, who came from South Africa, realized that if they wanted to hear the music that they liked (Maceo Parker, Isaac Hayes, The Ohio Players, George Clinton, The JBs, Bootsy Collins...) they would be better off organizing the shows themselves.
"There was much more of a chance of seeing them over in England or Europe than over here" dixit Jonathan Rudnick[1]
The duo started by putting together some shows under the name "The Groove Academy", which was "dedicated to the preservation of funk" per its slogan. And soon after came a weekly underground New York dance party: Giant Step, that featured live musicians with DJs and vocalists.
"The first Groove academy shows were put on by literally looking up artists in the telephone book, none of them had agents then, we'd just call them up at home and say 'are you interested in doing a show with us?'" dixit Maurice Bernstein[2]
Since then, Giant Step has grown into a concert promoter, music and lifestyle marketing company, and independent record label.
[edit] Events
As an independent concert promoter, Giant Step has produced hundreds of shows, concerts, and events, including debuts by Macy Gray, Air, Jamiroquai, The Fugees, Brand New Heavies, Jill Scott to Fatboy Slim, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Bebel Gilberto, Massive Attack, Zero 7, the Roots, Gilles Peterson, and Digable Planets. Recent shows include Anthony Hamilton, Sa-Ra, Jazzanova, Incognito, Lewis Taylor, Tosca, DJ Cam, and King Britt.
[edit] Giant Step Records
Giant Step Records was founded in 1995 as the logical progression out of its shows and marketing. Early releases included works by Nuyorican Soul and Groove Collective; recent releases include Gilles Peterson, Turntables on the Hudson, Ultra Nate, Zero 7, Jody Watley, Donnie, Sara Devine, Jiva and Zap Mama.
[edit] Giant Step's music marketing services
Giant Step offers a whole lot of services related to music marketing to assist companies, bands or individuals with their promotional needs. The detailed list of services can be found on their website and includes:
- Tastemakers promotions
- Tastemaker Bag Stuffing
- Direct marketing/product sampling via Concierge Service International
- DJ promotion
- Remix A&R
- Web promotion and email announcement
- 3rd party online promotion
- Street teams
- Sticker sniping
- Stenciling
- Guerrilla projection
- Wild posting
- Window poster displays
- Music suppervision
- Giant Step events
- Mobile marketing
[edit] References
- ^ Giant Step by Frank Broughton at www.djhistory.com
- ^ Giant Step by Frank Broughton at www.djhistory.com
[edit] External links
- Official site
- Giant Step MySpace page
- History of Giant Step (from 1990 to 1996) by Frank Broughton
