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Pacific Jazz Records was a Los Angeles–based record company and label best known for cool jazz or West coast jazz. It was founded in 1952 by producer Richard Bock (1927–1988) and drummer Roy Harte (1924–2003). Harte, in 1954, also co-founded Nocturne Records with jazz bassist Harry Babasin (1921–1988).

Some of the musicians who recorded for Pacific Jazz included Chet Baker, Paul Desmond, Gerry Mulligan, Joe Pass, Gerald Wilson, the Jazz Crusaders, Don Ellis, Clare Fischer, Jim Hall, Groove Holmes, Les McCann, Wes Montgomery, and Art Pepper.

In 1957, Pacific Jazz Records changed its name to World Pacific Records to expand into a full-line label, with the Pacific Jazz imprint retained for jazz releases.

In 1958 Richard Bock and World Pacific were instrumental in introducing Indian traditional music to the West via Ravi Shankar, who also recorded for World Pacific.

Bock sold the label to Liberty Records in 1965, although he remained as an adviser until 1970. Liberty was merged into and discontinued by United Artists Records in 1971; UA in turn was bought by EMI in 1979. Mosaic reissued some Pacific Jazz material in the late 1980s, as did Blue Note when it gained control of the catalog in the 1990s.

Releases from Pacific Jazz Records are distributed digitally on streaming platforms through Universal Music Group.

Partial discography

Pacific Jazz Ten Inch LP series

Pacific Jazz released 20 10-inch LPs between 1953 and 1954 before the label moved to 12-inch albums in 1955

Pacific Jazz/World Pacific 1200 Twelve Inch LP Series

Commencing in 1955 a total of thirty-one 12 inch albums were released on the Pacific Jazz label before the name was changed to World Pacific.

Mark Four Series

From 1956 to 1958 the Mark Four Series released twelve albums with the PJM prefix.

Pacific Jazz 10000/20000 Series

In 1960 a new series of Pacific Jazz was launched with the PJ prefix with initial catalogue numbers increasing numerically for the first 91 releases before the 10000 numbering system was put into effect.

World Pacific 1400 Twelve Inch LP Series

Commencing in 1960 the World Pacific label began releasing a range of world music recordings on the 1400 Series.

World Pacific 1800 Twelve Inch LP Series

From 1962 until 1970 the World Pacific label released a range of popular music recordings on their 1800 Series.

See also

• List of record labels

References

1. Scott Yanow. "Richard Bock | Biography & History". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 7, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
2. Rye, Howard (January 2003). "Part II The Industry: 16. Recording: Record Labels/Companies: Pacific Jazz/World Pacific". Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World. 1: 746. Archived from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
3. Harrod, James (March 2015). "Harry Babasin on Pacific Jazz". IAJRC Journal. 1 (48): 30–32. Archived from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
4. "Pacific Jazz Records". Discogs.com. Discogs. Archived from the original on February 7, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
5. ^ Rye, Howard (2002). Kernfeld, Barry (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Vol. 3 (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries Inc. p. 217. ISBN 1-56159-284-6.
6. "World-Pacific new tag for Pacific Jazz". The Billboard. October 7, 1957. p. 27. Archived from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
7. "Eddie Cochran - Skinny Jim". YouTube. April 25, 2008. Archived from the original on September 21, 2017. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
8. "World Pacific". Discogs.com. Discogs. Archived from the original on November 19, 2015. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
9. Shankar, Peter Lavezzoli; foreword by Ravi (2007). The dawn of Indian music in the West. London: Continuum. p. 293. ISBN 978-0826428196.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
10. "Origins of Cool Jazz". Mosaic Records. 5 August 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-08-25. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
11. ^ Edwards, D., Eyries, P. and Callahan, M. Pacific Jazz/Pacifica Album Discography Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, Bsnpubs.com, accessed January 9, 2016
12. Edwards, D., Eyries, P. and Callahan, M.World Pacific Album Discography Archived 2016-01-09 at the Wayback Machine, Bsnpubs.com, accessed January 9, 2016
13. Harrod, J. & Ziegler, F Pacific Jazz / World Pacific Records Checklist Archived 2016-06-30 at the Wayback Machine accessed February 21, 2017
14. Pacific Jazz Records Catalog: Mark IV seriest Archived 2016-12-25 at the Wayback Machine accessed February 21, 2017
15. "Pacific Jazz (10000/20000 series: Part 1)". Jazzlists.com. Archived from the original on April 25, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
16. "Pacific Jazz (10000/20000 series: Part 2)". Jazzlists.com. Archived from the original on April 25, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
17. ^ Edwards, D., Eyries, P. and Callahan, M. World Pacific Album Discography Archived 2016-01-09 at the Wayback Machine, Bsnpubs.com, accessed January 25, 2016
18. "Pacific Jazz Records Catalog: 1400/21400 series - album index". Jazzdisco.org. Archived from the original on September 7, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
19. "Pacific Jazz Records Catalog: 1800/21800/21900 series - album index". Jazzdisco.org. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2016.

External links

• Pacific Jazz and World Pacific label discographies
• Pacific Jazz singles labels
• World Pacific singles labels
• World Pacific Jazz singles labels
• Pacific Jazz on the Internet Archive's Great 78 Project

• 1952 establishments in California
• 1970s disestablishments in California
• Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles
• Defunct record labels of the United States
• American jazz record labels
• Record labels based in California
• Record labels established in 1952
• Record labels disestablished in 1972
• Blue Note Records
• EMI
• United Artists Records
• Universal Music Group
• West Coast jazz