Knitting Factory Records Explained

Knitting Factory Records
Genre:Alternative rock
Folk
Experimental
Afrobeat
Country:U.S.

Knitting Factory Records is an independent American music label that is notable for promoting a variety of artists, including the music of deceased Nigerian political activist Fela Kuti. The label promotes a variety of music artists including Ages and Ages,[1] Ash Black Bufflo, Cuong Vu,[2] Graham Haynes,[3] Femi Kuti, Gary Lucas,[4] Lumerians, Thomas Chapin,[5] Patrolled By Radar, Joe Morris,[6] Rachid Taha, Seun Kuti, and Shilpa Ray and her Happy Hookers.[7]

The label was begun in 1998 as a spinoff of the music venues called Knitting Factory and signed artist Thomas Chapin as the first artist, according to the New York Times.[5] Since then, it has promoted a variety of independent artists and groups such as Hasidic New Wave, which featured Jewish musicians combining with Senegalese Muslim musicians in 2002.[8] In 2008, while working as the Night Manager for The Knitting Factory venue at their Leonard St. location in Manhattan, Tim Putnam was approached by Knitting Factory Entertainment CEO Morgan Margolis to form a strategic partnership with Partisan Records. Together they've reissued the Fela Kuti catalogue and revived the Knitting Factory Records label.[9]

With the Partisan Records team behind it,[10] KFR has released six albums from Nigerian musician and activist Fela Kuti in January 2011.[11] The label released the entire catalogue of Kuti's Universal-controlled music in North America from 2009 to 2011.[12] The late Fela Kuti has fascinated millions, according to the Boston Globe. A decade after his death in 1997, Kuti's music is becoming mainstream,[13] and a Broadway musical titled Fela! was created, which chronicled his life as a political agitator with more than two dozen wives through use of his music.[14] Kuti was jailed over 200 times, and his mother was murdered after being thrown out of a window.[14] His sons Seun Kuti and Femi Kuti[15] have become prominent musicians[16] as well and are promoted by Knitting Factory Records. In addition to releasing music by Fela Kuti and his sons, the label also released the original Broadway cast recording of the musical adaptation Fela! Knitting Factory reached a licensing deal with Universal Music to reissue Fela Kuti's music in the United States during 2010.[17]

Artists

A list of past and current artists include the following:

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Gordon Gano . My Morning Download 4/28/11 – AgesandAges . USA Today . AgesandAges ... the Portland band’s debut album All Right, You Restless on Knitting Factory Records ... . 2011-04-28 . 2011-05-15.
  2. News: Don Heckman . Don't Overlook These Unfamiliar Names . Los Angeles Times . ... Cuong Vu ... (Knitting Factory Records)... . December 24, 2000 . https://archive.today/20130127123522/http://articles.latimes.com/2000/dec/24/entertainment/ca-4067/2 . dead . January 27, 2013 . 2011-05-13.
  3. News: Don Heckman . Four From the Wide Spectrum That Is Jazz . Los Angeles Times . Graham Haynes, ... Knitting Factory Records ... . May 4, 2000 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121106225954/http://articles.latimes.com/2000/may/04/entertainment/ca-26297/2 . dead . November 6, 2012 . 2011-05-13.
  4. News: Jeff Buckley . NPR . ... Songs To No One 1991 - 1992 by Jeff Buckley and Gary Lucas is from Knitting Factory Records. . December 2002 . 2011-05-15.
  5. News: PETER WATROUS . Thomas Chapin, 40, Raucous Jazz Musician . The New York Times . ... Mr. Chapin was the first artist signed by the club's record label, Knitting Factory Records. . February 15, 1998 . 2011-05-13.
  6. News: Howard Reich . New Facets: Joe Morris Offers A Radical Yet Seductive Approach To Avant-garde Jazz . Chicago Tribune . Every time guitarist Joe Morris ... alluring "Many Rings" CD (on Knitting Factory Records) ... . January 23, 2000 . 2011-05-15.
  7. Web site: Artists . Knitting Factory Records . 2011-05-15 . 2011-05-15.
  8. News: From the Belly of Abraham . NPR . ... The Jewish musicians of the band Hasidic New Wave are now playing music with a troupe of Muslim drummers from Senegal. ... The CD is on Knitting Factory Records. . March 2002 . 2011-05-15.
  9. http://www.wmg.com/news/renowned-indie-labels-partisan-and-knitting-factory-records-partner-alternative-distribution WMG News: Renowned Indie Labels Partisan and Knitting Factory Records Partner With ADA
  10. https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/zena-white-named-md-partisan-records-knitting-factory-records Music Business Worldwide: Zena White Named MD of Partisan Records and Knitting Factory Records
  11. News: Mark Kennedy, AP Drama Writer . 'Fela!' is being readied for the big screen . Boston Globe . The frenetic musical biography of Nigerian musician and activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti ... vinyl box set of six albums that is available next month from Knitting Factory Records. . January 11, 2011 . 2011-05-15.
  12. News: Marc Gabriel Amigone . FELA! Pumps New Life Into the Legacy of Fela Anikulapo Kuti . Huffington Post . Fela Anikulapo Kuti ... Knitting Factory Records is reissuing his entire [Universal Music] catalogue in North America over the next eighteen months.... . November 6, 2009 . 2011-05-15.
  13. News: Korina Lopez . Afrobeat icon Fela finally gets his due in music mainstream . USA Today . ... Knitting Factory Records put out Fela's... . March 5, 2010 . 2011-05-13.
  14. News: Mesfin Fekadu, Associated Press . Years after death, Fela nears mainstream appeal . Boston Globe . Fela, the late Nigerian musician and political agitator, fascinated millions.... . April 14, 2010 . 2011-05-13.
  15. News: Continuing the Afrobeat Tradition . NPR . As son of Nigeria's legendary Afrobeat musician Fela Kuti, Femi Kuti has some big shoes to fill... . July 30, 2007 . 2011-05-13.
  16. News: NPR Staff . Nigerian Star Femi Kuti Talks Politics And Music . NPR . ... Fela Kuti. What you may not know is that his son Femi Kuti...is in some ways a bigger star, with a following far beyond the borders of his country. [...] Femi Kuti has created innovative, memorable and invigorating music.... . April 27, 2011 . 2011-05-13.
  17. News: Siddhartha Mitter . In afterlife, Fela Kuti is having a moment . Boston Globe . ... Knitting Factory Records has bought rights to the Fela catalog and is reissuing 45 titles, in batches, with the original artwork.... . June 6, 2010 . 2011-05-13.
  18. News: Director's Cuts: Minimalism . NPR: Music . Bill Ware: This groovy vibraphonist can wail with big jazz groups (including his own, Groove Collective), but he can also play crisply in a pared-down setting. Sir Duke is a collection of Ellingon duets with guitarist Marc Ribot on Knitting Factory Records. . February 3, 2002 . 2011-05-13.

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