(Detroit, MI.) Mack Avenue Records, Inc. today announced the acquisition of Los Angeles, California based Artistry Music Group, a label co-founded by industry executives Denny Stilwell and Lucille Hunt, jazz musician/producer Brian Bromberg and singer/producer Rahsaan Patterson.
Under the new agreement, Artistry Music will remain an imprint of Mack Avenue Records and will continue its emphasis on adult oriented music spanning Urban Adult Contemporary, Smooth and Contemporary Jazz. Stilwell has been named President of Mack Avenue Records, Inc., reporting to CEO Tom Robinson, and Al Pryor will continue to direct the company's A&R efforts as SVP of A&R, reporting to Stilwell.
(Detroit, MI.) Mack Avenue Records, Inc. today announced the acquisition of Los Angeles, California based Artistry Music Group, a label co-founded by industry executives Denny Stilwell and Lucille Hunt, jazz musician/producer Brian Bromberg and singer/producer Rahsaan Patterson.
Under the new agreement, Artistry Music will remain an imprint of Mack Avenue Records and will continue its emphasis on adult oriented music spanning Urban Adult Contemporary, Smooth and Contemporary Jazz. Stilwell has been named President of Mack Avenue Records, Inc., reporting to CEO Tom Robinson, and Al Pryor will continue to direct the company's A&R efforts as SVP of A&R, reporting to Stilwell.
Mack Avenue Records is owned by Detroit-based businesswoman, Gretchen Valade. Artistry Music's recent successes include a 2007 Grammy nomination for Bromberg in the "Best Contemporary Jazz Album" category for "Downright Upright", a 2005 Grammy nomination for Alan Broadbent's "Round Midnight" and Patterson's current release, "Wines and Spirits" which has been on R&R's Urban AC chart for 17 weeks and has had sustained visibility on the Billboard R&B singles, Heatseekers and Independent album charts. The album was also named the #1 R&B album of 2007 by PopKom.
Bromberg and Patterson will continue to release albums on the Artistry Music imprint. Lucille Hunt will remain as SVP of Licensing and Publishing. The company will continue to distribute the award-winning Los Angeles based jazz label, Cryptogramophone Records. Artistry Music is exclusively distributed by Ryko in the U.S. and Distribution Fusion in Canada.
States Stilwell, "The addition of Artistry Music to Mack Avenue will broaden the genres offered by Mack Avenue, while allowing its flagship label to continue documenting emerging and established artists. Artistry Music and Mack Avenue Records have always been a home where artists feel supported. Coming together gives us further capability in bringing these acclaimed artists to consumers." The terms of the deal are undisclosed. Mack Avenue Records will begin its second decade of operations in 2008 with upcoming releases by multi-reed and Saturday Night Live band instrumentalist Ron Blake (January 25), and the celebrated guitarist Stanley Jordan (April 22). The label recently released albums by Sean Jones, Sachal Vasandani, six-time Grammy nominee Gerald Wilson, Rodney Whitaker, Carl Allen and Tia Fuller.
Mack Avenue Records is synonymous with its association to the Detroit International Jazz Festival, which in its 27th year, attracted upwards of 750,000 people, and is now considered the largest free jazz festival in North America. In 2005, Mack Avenue founder Gretchen Valade created a new nonprofit foundation dedicated solely to producing the annual Labor Day weekend event, saving it from virtual collapse. States Ms. Valade, "In terms of geographical jazz history, Detroit has always been one of the first cities mentioned. Founding a jazz label and later sustaining an important festival is my way of adding to the already vibrant and storied jazz tradition here in Detroit. And now our agreement with Artistry Music is an additional exciting step for our label. We have been working closely with Artistry Music in recent years and are pleased to be furthering our relationship with such dedicated people and creative artists."
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