Incus Records

Thanks to Karen at Incus for this image

Derek Bailey: b. 29/1/30 - d. 25/12/05 - an inestimable loss to music.

Sad news of Dereks death reached me last night, thoughts are with Karen and Family.

This page and links are information regarding the Incus label run by Derek Bailey.
Thanks for the support and information kindly supplied by Karen from Incus.

The following is taken from an Incus catalogue circa mid seventies.

Incus Records / Compatible Publishing LTD is a self managed company owned and operated by musicians. The company was founded in 1970, motivated partly by the ideology of self determination and partly by the absence of an acceptable alternative.

The spectrum of music issued has been broad , but the musical policy of the company is centered on improvisation.

Prior to 1970 the innovative musician had a relationship with the british record industry that could only be improved on. To be offered the chance to make a record at all was already a great favour and somehow to question the economics ( fees, royalties and publishing ) would certainly have been deemed ungrateful.
a few records were made ( AMM, SME, Tony Oxley groups ) but by now they are all without exception deleted and to be found only through the specialist dealers network for second hand records.

An important function for records of improvised music is to build up a system of documentation that can be approched chronologically by anyone sufficiently interested. When records are deleted almost as soon as they have been issued, as was the case prior to 1970 ( for tax loss reasons by the major companies or hit and run tactics by the one man companies ), this cumulative effect of long term documentation is lost.

INCUS aims to keep records permanently available rather than adopt the artificial marketing procedure of deleting and re-issuing, although from time to time financial limitations mean that records are temporarily out of print.

Records are distributed by mail order and through specialist wholesalers and dealers in various countries.

This is the Incus catalogue at the time of the above...

Please note that not all the releases are currently available in 2001

Taken from Jazz : the essential companion / Paladin Books 1987

Founded in 1970 by Derek Bailey, Tony Oxley and Evan Parker with the financial and practical assistance of journalist Micheal Walters.
Now owned and run by Bailey. The label is devaoted exclusively to abstract, freely improvised music created by Bailey, Parker and / or their many associates. The greater part of its output has been produced without subsidy, but the Arts Council of Gt Britain gave finacial assistance to make possible several records with larger ensembles, and the Commune di Pisa aided the production of another.

thanks to Karen at Incus for this image

A 1986 Incus catalogue lists the following LP's are available.....

The Company Records are listed separately in the 1986 catalogue

Also listed were some forthcoming releases :

Please note again that not all these recordings are available now, but many further releases have been made since 1986 when this catalogue was published, To visit the Incus site click here .

Incus Records still thrives and is releasing new material all the time. Alot of the back catalogue is still available but they concentrate mainly on new material rather than re-releasing early stuff.
To visit the Incus site click here

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