Legendary jazz producer Orrin Keepnews started his career in the jazz music industry as a writer. A graduate of Columbia University in NYC, he wrote for the publication The Record Changer, writing the first national profile of then little-known pianist and composer Thelonious Monk. After launching the Riverside record label as a means of reissuing older out-of-print jazz titles, Keepnews ended up signing Monk to the fledgling label and producing his first recording there. He also worked with pianist Bill Evans, another Riverside artist, and others. The label eventually folded in the early 1960s, and in 1966 Keepnews was back with a new label—Milestone Records.

Milestone sought to record serious, straight ahead jazz artists at a time when there was intense pressure from most major labels for jazz artists to experiment with fusion and electronics. While fusion was an exciting new idea that seemed to offer a new lease on life for many jazz musicians, there were certainly those who never really considered themselves to be anything but mainstream jazz musicians. Milestone gave a home to many of these artists, including the five who are featured in the Milestone Profiles series: Jimmy Smith, McCoy Tyner, Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, and Jimmy Scott.

Keepnews sold the label to Fantasy Records in 1972. Fantasy had also picked up the Riverside Records catalog, resulting in one of the richest caatalogs of mainstream jazz recordings around. The recent acquisition of Fantasy by Concord Records marks the consolidation of an amazing group of labels into one of the biggest jazz labels around today. In celebration of Milestone’s 40th anniversary this year, Concord has issued these Milestones Profiles, each containing a bonus disk that includes an extra track by each featured artist as well additional tracks by artists like Flora Purim, Jim Hall, Ron Carter, and Hank Crawford. Each disc is remastered and sells for $11.98.

Sonny Rollins Review | Buy	McCoy Tyner Review | Buy	Jimmy Smith Review | Buy
Joe Henderson Review | Buy		Jimmy Scott Review | Buy