The Sound of the Past, Present, and Future
The Grammy Awards were first awarded in 1958, and the engineering awards were part of that first year’s accolades, separated into Classical and Non-Classical. Historian Susan Schmidt Horning notes that it was around this time that “classical and rock recording …
One hallmark of Telarc was the willingness to take chances. Their ventures into jazz and blues were wildly successful, but they also released albums in other genres. At the time these albums were released, record stores filed recordings by genre, …
Telarc artist John O’Conor was a passionate advocate for the music of Irish composer John Field. In his interview with the author, he told the story of convincing Telarc founders Bob Woods and Jack Renner to record an album of …
Many artists recorded with Telarc, and some of these relationships lasted for many years and many records. Pianist John O’Conor said that recording sessions were “like being with family. We were playing to friends.” Such long-term arrangements allow the artist …
Telarc’s first two major recordings were with the musicians of the Cleveland Orchestra, and that productive relationship continued through more than twenty recordings. 1977’s Direct From Cleveland “put us on the map,” said Jack Renner. 1978’s Frederick Fennell and the …
Conductor Robert Shaw is a fixture in the Telarc catalog, and his relationship with Telarc founders Robert Woods and Jack Renner was pivotal to Telarc’s success. Shaw’s fifty-nine recordings on the label have garnered ten Grammy awards, and one disc …
Few label/artist relationships have been more pivotal than that between Telarc and Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. As producer Elaine Martone put it, “It was really a symbiotic relationship. We put them on the map, and they put …
Vital to the success of any record label is Artists and Repertoire (“A&R”). Simply put, who is going to record and what are they going to play? The decision-making process for A&R varies across genres and labels. This general overview …