Michael Cuscuna (1948-2024) - The Vinyl Guide Interview

The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music Nerds

Michael Cuscuna (1948-2024) spent several decades preserving record label archives and compiling rare recordings, sessions and 'vault material' through Mosaic Records. In theis 2019 interview he discusses this fascinating journey through the vaults of Blue Note, Atlantic, Impulse and more to make this material available to music lovers around the world.

• Starting his career, joining Atlantic
• Producer and A&R for Atlantic Records
• Working with the Atlantic Records tape warehouse
• Early tape finds – Mingus at Antibes
• Convincing Ahmet Ertegun to reissue lost material
• Unissued material lost in a building fire
• Starting to document and archive Blue Note tapes
• Joining Blue Note, organizing the archive
• Finding Alfred Lion’s notes and files in Japan
• Obtaining the Francis Wolff photography negatives
• Improving the condition of the negatives and imagery
• Was Alfred aware of the legacy of Blue Note Records?
• Did Blue Note have the original artwork and cover layouts?
• Memories of the Blue Note Reissue Series
• Much of the Blue Note vault materials have been issued
• Trainwreck sessions that haven’t been released
• Blue Note artwork in the 70s and 80s
• Listening to hours and hours of outtakes
• Idea for Mosaic Records boxsets
• Working with various labels and rights holders for reissues
• Columbia reissuing Miles Davis
• Mosaic shift from LP to CD
• Deciding what’s next for Mosaic Records releases
• Challenges of developing boxsets
• Most rewarding Mosaic Releases
• Current pricing of Mosaic Records boxsets
• Story of the Monk/Coltrane at Carnagie Hall
• Story of the Charlie Parker / Dean Benedetti tapes
• Interview wrap up

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