impulse! (jazz label active during the 60s–70s, now property of Universal Music Group, mainly used as a reissue label)

~ Label

Annotation

"The new wave of jazz is on impulse!"

One of the mythic names in the jazz industry, impulse! has been known as "the house that Trane built".
The first activity period under ABC is the glorious one - covering the 60s until 1974 - with an emphasis on free jazz.
New production eventually faded out during the late 70s, though ABC continued to print reissues.
Sold to MCA in 1979, it was almost silent until being folded in under GRP in 1990, which eventually became the Verve Music Group. It has since been mainly reissuing its own stuff only - with a few exceptions: a handful of remix releases and commercial jazz stuff, a few new releases by artists with ties to the former impulse!, and a serie of new compilations and anthology box sets.
This reissue campaign intensified starting 1995, with enhanced/remastered reissues, etc.

Sleeves have a distinctive black and orange design, and sparse liner notes.
Note the label name is correctly capped as "impulse!" (see logos for symetry between "i" and "!").
Catalog numbers were as follow:
* First period: A # (mono) AS # (stereo) AQ # (quadraphonic, not all releases) with # from 1 to 100, then appending a 9 (eg: 9101 up to 9361). Two discs sets used an additional /2. There is a promotional (AS 1974) as well, and a rare 29000 serie (29065 to 29073)
* 1980s: MCD, MCAD
* 1991-1995: prefix GRD optionally followed by one digit (number of discs in the set) followed by a three digit catalog number. Example: GRD2113 (3 discs set)
* 1995-1999: prefix IMPD optionally followed by one digit (number of discs in the set) followed by a three digit catalog number. Example: IMPD8280 (8 discs set)
* 1999-2003: used a subset of the barcode. Example 3145479582 for 731454795821
* 2003-*: prefix B, followed by three zeros, followed by a four digits cat #, followed by 02 for CD, 16 for SACD. Example: B000427002
* some rare Universal Japanese release used cat # like UCCI-####

For a more indepth history, you may consult The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records, Ashley Kahn, 2006, W.W. Norton.

Yet unconfirmed:
Note that there appear to exist 7" EP releases for some (?) of the 12".
Currently spotted: at ebay at discogs
Or even reel-2-reel EPs: at ebay
They don't seem to bear a distinctive cat #...
More:
at ebay
at ebay
Shirley Scott Everybody...

Notes:
Don't forget to sort out the Jasmine reissues.

Annotation last modified on 2007-07-12 11:19 UTC.

Releases

ReleaseArtistFormatTracksCountry/DateCatalog#Barcode
The Blues and the Abstract Truth (original stereo release)Bill Evans, Roy Haynes, Eric Dolphy, Oliver Nelson, Paul Chambers, Freddie Hubbard12" Vinyl6
A-5-S, STEREO A-5[none]
John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (mono)John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman12" Vinyl6
A 40[none]
The Blues and the Abstract Truth (repress)Oliver Nelson12" Vinyl6
AS 5
Love CryAlbert AylerCD11
  • US1991-10-15
GRD108011105010825
My Fair Lady Loves JazzBilly Taylor TrioCD8
GRD-141011105014120
The Complete Africa/Brass SessionsJohn Coltrane Quartet2×CD5 + 3
  • US1995-10-10
IMPD-2-168011105016827
Ptah, the El DaoudAlice ColtraneCD4
  • US1996-09-24
IMPD-201011105020121
Live Your Life With VerveVarious ArtistsCD11
VERR-01339-2602498624494
The Blues and the Abstract TruthOliver NelsonHybrid SACD (CD layer) + Hybrid SACD (SACD layer, 2 channels)6 + 6
  • US2010-12-14
AS-5753088000560
SylvaSnarky Puppy & Metropole OrkestCD + DVD-Video6 + 7
  • XE2015-04-24
0602547222565602547222565