Home » Jazz Articles » Interview » Q&A with HatHut Records Founder Werner X. Uehlinger
Q&A with HatHut Records Founder Werner X. Uehlinger
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All About Jazz: Let's start from the beginning.
Werner X. Uehlinger: I was born 1935. After World War II, living in Switzerland near the German border, I was able to get the stations of the American forces: AFN, which had daily jazz hours, beginning with the Newport Festival in the Fifties, also live broadcasting from the festival. I got into it from the original voices. My first recording I had was Charlie Parker, tracks from the Dial sessions.
AAJ: What prompted you to take the significant leap from casual listener to creating the Hat Hut label?
WXU: During the Seventies, it became more and more difficult to get recordings from new voices/musicians. This was the time I discovered an ad from Joe McPhee about a self-produced LP and I wrote him to get his LP. In 1974, my first visit to the USA, I visited Joe McPhee and came back to Switzerland to help him by financing an LP. This is how it started.
AAJ: When did you begin the label and what were the first releases on the label?
WXU: It started in 1974. The first 4 LPs have all been Joe McPhee recordings, followed by Milo Fine and Steve Lacy, Clinkers (which is now out for the first time as CD).
AAJ: Did you have a mission statement for the label and has that changes through time?
WXU: In the beginning the recordings have mostly been live recordings, which have been released. I learned a lot and the wish came up to produce in the studio. McPhee's Old Eyes LP was the first studio production.
AAJ: How many different labels are in the label group and what are the different areas of music they cover?
WXU: Three: hatOLOGY for jazz and improvised music, hatART for contemporary composition and new music, and hatNOIR for for innovative music projects.
AAJ: A significant portion of the label's recordings are live, is there a reason behind the choice of live recordings rather than studio sessions?
WXU: This has been in the early stage of Hat Hut. More and more the productions are done in studio. Ninety-nine percent of all recordings of new music are studio recordings.
AAJ: How many releases did the label group release last year?
WXU: About 25.
AAJ: Have you noticed growth in the last few years for new music?
WXU: It's always about the same.
AAJ: Has it been difficult documenting the music of American artists?
WXU: It is not difficult to record American artists. I started with American artists and I have no problem contacting new musicians/composers I like to record.
AAJ: Your thoughts on the term avant-garde and do you consider the music on the labels avant-garde?
WXU: I prefer to say, it is the future music for more people to listen. People need 30-40 years to get into new sounds/music.
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