Jazzaggression Records

Jazzaggression is a Finish record label specialising in Jazz, established in 2007 by Johan Fredrik Lavik.

Everything began roughly 10 years ago when Lavik’s buddy Lars Findbrouk, who manages the label Plastic Strip, found unpublished recordings of the Jazz and Disco-Keyboarder Webster Lewis in the archives of singer Arne Bendiksen. »We thought the music was too good to pass by. So we chucked some money together and published the album«. Johan’s passion for sampling is grounded in his youth, when he began to rummage around in his mother’s and uncle’s collection. In the past 20 years he has increasingly concentrated on Jazz and found more and more forgotten, obscure releases. »In Jazz one can find everything, there is always something new to discover and it is never boring.« The to date compact catalogue of Jazzaggression is indeed not boring. Until now, on ten LPs, three 10inches and three 7inches a fascinating diversity can be found, from Estonian 60s Bop, to obscure Bonner Soul-Jazz of the 70s, up to present day Finish Avant-Garde groups. Today, Johan largely finds the obscure releases and their authors over the internet, but also regularly in the dusty archives of radios or musicians, back and forth with help from other label operators like Lars Findbrouk or Martin Jöela; Frotee concentrating on unpublished Estonian rarities. Last year Johan even organised a mutual concert of old and young jazz artists and he hopes in the coming months to bring out some more fresh Norwegian Jazz.

It is clear to Johan how this music should be shown to the world: »Vinyl is the only format, that is important to me. I have always digged records, and they are associated with a lot more feeling than with any digital format. There is nothing better, Vinyl is king.« One notices with Jazzaggression and the sister label Afro7, who has released African rarities since 2015, that they have a lot of passion for vinyl. In addition to the mandatory CDs in Jazz circles, there are regularly lovingly printed, limited vinyl editions, which are also, quite rightly, quickly sold out. There are three releases on Jazzaggression to come in 2017; a reissue of the ultra-obscure British Jazz album »Bird Curtis Quintet« from 1967 and a 7inch with an unreleased track of the Paris Smith Quintet, whose LP has already been reissued by the label. Who doesn’t want to arrive too late at a party, and look in the discographies valves or wants to simply broaden their Jazz horizon, should be sure to remember Jazzaggression.