Impulse! Records was the Jazz label set up by Creed Taylor for ABC Paramount (now part of Universal Records) in 1960.  In many ways it was the ABC’s answer to Blue Note.  Both have become legendary and highly collectable Jazz labels and above all else the music has deservedly acquired an iconic status.

Impulse!, however gave its artists much more artistic freedom than Blue Note, whose founder Alfred Lion kept a tight rein on the quality of the output, quite successfully of course.  Managerial control has its benefits, especially in terms of maintaining standards, but it can stifle creativity and artistic expression.  

Impulse! built its reputation upon the recordings of John Coltrane, whose relative (commercial) success helped financed much of the label’s more esoteric work, including many of his own later releases.  Impulse! not only championed the Hard Bop and modal styles of Jazz, but embraced the avant-garde too.  Artists like Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp and Albert Ayler produced some of their best work for the label.  Jazz legends like Duke Ellington, Sonny Rollins, Charlie Mingus and Coleman Hawkins as well as would-be legends like Quincy Jones all recorded for Impulse!  Undoubtedly Pharoah Sanders recorded his best work for (ABC) Impulse! with elongated pieces like ‘The Creator Has A Masterplan’ and ‘Upper And Lower Egypt’ prime examples. 

Creed Taylor departed in 1961, the producer’s responsibility passed to Bob Thiele who produced most of the label’s great albums between then and 1969 when Thiele left to form the Flying Dutchman imprint. Outside of Jazz circles, Impulse! has not received the same recognition that Blue Note has.    

By way of an excellent introduction to the magic of Impulse!, Universal Records in the UK has released a series of two albums on 1 CD to help address that oversight.   To celebrate the label and its 51 years, thirty albums have been issued and there are some crackers. 

No mention of Impulse! would be complete without a paragraph on the music of John Coltrane.  John Coltrane also known as ‘Trane is one of the most important and controversial figures in Jazz.  His music revolutionized Jazz.  He recorded over 25 albums for Impulse! including the legendary ‘A Love Supreme’, ‘Africa Brass’ (the first release on Impulse!), and the beautiful ‘Ballads’.  Coltrane was the first artist signed to Impulse! and he remained at the label for the rest of his career until his death.   

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