Record Label
US label. Founded in 1949 by [[artist:615264]] (as president) and his younger brother [[artist:270428]] (as vice president) in New York City. They started with a $10,000 loan from their father and rented a tiny one-room office in a rabbit warren at 80 East 11th Street (also known as 799 Broadway). Two years later, as the company was expanding, they were loaned an additional $13,000. This was the total capitalization for a company that within a few years was to become one of America's leading independent labels. Many releases were of classical music, but a Vanguard Jazz Showcase series of mainstream sessions were supervised by [[artist:252830]] and released from 1953 to 1958. In the late 1950s, Vanguard launched a company in Austria: [[label:Austria Vanguard Ges.m.b.H.]] and the biggest Austrian label [[label:Amadeo]] saw the light of day - the early cat#s with AVRS prefix reflect the company name: Austrian Vanguard Recording Society. In 1968, [[label:293581]] launched the Vanguard label in the UK as a bargain price label (originally priced at 27′11). Previously, in the UK, Vanguard recordings had been issued by [[label:293581]] on their [[label:205]] label, and until 1962 by [[label:11716]]. In 1986, the label was purchased by [[label:Welk Record Group]] and, in 1995, a distribution network was established in Europe via Ace Records Ltd. for country and folk recordings. These were distributed in Germany by ZYX Music, in France by Warner/EastWest, Amigo Music in Scandinavia and by Ace Records Ltd. in the UK. In 2015, [[label:Concord Music Group]] acquired the Vanguard label from [[label:Welk Music Group]]. See also [[label:Vanguard Recording Society, Inc.]] The label's slogan printed on many releases is "Recordings For The Connoisseur" - note this is just a marketing slogan and not a series.