Jazz Is Dead

Jazz Is Dead is an American record label and live music project based in Los Angeles, California. It was established by producer, composer, and musician Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, the latter best known as a co-founder of A Tribe Called Quest. The project combines recorded music, concert activity, and a deliberate engagement with the history of jazz, particularly the work of musicians whose recordings have been widely sampled or whose contributions have sometimes been underrepresented in contemporary popular music. The name is intentionally provocative rather than descriptive of the label’s musical outlook. The trademark dates to the project’s first concert in 2017. According to the project’s origin story, the title was connected to Younge’s frustration with ticket sales for his Midnight Hour show. In practice, the name functions as an ironic rejection of the idea that jazz is culturally exhausted. The label’s stated artistic direction is instead centered on collaboration with established jazz figures and on paying homage to musicians whose records shaped hip-hop, soul, funk, and other forms of sample-based music. Jazz Is Dead’s work is distinguished by the direct involvement of veteran artists rather than by retrospective compilation alone. Younge and Muhammad serve as the project’s creative collaborators and production anchors, working with musicians associated with several generations and regional traditions of jazz and Brazilian music. The first CD, recorded at Linear Labs, was released in March 2020 and featured Roy Ayers, Marcos Valle, Azymuth, Doug Carn, Gary Bartz, João Donato, and Brian Jackson, in addition to Younge and Muhammad. This lineup illustrates the label’s broad interpretation of jazz: its catalog and performances can draw from spiritual jazz, jazz-funk, Brazilian music, fusion, and adjacent forms. The label’s identity is therefore built around continuity between influential recordings of the past and new studio performances in the present. Its releases give participating musicians a platform for new material while also foregrounding the historical connections between jazz and hip-hop production. The live-music dimension extends that mission into performance, making Jazz Is Dead more than a conventional imprint issuing recordings under a single house style. Publicly available reference material identifies Jazz Is Dead as a Los Angeles-based label and project and documents its founders, 2017 concert-era origin, Linear Labs recording process, and March 2020 debut CD. Information about its corporate ownership, legal structure, current release schedule, executive organization, and broader commercial footprint is not established in the supplied sources. Accordingly, the brand is best characterized as an artist-led independent music platform whose documented purpose is cultural preservation, collaboration, and the creation of contemporary work with major jazz figures.

Jazz Is Dead emerged in Los Angeles as a collaboration between Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. Younge is a producer and composer whose work has included collaborations connected to hip-hop and the Wu-Tang Clan, while Muhammad is one of the co-founders of A Tribe Called Quest. Their partnership brought together studio production, hip-hop knowledge, and a sustained interest in jazz history. The project’s name dates from its first concert in 2017. It was reportedly prompted by Younge’s frustration with ticket sales for his Midnight Hour show, but the phrase was adopted with an ironic meaning. Rather than declaring that jazz had disappeared, Jazz Is Dead uses the title to challenge that assumption and to emphasize the continuing creative importance of the musicians associated with the genre. The label and live project focus on working directly with influential jazz artists, including musicians whose recordings have been frequently sampled by later generations of producers. The first documented recording was made at Linear Labs and issued on CD in March 2020. Its participants included Roy Ayers, Marcos Valle, Azymuth, Doug Carn, Gary Bartz, João Donato, and Brian Jackson, together with Younge and Muhammad. The roster spans American jazz, jazz-funk, Brazilian music, and related traditions, reflecting an expansive rather than narrowly genre-bound understanding of the project. The recordings are positioned as new collaborative work and as a form of homage to artists whose earlier music helped shape modern soul, funk, and hip-hop. Jazz Is Dead consequently operates across two connected formats. As a record label, it documents studio collaborations and makes them available as recorded music. As a live music project, it presents the artists and repertoire in concert settings. This combination gives the brand an identity rooted in performance and artist collaboration rather than in a conventional corporate label hierarchy. The available reference material does not establish a detailed corporate history, ownership structure, headquarters beyond Los Angeles, complete discography, current management roster, or financial performance. The documented historical record supports describing Jazz Is Dead as an independent, founder-led music platform whose central mission is to preserve and renew the influence of major jazz musicians through new recordings and live presentation.

• 2020

  First CD released

  [1]Jazz Is Dead (record label)en.wikipedia.org

  The first Jazz Is Dead CD was released in March 2020 after being recorded at Linear Labs, featuring a group of established jazz and Brazilian music figures.

• 2017

  First Jazz Is Dead concert and trademark-era origin

  [1]Jazz Is Dead (record label)en.wikipedia.org

  The Jazz Is Dead name dates to the project’s first concert. Its provocative wording developed from Adrian Younge’s frustration with ticket sales for his Midnight Hour show and was subsequently used ironically to express the project’s commitment to jazz’s continuing vitality.

An artist-led independent record label and live project that connects contemporary production with influential jazz musicians and the musical traditions that shaped hip-hop and sample-based culture.

• Collaborative jazz recording · 2020

  Jazz Is Dead first CD

  Jazz Is Dead’s first documented compact disc was recorded at Linear Labs and released in March 2020. It brought together Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad with Roy Ayers, Marcos Valle, Azymuth, Doug Carn, Gary Bartz, João Donato, and Brian Jackson. The release represents the project’s core model: contemporary studio collaboration with influential musicians whose work connects jazz to funk, Brazilian music, soul, and hip-hop sampling culture.

• 2020

  Release of the debut Jazz Is Dead CDProduct launch

  Background

  Following the project’s live origins in 2017, the founders developed a recorded collaboration at Linear Labs with a roster of veteran jazz and related-genre musicians.

  Action taken

  Jazz Is Dead issued its first CD in March 2020, featuring Roy Ayers, Marcos Valle, Azymuth, Doug Carn, Gary Bartz, João Donato, and Brian Jackson alongside the founders.

  Aftermath

  The release established the label’s documented recording identity as a collaborative platform focused on contemporary work with historically important jazz artists.

  Source

1. 1Jazz Is Dead (record label)en.wikipedia.org
2. 2Jazz Is Dead official websitejazzisdead.net