Ramboy Recordings

Ramboy Recordings is a small Dutch independent record label founded in 1991 by the American-born reed player and composer Michael Moore, who has long been based in the Netherlands. The label functions essentially as an artist-run imprint: it exists to document Moore's own musical activities, releasing recordings by his working ensembles as well as one-off special projects. Its catalogue is dedicated to jazz and improvised music, and its releases are numbered sequentially in a 'Ramboy #' series. The label's first two releases set the template. Ramboy #01, 'Trio Clusone', became the calling card of a working band, while Ramboy #02, 'Home Game' by the Michael Moore Quintet, was music that 'had no home at the time' — a phrase from the label's own site that captures Ramboy's role as a self-owned outlet for music that might not otherwise find a release. Since then the label has been used to document Moore's musical activities, sometimes with working ensembles and sometimes with special projects. Ramboy's output spans decades and includes both audio recordings and, at least once, a music book. By the 2020s the catalogue had reached the forties, with releases such as Ramboy #41, 'Listen! Mostly Melodies Music Book Vol. I', and Ramboy #42, 'The Card Players', a 2-CD set by Michael Moore's Universe Quartet featuring Guillermo Celano on electric guitar, Omer Govreen on bass and Onno Govaert on drums. The label describes that quartet as a point of concentration for several years, performing a repertoire of pieces written over roughly forty years that had seldom or never been performed. As a niche, artist-run label, Ramboy operates on a small scale, selling physical releases and books directly to listeners through its website and cart system, and maintaining a modest online presence with catalogue, discography, reviews, photos and links. Its releases have been noted in the jazz blogosphere, with one quoted review describing Moore as exploring the boundaries of many musical traditions and giving his music 'a universal quality which is hard to describe'. The label remains active and is closely identified with Michael Moore's career as an improviser and bandleader in the Dutch and international jazz scene.

Ramboy Recordings was founded in 1991 by Michael Moore, a reed player and composer who has been a central figure in the Dutch and international jazz and improvised music scene. The label was created as a vehicle for documenting Moore's own musical activities, and its first two releases illustrate the two poles of its purpose. Ramboy #01, 'Trio Clusone', became the calling card of a working band, while Ramboy #02, 'Home Game' by the Michael Moore Quintet, was music that, in the label's own words, 'had no home at the time'. From the outset, then, Ramboy served both as a showcase for established working groups and as a home for projects that lacked another outlet. Over the following decades the label built a catalogue numbered sequentially as 'Ramboy #', releasing recordings by Moore's working ensembles and by special projects. The catalogue is dedicated to jazz and improvised music, and the label's own description notes that Moore 'explores the boundaries of many musical traditions, moving them into common ground, not of form, but of feeling and depth'. This aesthetic — eclectic, texture-rich, and rooted in improvisation — runs through the Ramboy output. By the 2020s the catalogue had reached the forties. Ramboy #41, 'Listen! Mostly Melodies Music Book Vol. I', marked an extension of the label's activities into book publishing, while Ramboy #42, 'The Card Players', was a 2-CD set by Michael Moore's Universe Quartet with Guillermo Celano on electric guitar, Omer Govreen on bass and Onno Govaert on drums. The label described the Universe Quartet as a point of concentration for several years, performing a repertoire of pieces written over roughly forty years that had seldom, if ever, been performed. The tunes were, in the label's words, 'suitably eclectic' for a Ramboy release, with a wide range of textures. Ramboy has remained a small, independent, artist-run operation. It sells its releases directly to listeners through its website, which carries a catalogue, discography, reviews, photos and links, and it has been noted in the jazz blogosphere. The label's identity is inseparable from Michael Moore's career, and it continues to document his work as an improviser, composer and bandleader.

• 1991

  Ramboy Recordings founded by Michael Moore.

• Release of Ramboy #01 'Trio Clusone', which became the calling card of a working band.

• Release of Ramboy #02 'Home Game' by the Michael Moore Quintet.

• Release of Ramboy #41 'Listen! Mostly Melodies Music Book Vol. I', a music book.

• Release of Ramboy #42 'The Card Players', a 2-CD set by Michael Moore's Universe Quartet.

Artist-run independent label for jazz and improvised music, documenting the work of Michael Moore and his ensembles.

• Ramboy #01 'Trio Clusone'

• Ramboy #02 'Home Game' (Michael Moore Quintet)

• Ramboy #41 'Listen! Mostly Melodies Music Book Vol. I'

• Ramboy #42 'The Card Players' (Michael Moore's Universe Quartet)

1. 1Ramboy: Jazz and Improvised Music From Michael Mooreramboyrecordings.com
2. 2Ramboy Recordings — Wikidatawikidata.org