DOWNTOWN SOUND

The studio and the record label

New York has always been central to the evolution of music in America and throughout the world. From Greenwich Village, to Harlem, to Woodstock and beyond, the 60’s and 70’s proved to be one of the most fertile periods in history, significantly changing our culture and the direction of music forever. An unpretentious little Greenwich Village recording studio called Downtown Sound, and many of the people there, made serious contributions and influenced musical trends that developed during that time. On any given day the people who passed through the doors at Downtown Sound ranged from the most struggling and relatively unknown to some of the most legendary people in the world. There was somehow never the feeling, however, that one person was any more or less significant in contributing to the collective energy that one always seemed to find there. There was a synergy, a respect for creativity and intellect, and a genuine appreciation for new ideas. There also seemed to always be an uninhibited passion, and an openness to not only acknowledge, but to strongly embrace cultural and generational differences.

CHIAROSCURO RECORDS founder/producer Hank O’Neal was the key person responsible for the fact that Downtown Sound ever even existed. He built his first recording studio at 173 Christopher Street in 1972. The first recording was done there in May that year, before the studio was actually completed. Billie Holiday’s longtime accompanist, Teddy Wilson, was the featured artist, and Hank called the studio WARP (a name he derived from electronic keyboard wizard and friend John Watts’ new ARP synthesizer). A few months later, Fred Miller signed on as chief engineer.

In May 1975, almost exactly three years after the first session there, WARP Studio was demolished (in less than a day). Construction on a new state-of-the-art studio called Downtown Sound began immediately, and it was open for business by August. Over the next five years, there were hundreds of recordings done there, including more than one hundred full length LP releases for CHIAROSCURO RECORDS. Sadly, in December of 1980, the lease was not renewed. As it turned out, the plumbing business on the first floor was owned by the landlord, and he wanted to expand to the upper floors, which included the studio on the 2nd floor, and Hank’s small apartment on the 3rd floor. For those who know the assorted backgrounds, connections and involvement of some of the personnel, Fred Miller was mostly only there as an independent producer by then, and Phil Clendeninn had assumed the chief engineer position. Jon Bates was studio manager, and James Mason frequently produced and engineered sessions there as well. All of us were often there ‘round the clock, and considered it home… we were suddenly homeless!

Although the physical structure has been gone since 1980, the trade name, Downtown Sound, has remained in use ever since, and can be found on all the live CDs CHIAROSCURO has issued over the years. In recent years, however, we have contemplated using the name as a label, to issue exciting new recordings by artists that do not fit in with CHIAROSCURO’s decidedly “traditional mainstream jazz” image. It will also be used for reissuing recordings that fall into the same category.