Editing Debut Records (section)

{{Infobox record label <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Music -->
| name        = Debut Records
| image       = <!-- logo, such as "LABEL-LOGO.jpg" -->
| image_size  = <!-- size -->
| image_alt   = <!-- WP:ALT text describing the image -->
| caption     = <!-- a caption for the image -->
| parent      = <!-- parent company, such as "[[Warner Music Group]]" -->
| founded     = {{start date|1952}}
| founder     = [[Charles Mingus]]<br /> Celia Mingus<br />[[Max Roach]]
| fate        = <!-- explain the reason of the closing-->
| defunct     = {{end date|1957}}
| status      = Inactive
| distributor = <!-- distributors, separate with commas or <br /> -->
| genre       = [[Jazz]]
| country     = U.S.
| location    = New York City
| url         = <!-- such as "{{URL|www.atlanticrecords.com}}" -->
}}

'''Debut Records''' was an American jazz record company and label founded in 1952 by bassist [[Charles Mingus]], his wife Celia, and drummer [[Max Roach]].<ref>{{cite book|last = Priestley|first = Brian|author-link = Brian Priestley|title = Mingus: A Critical Biography|year = 1982|publisher = Quartet Books|location = London|isbn = 0-7043-2275-7|page = 46}}</ref>

This short-lived label was an attempt to avoid the compromises of working for major companies. Intended to showcase performances by new musicians, only about two dozen albums were issued before the company closed in 1957.<ref>[http://www.jazzdisco.org/debut-records/catalog-lp-ep-series/album-index/ Debut Records discography] at Jazzdisco.org; accessed January 2, 2012</ref> Nonetheless, several prominent jazz musicians made their first recordings as leaders for Debut, including pianist [[Paul Bley]], and trumpeters [[Kenny Dorham]] and [[Thad Jones]]. Saxophonist [[Hank Mobley]] made his recording debut on the label, as a sideman with Roach.<ref>Pekar, H. [http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/10.30.97/jazz-9744.html A View of Debut], ''[[Metro Newspapers|Metro]]'', Oct. 30-Nov. 5, 1997</ref> [[Teo Macero]], later a producer with [[Miles Davis]], recorded his first album as a leader as a saxophonist for Debut, an album described by critic [[Dan Morgenstern]]<ref name="Morgenstern">See Morgenstern's notes for the 4-CD set ''The Debut Records Story''</ref> as an oddball fusion of [[Lennie Tristano]] and [[Anton Webern]].

Debut was the label on which the ''[[Jazz at Massey Hall]]'' concert album was first issued. Recorded in [[Toronto]], it features [[Dizzy Gillespie]], [[Charlie Parker]], [[Bud Powell]], Charles Mingus, and Max Roach, and was the last recorded meeting of long-term musical partners Parker and Gillespie.

In 1957, Danish bookseller Ole Vestegaard leased the company's catalogue from Mingus and produced recordings on the Danish Debut label by American jazz musicians who settled in Copenhagen or played at [[Jazzhus Montmartre]].<ref>[https://sites.google.com/site/jazzistmark/jazz-archives/denmark Jazzistmark: The Legengary Debut Label] accessed May 2, 2016</ref>

After Celia and Charles Mingus divorced, Celia married [[Saul Zaentz]] in 1960. Charles gave the Zaentzes control of the rights to Debut catalog as a wedding gift. Mingus thought the gift fitting as Celia had handled the bulk of Debut's business affairs, and most of the [[seed money]] came from Celia's mother. Zaentz was later head of [[Fantasy Records]],<ref name="Morgenstern"/> where the Debut recordings were subsequently reissued from 1962–1964.<ref>[https://www.discogs.com/de/label/291808-Debut-Series Fantasy's Debut Series] at [[Discogs]]</ref>

A 12-CD set of the Debut recordings featuring Mingus, the majority of the label's output, was issued by Fantasy Records in 1990.<ref>{{Discogs release|id=3712249|name= Charles Mingus - ''The Complete Debut Recordings''|type=album}}</ref> A four-CD sequence entitled ''Mingus Rarities'' ([[Original Jazz Classics]]) collected some of the more obscure material featuring Mingus.