Six Degrees Records
Encyclopedia
Six Degrees Records is an independent record label
noted for its catalog of recordings from international musicians and vocalists. It has been described by the journalist and producer Derek Beres as "one of the most groundbreaking labels of the past decade."
, former Windham Hill
employees Pat Berry and Bob Duskis founded Six Degrees Records with the intention of promoting new trends in world music
. Originally affiliated with Island Records
, Berry and Duskis achieved their first major success with the release of London-based tabla
player Talvin Singh
's influential compilation album Anokha - Soundz of the Asian Underground. Although Singh was not the only artist featured on the album, he was marketed as the focal point of the release. In this way, the media acquired a poster child upon which to lavish its attention, enabling album sales to approach 200,000 units.
With the departure of Island Records label head Chris Blackwell
, Berry and Duskis decided to forgo the constraints of major label
machinery. In 1999, they acquired an independent status. Looking to carry over their success with Singh into the American market, they began working with the Indian American producer and composer Karsh Kale
, establishing connections with what became known as "Asian Massive" music scene, a loose term that can be used to describe any artist working at the nexus of South Asian and electronic dance music genres. The success of Kale's compilation album Asian Massive further cemented the label's reputation as an innovative presence in the music industry.
Beyond its work with the Asian underground, Six Degrees Records has signed and promoted artists from around the world, placing a great emphasis on the promotion of hybrid dance music forms and innovative cross-cultural collaborations. Standout acts include Algerian-born and San Francisco based Cheb i Sabbah
, Malians Issa Bagayoga and Vieux Farka Toure
, Brazilians Bebel Gilberto
and Céu
, Egyptian-born and London based Natacha Atlas
, and the Iranian Azam Ali
. Gilberto's 2000 album Tanto Tempo
was a particular highpoint, selling over a million copies and introducing Gilberto, the daughter of renowned musician João Gilberto
, to a wider global audience.
's La Kahena, Gaudi
's Dub Quawaali, and Niyaz
's Nine Heavens
are emblematic of the musical hybridity that makes the label's releases difficult to fit within conventional genres.
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
noted for its catalog of recordings from international musicians and vocalists. It has been described by the journalist and producer Derek Beres as "one of the most groundbreaking labels of the past decade."
History
In 19961996 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1996.-January:* January – At the trial of two American teenagers, Nicholaus McDonald and Brian Bassett, for the murder of Bassett's parents and young brother, defense lawyers attempt to lay the blame for the murders on the fact...
, former Windham Hill
Windham Hill Records
Windham Hill Records is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment specializing in Acoustic, New Age and Folk music. Originally founded in 1976 as an Independent record label by guitarist and carpenter William Ackerman and his then-wife Anne Robinson, Windham Hill was a successful and well-respected...
employees Pat Berry and Bob Duskis founded Six Degrees Records with the intention of promoting new trends in world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
. Originally affiliated with Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
, Berry and Duskis achieved their first major success with the release of London-based tabla
Tabla
The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
player Talvin Singh
Talvin Singh
Talvin Singh Matharoo , is a producer and composer and tabla player, known for creating an innovative fusion of Indian classical music and drum and bass...
's influential compilation album Anokha - Soundz of the Asian Underground. Although Singh was not the only artist featured on the album, he was marketed as the focal point of the release. In this way, the media acquired a poster child upon which to lavish its attention, enabling album sales to approach 200,000 units.
With the departure of Island Records label head Chris Blackwell
Chris Blackwell
Christopher Percy Gordon "Chris" Blackwell is a British record producer and businessman, who was the founder of Island Records, acknowledged as the most successful and groundbreaking independent record company in history. Blackwell has been a music industry mogul for over fifty years...
, Berry and Duskis decided to forgo the constraints of major label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
machinery. In 1999, they acquired an independent status. Looking to carry over their success with Singh into the American market, they began working with the Indian American producer and composer Karsh Kale
Karsh Kale
Karsh Kale is an Indian American musician, producer and composer, and is considered one of the pioneering figures in defining the Asian Underground genre by mixing disparate genres of music such as Indian classical and folk with electronica, rock, pop and ambient music...
, establishing connections with what became known as "Asian Massive" music scene, a loose term that can be used to describe any artist working at the nexus of South Asian and electronic dance music genres. The success of Kale's compilation album Asian Massive further cemented the label's reputation as an innovative presence in the music industry.
Beyond its work with the Asian underground, Six Degrees Records has signed and promoted artists from around the world, placing a great emphasis on the promotion of hybrid dance music forms and innovative cross-cultural collaborations. Standout acts include Algerian-born and San Francisco based Cheb i Sabbah
Cheb i Sabbah
Cheb i Sabbah , born Haim Serge El Baz in Constantine, Algeria, is a club DJ based in San Francisco, California....
, Malians Issa Bagayoga and Vieux Farka Toure
Vieux Farka Touré
Boureima "Vieux" Farka Touré is a Malian singer and guitarist. He is the son of Grammy-winning Malian musician Ali Farka Touré.-Biography:Touré was born in Niafunké, Mali in 1981 to Ali Farka Touré...
, Brazilians Bebel Gilberto
Bebel Gilberto
Bebel Gilberto is a Brazilian popular singer often associated with bossa nova. She is the daughter of João Gilberto and singer Miúcha. Her uncle is singer/composer Chico Buarque...
and Céu
CEU
CEU may refer to:*Continuing education units in the United States*Central European University in Budapest, Hungary*College of Eastern Utah*Centro Escolar University in the Philippines*Centro de Estudios Universitarios in Spain...
, Egyptian-born and London based Natacha Atlas
Natacha Atlas
Natacha Atlas is a Belgian singer known for her fusion of Arabic and Western electronic music, particularly hip-hop. She once termed her music "cha'abi moderne" . Her music has been influenced by many styles including Arabic, hip hop, drum 'n' bass and reggae.Atlas began her career as part of...
, and the Iranian Azam Ali
Azam Ali
-Biography:Born in Tehran, Iran 1970, Ali spent most of her childhood in Panchgani, India. Ali and her mother moved to Los Angeles, California in 1985, after which Ali discovered the santour...
. Gilberto's 2000 album Tanto Tempo
Tanto Tempo
-Track listing:# "Samba da Benção" - 4:47# "August Day Song" - 4:37# "Tanto Tempo" - 3:01# "Sem Contenção" - 3:10# "Mais Feliz" - 4:17# "Alguém" - 4:04# "So Nice " - 3:32# "Lonely" - 2:24# "Bananeira" - 3:26# "Samba e Amor" - 3:28...
was a particular highpoint, selling over a million copies and introducing Gilberto, the daughter of renowned musician João Gilberto
João Gilberto
João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira, known as João Gilberto , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. His seminal recordings, including many songs by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, established the new musical genre of Bossa nova in the late 1950s.-Biography:From an early age, music...
, to a wider global audience.
Motto
Based in San Francisco, the label operates under the motto, "Everything is closer than you think," encapsulating their aim of introducing global artists to the American market alongside an embrace of the increased accessibility of musical media through digitization. Beyond releasing music in digital formats and pursuing social media marketing opportunities, Berry and Duskis strongly promote the licensing of their artists' music for film, television and commercial use. Nevertheless, artistic integrity remains a priority, and in a relatively short period of time, the label has developed a significant reputation by emphasizing creativity before commerce.Genres
Artists under the label make music within a wide range of musical genres, from bossa nova, funk and folk, to electronic music and dubstep. Notable releases such as Cheb i SabbahCheb i Sabbah
Cheb i Sabbah , born Haim Serge El Baz in Constantine, Algeria, is a club DJ based in San Francisco, California....
's La Kahena, Gaudi
Gaudi (musician)
Daniele Gaudi is a musician, composer, record producer. and solo artist. Gaudi's music is a fusion of dub, worldbeat and electronica...
's Dub Quawaali, and Niyaz
Niyaz
Niyaz is an Iranian musical trio. The group was created in 2005 by DJ, programmer/producer and remixer Carmen Rizzo, vocalist and hammered dulcimer player Azam Ali, formerly of the group Vas, and Ali's husband, Loga Ramin Torkian, of the Iranian crossover group Axiom Of Choice...
's Nine Heavens
Nine Heavens
Nine Heavens is the second album of Iranian music group Niyaz, an acoustic electronic project. It was released on June 24, 2008 on Six Degrees Records.The album is divided into 2 discs...
are emblematic of the musical hybridity that makes the label's releases difficult to fit within conventional genres.
Artists
- Alice RussellAlice Russell (singer)Alice Russell is a British soul singer. She was born in 1975, the daughter of an organist, and grew up in Framlingham in Suffolk. At the age of nine, following in her father and sisters' musical footsteps, Alice began taking lessons on Cello, and sang in choirs, before studying art and music in...
- Azam AliAzam Ali-Biography:Born in Tehran, Iran 1970, Ali spent most of her childhood in Panchgani, India. Ali and her mother moved to Los Angeles, California in 1985, after which Ali discovered the santour...
- Banco de GaiaBanco de GaiaBanco de Gaia is an electronic music band from England, formed in 1989 by Toby Marks .The music of Banco de Gaia is best categorized as ambient dub, but Marks works to cross genres, often using Arabic and Middle Eastern samples against a bass heavy reggae, rock, or trance rhythm to produce deeply...
- Bebel GilbertoBebel GilbertoBebel Gilberto is a Brazilian popular singer often associated with bossa nova. She is the daughter of João Gilberto and singer Miúcha. Her uncle is singer/composer Chico Buarque...
- Ben NeillBen NeillBen Neill is a composer and trumpeter who has studied with La Monte Young. His music has been recorded on the Thirsty Ear, Astralwerks, Verve, and Six Degrees labels. Neill spent seven years as the music curator for The Kitchen in New York. He has collaborated with DJ Spooky, David Wojnarowicz...
- Bobi Cespedes
- BossacucanovaBossacucanovaBossacucanova is a Brazilian musical group. The group combines traditional bossa nova with electronica. The group is most notable for having been nominated for a Latin Grammy award in 2002 for Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album for their album Brasilidade...
- CéuCEUCEU may refer to:*Continuing education units in the United States*Central European University in Budapest, Hungary*College of Eastern Utah*Centro Escolar University in the Philippines*Centro de Estudios Universitarios in Spain...
- Cheb i SabbahCheb i SabbahCheb i Sabbah , born Haim Serge El Baz in Constantine, Algeria, is a club DJ based in San Francisco, California....
- Da CruzDa Cruz-History:Da Cruz is a Brazilian World music group composed of Maraina Da Cruz, Swiss producer Ane Hebeisen , guitar player Oliver Husmann and percussionist Pit Lee. Da Cruz was formed in 2005 when Hebeisen, formerly of the Swiss industrial-electro group Swamp Terrorists, met Da Cruz, a Bossa Nova...
- Darol AngerDarol Anger-Career:Darol Anger entered popular music at the age of 21 as a founding member of The David Grisman Quintet. Anger played fiddle to David Grisman's mandolin in The David Grisman Quintet's 1977 debut. He co-founded the Turtle Island String Quartet with David Balakrishnan in 1985 and performed,...
- DJ CamDJ CamDJ Cam is a French DJ. His tunes are almost entirely a hybrid of both hip-hop and jazz music, and is presented in an abstract manner. His first LP was Underground Vibes in 1994, and was revolutionary for its time, featuring familiar jazz samples and many vibe samples and heavy hip-hop influences...
- DJ SpookyDJ SpookyPaul D. Miller , known by his stage name DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is a Washington DC-born electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics or his fans as "illbient" or "trip hop". He is a turntablist, a producer, a philosopher, and an author...
- EkovaEkovaEkova is a French-based trio, headed by American-born Dierdre Dubois, who originated the name. "Its roots are in echo, and ova, signifying the feminine side," she explains. "But it's not supposed to have a literal meaning, just a beautiful sound...
- EuphoriaEuphoria (music project)Euphoria is a Canadian trance, techno, and electronica music project formed in Toronto in 1993 by Ken Ramm. The music groups has released three albums....
- Issa BagayogoIssa BagayogoIssa Bagayogo is a Malian musician. He has released four full-length albums all under the record label Six Degrees Records. Bagayogo lends his voice and plays the kamele n'goni while Yves Wernert is the producer and keyboardist.-Career:Bagayogo blends his native Malian traditions with western pop...
- JoraneJoraneJorane is a French-Canadian singer/cellist, who is notable for her alternative music style on a typically classical instrument as well as her ability to sing while playing cello at the same time....
- Karsh KaleKarsh KaleKarsh Kale is an Indian American musician, producer and composer, and is considered one of the pioneering figures in defining the Asian Underground genre by mixing disparate genres of music such as Indian classical and folk with electronica, rock, pop and ambient music...
- Michael Franti & Spearhead
- MIDIval PunditzMIDIval PunditzMIDIval Punditz is an Indian fusion group consisting of two Delhi-based musicians, Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj. Their style revolves mostly around changer, jungle, electronica, and North Indian classical music...
- Natacha AtlasNatacha AtlasNatacha Atlas is a Belgian singer known for her fusion of Arabic and Western electronic music, particularly hip-hop. She once termed her music "cha'abi moderne" . Her music has been influenced by many styles including Arabic, hip hop, drum 'n' bass and reggae.Atlas began her career as part of...
- NiyazNiyazNiyaz is an Iranian musical trio. The group was created in 2005 by DJ, programmer/producer and remixer Carmen Rizzo, vocalist and hammered dulcimer player Azam Ali, formerly of the group Vas, and Ali's husband, Loga Ramin Torkian, of the Iranian crossover group Axiom Of Choice...
- PacifikaPacifikaPacifika is a band formed by Silvana Kane, a Peruvian born singer, formerly of Canadian pop hit band West End Girls, and accomplished actress with a love of flamenco, electronica, and textured percussion; Adam Popowitz, a Canadian bred guitarist adept at new wave, classical, and pop, and a producer...
- Piers FacciniPiers FacciniPiers Faccini is an English singer, painter and songwriter.-Biography:Piers Faccini was born in London, England to an Italian father and an English mother...
- Rob SwiftRob SwiftRob Swift is an American hip hop DJ and turntablist. Swift is a former member of the turntablist group The X-Ecutioners as of late 2005 and as of 2006; with Mike Patton’s project Peeping Tom.-Early life:...
- SubaSuba (musician)Mitar "Suba" Subotić a.k.a Rex Illusivi was a Serbian-born musician and composer who was set to become one of Brazil's most prominent producers when he died in November 1999.-Biography:Born Mitar Subotić, he obtained a university degree in his hometown from the University of Novi Sad,...
- The DøThe DøThe Dø is a French/Finnish indie pop band founded in Paris in 2005. The band is Olivia Merilahti and Dan Levy . The duo has been backed on stage by three different drummers...
- The Real Tuesday WeldThe Real Tuesday WeldThe Real Tuesday Weld are a British band, fronted by lead singer and founder Stephen Coates. They are known for producing jazzy cabaret-style music with subtle electronica influences, a style dubbed "antique beat" by Coates. They have six albums, several singles and eps and many tracks on...
- TweakerTweaker (music)Tweaker is an American alternative rock collaboration founded by Chris Vrenna in the late 1990s. Tweaker's musical style incorporates synthpop, progressive rock, modern jazz and electronica genres, and is characterized by a generally melancholy and sombre sound with distinctive artwork to match.The...
- Vieux Farka TouréVieux Farka TouréBoureima "Vieux" Farka Touré is a Malian singer and guitarist. He is the son of Grammy-winning Malian musician Ali Farka Touré.-Biography:Touré was born in Niafunké, Mali in 1981 to Ali Farka Touré...
- Willy PorterWilly PorterWilly Porter is a contemporary American folk musician and singer-songwriter from Mequon, Wisconsin. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and was a member of the Epsilon Chi Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta, a men's fraternity.-Career:...