Label Spotlight: ESP-DISK
Back in the heady 1960s, the most far out label for avant-garde jazz was definitely ESP-Disk. It was founded in 1964 and run by lawyers Bernard and Saul Stollman, and…
By Tom Schnabel • • 1 min readESP-Disk might have been named after Esperanto, the idealistic, international language that was recognized by UNESCO in 1954. On the back of each ESP-Disk were the words: “Mendu tiun diskon ce via loka diskvendejo au rekte de ESP. Eksterlanda prezo: $5.98. Pagu per internacia postmandato”. Which roughly means “To order ESP records, visit your local record store or order it directly from ESP for $5.98”. I found this translation via a google search.
One of the rarest ESP-Disk lp’s was Bells by Albert Ayler. It was a clear vinyl disc with Purple silk screening on the vinyl label. Several of my friends in high school had copies. When I asked what happened to these lp’s, they told me they’d sold their copies, thrown them away, lost them in a divorce, etc. It fetches a high price these days, a collector’s treasure.