Charles Tolliver

Strata-East Records, now in its 54th year, was created by CHARLES TOLLIVER & STANLEY COWELL. Their first recording in 1970, "MUSIC INC" & BIG BAND, launched the label in 1971. Since then the Strata-East concept, a first of its kind provided the professional vehicle by which many important artist-produced recordings reached the marketplace. Some of the artists that the label created and issued original LPs & CDs through its history making conduit include Clifford Jordan, Pharoah Sanders, Jimmy Heath/The Heath Brothers, Cecil McBee, Billy Harper, John Hicks, and Gil Scott-Heron whose Strata-East “Winter In America” album was a prime example of the efficacy of the label’s Condominium concept. This pioneering Condominium concept created an intellectual property ownership inside of an ownership. Since its inception through to the present, Strata-East continues to occupy its place in the annals of Jazz music recording history as a beacon and major influence for artists independently issuing their product including the Hip Hop & Rap generation who sampled a number of the label’s recordings. And, the two creators of this cult phenomenon never missed a step or skipped a beat along the way with their consummate idiomatic artistry.