Blue Serge

Blue Serge is an Italian independent record label and music publishing house (edizioni musicali e casa discografica) founded in Milan in the spring of 2003 by the musician, songwriter and producer Sergio Cossu. Cossu had spent the preceding decades inside the Italian pop industry: he contributed to the birth of free radio in September 1975, worked as a lounge-bar pianist and as a songwriter for artists such as Miguel Bosé and Enzo Jannacci, and was a member of the pop group Matia Bazar from 1984 to 1999. Blue Serge was created after he stepped away from that pop career, as a vehicle for a more personal, sonically driven catalogue. The label's output is centred on jazz and on 20th-century classical and neoclassical music, and its stated motto is "Jazz & Neoclassica". According to the label's own account, it has released more than 60 CDs, produced with an emphasis on sound quality — 24-bit/96 kHz recordings — and on collaborations with open-minded musicians and cross-genre "contaminations". In 2009 a second, sister label, Azul, was added to the operation, aimed at a lighter and more accessible but still "transversal" repertoire. Blue Serge's catalogue includes releases by Italian jazz figures such as Franco Cerri, Claudio Fasoli, Pietro Tonolo, Paolo Fresu, Furio Di Castri, Ares Tavolazzi, Sandro Gibellini, Jacopo Jacopetti, Maurizio Camardi, Mauro Palmas and Marco Castelli, alongside classical and contemporary-classical projects (for example the Paul Klee 4tet's recording of Philip Glass quartets, and programmes of Stockhausen, Dallapiccola, Amendola and Castiglioni). Several titles were issued as attachments to magazines and books — including the magazine Experience and the Finnegans series, and a release accompanying Massimo Carlotto's novel Cristiani di Allah — a distribution model common to Italian independent labels of the period. The company is privately held and independent, based in Milan, and remains associated with its founder Sergio Cossu. It operates primarily in the Italian market while reaching international listeners through physical and digital distribution and licensing, and it is documented in music databases such as Discogs and MusicBrainz.

Blue Serge was founded in Milan in the spring of 2003 by Sergio Cossu, a musician, songwriter and producer whose career had until then been rooted in Italian pop. Cossu has said that he contributed to the birth of free radio in September 1975, worked as a lounge-bar pianist, wrote songs for performers including Miguel Bosé and Enzo Jannacci, and was a member of the pop group Matia Bazar from 1984 to 1999. Blue Serge was created after he had distanced himself from that pop adventure, as a label and publishing house through which he could pursue a more personal musical direction. From the outset the label concentrated on jazz and on 20th-century classical and neoclassical music, adopting the motto "Jazz & Neoclassica". Its early catalogue, beginning in 2003, included Ermanno Signorelli's Aqua (with Furio Di Castri and Sergio Cossu), Azul's Smoke on the Water and the Lovejoy Orchestra's Silent Night. Through the mid-2000s the label released a steady stream of jazz titles by Italian players — Jacopo Jacopetti, Sandro Gibellini, Pietro Tonolo, Marco Castelli, Manomanouche and others — often in small-group formats and sometimes as attachments to magazines such as Experience. By the late 2000s the catalogue had broadened to include contemporary classical and crossover projects, among them the Paul Klee 4tet's recording of Philip Glass quartets, a programme of Stockhausen, Dallapiccola, Amendola and Castiglioni performed by Alessia Toffanin and Alessandro Fagiuoli, and a release accompanying Massimo Carlotto's novel Cristiani di Allah. In 2009 the label added a second imprint, Azul, intended for a lighter and more accessible but still "transversal" repertoire. The same year brought releases by Claudio Fasoli (Venice Inside), Piero Salvatori with Paolo Fresu (Images), Manomanouche with the Trio Debussy (Complicity) and others. Into 2010 the label continued to issue jazz and classical recordings, including Franco Cerri's Bossa with Strings, Maurizio Camardi and Mauro Palmas's Mare chiuso, Angelo Comisso's Sturm und Drang and Marcella Carboni's Trame. According to the label's own account, it has published more than 60 CDs, made with an emphasis on sound quality — 24-bit/96 kHz recordings — and on collaborations with open-minded musicians and cross-genre "contaminations". Blue Serge remains an independent, privately held Italian label associated with its founder, and its catalogue is documented in music databases including Discogs and MusicBrainz.

• 2010

  Further jazz and classical releases, including Franco Cerri's Bossa with Strings and Maurizio Camardi & Mauro Palmas's Mare chiuso.

• 2009

  Second label Azul added, aimed at a lighter but still transversal repertoire; releases include Claudio Fasoli's Venice Inside and Piero Salvatori's Images.

• 2008

  Catalogue expands into contemporary classical and crossover, including the Paul Klee 4tet's Philip Glass quartets and a release attached to Massimo Carlotto's novel Cristiani di Allah.

• 2006

  A busy year with releases by Sandro Gibellini (Trufò), Pietro Tonolo (Lennie's Pennies), Manomanouche (Sintology), DMA (Urban Vox) and others.

• 2005

  Ermanno Signorelli's La memoria dell'acqua issued as an attachment to the magazine Experience.

• 2004

  Releases include Jacopo Jacopetti's Jaycops and Ermanno Signorelli's Figlio della Primavera.

• 2003

  Blue Serge founded in Milan by Sergio Cossu in the spring; first releases include Ermanno Signorelli's Aqua, Azul's Smoke on the Water and Lovejoy Orchestra's Silent Night.

Independent Italian label and music publisher focused on jazz and 20th-century classical/neoclassical repertoire, with an audiophile emphasis on sound quality (24-bit/96 kHz) and cross-genre programming.

• 2003

  Ermanno Signorelli – Aqua

• 2003

  Azul – Smoke on the Water

• 2003

  Lovejoy Orchestra – Silent Night

• 2004

  Jacopo Jacopetti – Jaycops

• 2004

  Ermanno Signorelli – Figlio della Primavera

• 2005

  Ermanno Signorelli – La memoria dell'acqua

• 2006

  Sandro Gibellini – Trufò

• 2006

  Pietro Tonolo – Lennie's Pennies

• 2006

  Manomanouche – Sintology

• 2006

  DMA – Urban Vox

• 2007

  Marco Castelli Quartet – Patois

• 2008

  Maurizio Camardi & Mauro Palmas – Cristiani di Allah

• 2008

  Paul Klee 4tet – Philip Glass: Quartets

• 2009

  Piero Salvatori – Images

• 2009

  Claudio Fasoli – Venice Inside

• 2009

  Lelio Luttazzi – Live in Trieste

• 2010

  Franco Cerri – Bossa with Strings

• 2010

  Maurizio Camardi & Mauro Palmas – Mare chiuso

1. 1Blue Serge Official Websiteblueserge.it
2. 2Blue Serge – Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Blue Serge – Wikipedia (Italian)it.wikipedia.org