London

London Records was created by Decca in the 1940s to enable transatlantic releases from the UK into the US, and vice versa. Due to the presence of a Decca subsidiary company in the US, British Decca was unable to use the Decca name in North America, and released records there under the “London” label. In the UK, the London label was used by British Decca to release American recordings which British Decca licensed, such as Atlantic.

The catalogue numbering system identified the US company licensor by letter code:

LTZ-C Savoy
LTZ-D Dot
LTZ-J Jubilee
LTZ-K Atlantic
LTZ-L Carlton
LTZ-M Chess
LTZ-N Bethlehem
LTZ-P Imperial
LTZ-T United Artists
LTZ-U Riverside

The label bears the logo “London American Recordings” and is found in Blue for Stereo with SAH-(letter) codes and Crimson/Silver and LTZ-(letter) codes for Mono

Being owned by Decca, naturally all the records released in the UK under this label were mastered and pressed by Decca, at their South West London plant at New Malden . Unlike Esquire Records, who pressed US recordings using original US-made stampers, the London label releases were mastered from copy tapes sent from the US. As a result it is not unusual for UK pressings to differ sonically from original US pressings, the differences being a matter of preference and not necessarily one better than the other.

1. London American Jazz Recording LTZ 15000 Series – Crimson/Silver label, mono

2. London Atlantic 8000 Series – Stereo

3. London Atlantic American 8000 Series

Photo credit – Bill B

3. London – made in France

What went on here? London, France? Obviously Decca were not above a little ooh-la-la expediently working with French opposite numbers, pressing in France too:

That’s not Decca New Malden! The impossibly rare Felsted original issued by London.(Just try finding the US original!) Probably pressed by Pathe Marconi, who seem to be the most jazz-oriented French engineers.

London Contemporary, King, Japan

Interesting provenance, a (Decca) London release, of a Contemporary recording, but in Japan, through King Records. This is one mixed up kid, unearthed by LJC reader Antonio.

(Photo courtesy of Antonio)

Decca released Contemporary in the UK on its Contemporary Vogue label. But as we saw with the French pressing of Felsted, Decca has form in sub-licensing overeas with its London identity, so it’s a small stretch to create London Contemporary in the manner of London Atlantic – a specialist sub-label. Decca master VMGT 1508 finds its was to Tokyo. Looks to me deep groove, which would be unheard of on a Japanese pressing, and a reference on the label to VMGT Decca matrix code, so possibly manufactured in UK for export to Japan.

Catalogue Listing LTZ 15000 American Jazz series (1955-62)

Note: incomplete – compiled from a Discogs partial listing plus my own collection and contributions from readers. A more complete listing can be found at the excellent Both Sides Now site. The genre here is Jazz – the full London catalogue listing covering of course large numbers of rock and pop releases.

LTZ-K 15059Jimmy GiuffreThe Jimmy Giuffre Clarinet1956

LTZ-N 15111Johnny Richards And His OrchestraSomething Else By Johnny Richards1958

SAH-K 6192Milt Jackson & John ColtraneBags & Trane

SAH-K 8017John ColtraneColtrane Plays the Blues1962

Catalogue No	Artist	Title	Year
HA-N 2033	McGhee, Howard	Life is just a bowl of cherries	1956
LTZ-C 15007	JJ Johnson and Kai Winding	Jay and Kai	1956
LTZ-C 15015	Cannoball Adderley	Presenting Cannonball	1955
LTZ-C 15017	Hank Jones Trio	The Trio	1956
LTZ-C 15018	Nat Adderley	That’s Nat	195?
LTZ-C 15046	Hank Jones Trio	The Trio With Guests	1956
LTZ-C 15099	Hank Mobley	The Jazz Message No. 2	1957
LTZ-C 15104	Charlie Parker	The Immortal Vol 1	1958
LTZ-C 15105	Charlie Parker	The Immortal Vol 2	1958
LTZ-C 15106	Charlie Parker	The Immortal Vol 3	1958
LTZ-C 15107	Charlie Parker	The Immortal Vol 4	1958
LTZ-C 15108	Charlie Parker	The Immortal Vol.5	1958
LTZ-C 15144	Terry & McGhee	Back Country Blues	1958
LTZ-C 15159	Tommy Flanagan Quintet	Mainstream 1958	1959
LTZ-D 15158	Eddie Condon	Dixieland Dance Party	1958
LTZ-D 15168	Clara Ward	Gospel Concert
LTZ-J 15129	Charles Mingus	Mingus/Hawes/Richmond
LTZ-K 15022	Modern Jazz Quartet, The	Fontessa	1957
LTZ-K 15024	Wilbur de Paris	And His New Orleans Jazz	195?
LTZ-K 15025	Lee Konitz,	Lee Konitz with Warne Marsh	1955
LTZ-K 15033	Lennie Tristano	Lennie Tristano	1956
LTZ-K 15037	Marty Paich, Larry Bunker	Jazz City Workshop	195?
LTZ-K 15043	Montrose, Jack	Jack Montrose with Bob Gordon	1955
LTZ-K 15052	Charles Mingus	Pithecanthropus Erectus	1956
LTZ-N 15055	Russ Garcia, Frank Rosolino et al	Four Horns and a Lush Life	1956
LTZ-K 15085	Modern Jazz Quartet, with Jimmy Giuffre	The Modern Jazz Quartet At Music Inn
LTZ-K 15092	Lee Konitz	Inside Hi Fi	1957
LTZ-K 15127	Mulligan Thelonious Monk, Gerry	Mulligan Meets Monk	1957
LTZ-K 15136	Modern Jazz Quartet, The	The Modern Jazz Quartet	1958
LTZ-K 15137	Jimmy Giuffre	Jimmy Giuffre Three Travelin’ Light	195?
LTZ-K 15140	Modern Jazz Quartet, The	Film Score For “No Sun In Venice”	1958
LTZ-K 15141	Milt Jackson	Plenty, Plenty Soul	1957
LTZ-K 15142	Chris Connor	A Jazz Date With Chris Connor	1956
LTZ-K 15147	Lee Konitz,	The Real Lee Konitz	1958
LTZ-K 15157	Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers	Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers w/Monk	1959
LTZ-K 15164	The Charles Mingus Workshop	The Clown	1959
LTZ-K 15171	Champion Jack Dupree	Blues From The Gutter	1959
LTZ-K 15173	Modern Jazz Quartet, with Sonny Rollins	Modern Jazz Quartet At Music Inn Vol 2	1959
LTZ-K 15179	Shorty Rogers	Way Up There	19??
LTZ-K 15190	Ray Charles	The Genius Of Ray Charles	1959
LTZ-K 15191	The Jazz Modes	The Most Happy Fella	1959
LTZ-K 15193	Modern Jazz Quartet, The	Pyramid
LTZ-K 15194	Mingus, Charles	Blues & Roots	1960
LTZ-K 15197	John Coltrane	Giant Steps	1959
LTZ-K 15199	Ornette Coleman	Change Of The Century	1961
LTZ-K 15215	Various	The Blues Roll On	1960
LTZ-K 15215	John Coltrane	Coltrane Jazz	19??
LTZ-K 15225	Slide Hampton	Sister Salvation	19??
LTZ-K 15228	Coleman, Ornette	This Is Our Music	1960
LTZ-K 15232	John Coltrane Milt Jackson	Bags and Trane	196?
LTZ-K 15237	John Lewis	The Wonderful World of Jazz	19??
LTZ-K 15239	John Coltrane	Ole	196?
LTZ-M 15152	Waters, Muddy	Best of Muddy Waters	19??
LTZ-M 15162	Ahmad Jamal Trio	But Not For Me	1959
LTZ-M 15170	Ahmad Jamal	Ahmad Jamal	1959
LTZ-N 15001	Milt Hinton	Milt Hinton	195?
LTZ-N 15003	K + J.J.	East Coast Jazz Series No. 7	1976
LTZ-N 15009	Mel Tormé with Marty Paich Dek-Tette	Mel Tormé	1956
LTZ-N 15010	Red Allen Cozy Cole	Jazz at the Metropole cafe	195?
LTZ-N 15011	Howard McGhee	The Return of
LTZ-N 15014	Red Mitchell	Jam for your Bread
LTZ-N 15029	Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Historically Speaking – The Duke	1956
LTZ-N 15031	Charlie Mariano	Charlie Mariano	1956
LTZ-N 15035	Oscar Pettiford	Volume 2	1956
LTZ-N 15036	Conte Candoli	Conte Candoli	195?
LTZ-N 15063	Sam Most Sextet	Sam Most Sextet	195?
LTZ-N 15067	Frank Rosolino	Frank Rosolino	195?
LTZ-N 15078	Duke Ellington	Duke Ellington presents	195?
LTZ-N 15090	Frank Socolow	Sounds by Socolow	1957
LTZ-N 15100	Stan Levey sextet	Stan Levey sextet	195?
LTZ-N 15123	Stu Williamson	Stu Williamson	1958
LTZ-P 15236	Valley Singers, The	Canaan’s Land	1961
LTZ-R 15283	various	Modern Jazz Gallery vol.1	1961
LTZ-R 15284	various	Modern Jazz Gallery vol.2	1961
LTZ-T 15160	Johnny Mandel	I Want To Live! (Soundtrack)	1958
LTZ-T 15167	Art Farmer	Modern Art	1958
LTZ-T 15172	Milt Jackson	with Benny Golson	19??
LTZ-T 15176	Benny Golson	Benny Golson and the Philadelphians	19??
LTZ-T 15181	MJQ	BennOdds against Tomorrow	19??
LTZ-T 15181	Tubby Hayes	Ronnie Scott & Tubby Hayes (ex Carlton)	19??
LTZ-T 15189	Pee Wee Ervin	Down By The Riverside	195?
LTZ-U 15009	Thelonious Monk	Thelonious Monk plays the music of Duke Ellington	1957
LTZ-U 15075	Matthew Gee All Stars	Jazz By Gee!	1957
LTZ-U 15117	Coleman Hawkins	The Hawk Flies High	1957
LTZ-U 15133	Kenny Dorham	Jazz Contrasts	1958
LTZ-U 15133	Howard McGhee Quintet	the Connection	195?
SAH-K 6017	Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers w/Monk	Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers W/ Monk	1959
SAH-K 6031	Modern Jazz Quartet, The	Fontessa
SAH-K 6050	Modern Jazz Quartet w/ Sonny Rollins	Modern Jazz Quartet At Music Inn Vol2
SAH-K 6061	Benny Golson	and the Philedelphians
SAH-K 6162	John Coltrane	Coltrane Jazz
SAH-K 6181	Ornette Coleman	This is our Music
SAH-K 6235	Ornette Coleman	Ornette!	1961
SAH-K 8007	Charles Mingus	Oh Yeah!	196?

19 thoughts on “London”

I had the London American recording of Champion Jack Dupree’s Natural and Soulful Blues. It was the stereo Blue and Silver label. Found it early December 1968 (or maybe ’69) here in the U.S., in Dayton’s on 8th St. NYC. It was in the cut out bins in the back for $1.99 (if the pound’s exchange rate was still $2.40, the price would have translated to about 16/6). It played well and is a good album but I like Blues from the Gutter better. I also found in the same section that evening, a Fontana Spencer Davis with Stevie Winwood for the same price.

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Just picked up: LTZ-N15041 Red Mitchell (Jam for Your Bread) which I cannot find listed – looks to be the UK version of your Bethlehem release. Thanks for the great blog!!

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LondonJazzCollector on November 4, 2013 at 13:49 said:

Nice find Pete. These London Decca pressings are nice, and generally very well engineered. Though quite rare, not as rare as Bethlehem. Thanks, I’ve added it to the catalogue.

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You should add the amazing LZ-U 14040. The Marty Paich Quartet featuring Art Pepper. Originally a Tampa record. The London blows the Tampa off its socks.

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LondonJazzCollector on September 9, 2013 at 23:45 said:

https://londonjazzcollector.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/marty-paich-art-pepper-10-uk-london/

I think the consensus supports the London as preferable to the Tampa original, though that is received wisdom. The Tampa is impossibly rare.

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- Boukman on September 10, 2013 at 00:28 said:
  
  I had forgotten about the other discussion on this record (oops). My London is also from Brian Clark, with cover (he he). I know someone with the Tampa who might be willing to sell if you are interested. Its red and expensive
  
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  - LondonJazzCollector on September 10, 2013 at 06:30 said:
    
    The Tampa is red, expensive, and according to someone with deep knowledge of such matters, sounds terrible – London is the preferred edition, according to him. I’ll have to take his word for it, too expensive to find out the hard way.
    
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another one:
LTZ-K 15052 Charles Mingus “Pithecanthropus Erectus”

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LondonJazzCollector on August 5, 2013 at 06:49 said:

Added, Rudolph, thanks

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- Rudolf on August 5, 2013 at 13:50 said:
  
  there is some more work to do! I only now went seriously through my London stocks. Here are the results. Items missing on your list follow here:
  
  LTZ (monaural)
  N – 15001 Milt Hinton
  U -15009 Thelonious Monk plays the music of Duke Ellington
  N – 15036 Conte Candoli
  K – 15037 Jazz City Workshop Marty Paich, Larry Bunker
  N – 15063 Sam Most Sextet
  N – 15067 Frank Rosolino
  N – 15078 Duke Ellington presents
  R – 15083/84 Modern Jazz Gallery vols 1 and 2 (ex Kapp)
  N – 15100 Stan Levey sextet
  J – 15129 Charles Mingus/Hampton Hawes/Danny Richmond (ex Jubilee)
  K – 15137 Jimmy Giuffre Three Travelin’ Light
  T – 15172 Milt Jackson (with Benny Golson)
  T – 15176 Benny Golson and the Philadelphians
  T – 15181 MJQ Odds against tomorrow
  L – 15188 Ronnie Scott & Tubby Hayes (ex Carlton)
  K – 15219 John Coltrane “Coltrane Jazz”
  U – 15221 Howard McGhee Quintet “the Connection” (ex Felsted)
  K – 15225 Slide Hampton “Sister Salvation”
  K – 15237 John Lewis “the Wonderful World of Jazz”
  
  STEREO
  SAH
  T-6061 Benny Golson and the Philadelphians
  K-6162 Coltrane Jazz
  K-8007 “Mingus Oh Yeah” Charles Mingus
  K-6181 Ornette Coleman “This is our Music”
  
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  - LondonJazzCollector on August 5, 2013 at 17:52 said:
    
    I think I have all these updated now.Thanks for the extra work. Phew, some great little treasures in there, the Tubby Hayes /Carlton, the Connection/ Felstead. Amazing little gems
    
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Thanks for all this helpful information. I think these London pressings are really excellent vinyl and substantially undervalued

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Another one for your list Kenny Dorham – Jazz Contrasts LTZU-15133 a great sounding record with the original mono crimson labels.

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LTZ-M is Chess.
My “Best Of Muddy Waters” is a London American Jazz Recording LTZ-M 15152.

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LondonJazzCollector on May 23, 2012 at 08:05 said:

Thanks John, I have updated* the London Label page adding your contribution, and also those of Sven from Sweden (Thanks Sven!). Anyone out there who can add to the listing, email me your contributions (catalogue number, artist, title, and year recorded) Email address in the foot of the “About LJC” page.

*Just so you know, chaps, updating has required me to grapple with the underlying HTML code, a late learning curve but useful nevertheless. Who says I.T. is just for youngsters?

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- HV on October 15, 2012 at 16:01 said:
  
  since I was able to recognize a 1st press trough this website I feel that it is my duty to contribute.
  I found a really nice supermint copy of Olé Coltrane Mono LTZ-K 15239
  
  By the way, the backside also says:
  Bags and Trane/Milt Jackson & John Coltrane
  Stereo SAH-K 6192 mono LTZ-K 15232
  Coltrane Jazz/ John Coltrane
  stereo SAH-K 6162 mono LTZ-K 15219
  
  Thanks!
  
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  - LondonJazzCollector on October 15, 2012 at 19:53 said:
    
    Thanks always welcome. You would think with 800 page views a day it would be said more often, but alas no. Glad you got a great record. Discography updated. Cheers
    
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    - HV on October 16, 2012 at 21:34 said:
      
      Welcome! Olé is from ’62 by the way. I bet coltrane jazz and bags and trane are published in the same year. Props to you, keep up the great work!
      
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