About SWR Jazzhaus

The label „SWR Jazzhaus“ was established in 2011 by the SWR Media Services GmbH to archive the musical heritage of the broadcast station Südwestrundfunk (SWR)  and its predecessor institutions SDR and SWF for the long term and to make it accessible to the public.

Arthaus Musik GmbH was the distribution partner of the SWR Media Services GmbH before, in 2015, the change to NAXOS Deutschland Musik & Video Vertriebs GmbH took place. At the same time the label was named “SWR Jazzhaus”.

The archive recordings from the SWR with its since the late 1940s over 3.000 hours of audio and video recordings of concerts and studio productions of numerous Jazz artists, such as Albert Mangelsdorff, Thelonious Monk, Benny Godman, Caterina Valente - to name only a few - count as one of the biggest unreleased collections in the range of Jazz.

Selected recordings from this collection are released by the label after careful high-end editing in various series, such as “Big Bands Live” or “JAZZ NOW”. Also they are available for download and streaming on all of the common platforms.

A special highlight is the “SWR Jazzhaus”- Vinyledition of several recordings.
Experiencing the initial sound of the concert recording in this way is extraordinary.

Awards, like the already repeatedly awarded “Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik” and numerous reviews in the respective jazz-literature show, that the label, with its releases, is a known size  in the international jazz-scene.