CONTEMPORARY RECORDS

As a Fantasy Records label Contemporary Records was distributed by A&M Records Canada 1985-1988.

Lester Koenig, a jazz enthusiast, established Contemporary Records in 1951 in Los Angeles. Contemporary was the third label Koenig created after Good Time Jazz and Crescent Records. Koenig wrote the screenplays for several well known motion pictures including The Best Years Of Our Lives, The Heiress and Roman Holiday. With the founding of Contemporary as a jazz label, Koenig ran the company full-time. As a record producer, Koenig immersed himself in audio's ability to capture sound as the musician intended it. Koenig made sure Contemporary Records had the latest equipment. 

The quality of Contemporary's recordings caught Herb Alpert's attention. Alpert found Howard Holzer working at Contemporary and hired Holzer to build the original consoles in A&M's new studios.. Koenig also had engineer Roy DuNann on his engineering staff and Bernie Grundman as his mastering engineer. Alpert hired both men shortly after A&M Records studios opened. 

Thirty years after their original release, the Contemporary Records catalog was still in distribution, this time by A&M Records Canada.