Odeon Swing Music Series Records

German Odeon Swing Music Series records were packaged in dark red paper sleeves with a drawing of skyscapers, with "Swing Music" in a German font printed on some.

According to "Swingtime Wuthe am Grammophon", Odeon began this jazz series for export in 1938. The series used English and American "hot-und-sweet" recordings from OKeh and Parlophone masters made between 1927 and 1935.

Rather than listing these in its main catalogue, Odeon issued typewritten lists so interested customers could order records paid for in advance. A condition of sale was that the records could not to be played in public, not even in record stores.

The German Odeon Swing Music Series is identical to parts of the British Parlophone First and Second New Rhythm Style Series

The Odeon Swing Series stopped at the beginning of the second world war. The last catalogue was issued in November 1939, and the last record number was A 286092. Although the series was discontinued, these recordings were pressed in later editions and sold until the end of the war.

Continuing the Odeon jazz label tradition, a new series appeared during the war, the A 272 000 series on a dark blue label. Many jazz records sold in other countries were not easy to get in Germany since there were no catalogues.

The same masters appeared on Parlophone for export—these pressings used the original British catalog numbers (R. 100—R. 2725). The quality of this series was poorer than the Odeon Swing Music Series—they were dubbed "from records Umschnitt - Matrizen due to copyright problems."

The Odeon Swing Music Series was issued elsewhere as wekk. The Italian records were thicker, being pressed on a paper laminate and the Swiss labels used a different font. The Swiss B 35000 series is identical to Swiss Parlophons.


Ellington recordings on the Odeon Swing Music Series label: