Blue Night Records
About Blue Night Records
Our History
In 1996 Steven Briggs (our President) volunteered to serve as Arrangements Chairperson for the 50th Annual Meeting of the National Academy of Arbitrators, a group of professionals specializing in the resolution of labor disputes. One of the tasks Briggs faced was the hiring of musical entertainment for a black tie affair called the Board of Governors dinner. Included among the invitees were a former U.S. Secretary of Labor, several government officials, and numerous distinguished professors and arbitrators. The venue was the Moulin Rouge Cabaret at Chicago's Fairmont Hotel.Briggs determined that vintage jazz would be ideal for the occasion. He pictured Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli playing their hearts out in some Paris nightclub, and knew that recreating such an atmosphere would be a big hit with the Academy's Governors and their guests. Chicago was the perfect city to begin looking for musicians capable of playing the gig. Briggs started making phone calls. As he described what he was looking for, the name "Don Stiernberg" came up again and again.
Briggs placed a call to Stiernberg, initially asking if he could assemble a group of appropriate musicians for this important evening. As it turned out, that was a very naive question. Man, could he ever! Playing the gig on Tuesday, May 20, 1997 (along with John Parrott on guitar, Jim Cox on bass, and Chuck Cushinery on violin), Don brought the house down. Unknowingly, Stiernberg was building a much larger house simultaneously. You see, Briggs was in the audience that magical night, musing about ways to share such wonderful music with the public.
A month later Briggs and Stiernberg began talks about producing a CD which would feature classic jazz tunes done acoustically. Those discussions led to the ultimate formulation of Blue Night Productions, Inc. on March 24, 1998. Blue Night Records is a subsidiary of that corporation. "About Time," our first recording project, was released on October 1, 1999. We're in pre-production on our second CD, which will once again feature Don and "the cats." And we won't stop there, we promise . . .
Our Mission
Blue Night Records is committed to recording and distributing acoustic jazz. In doing so, we are "livin' the dream" right now. We prefer jazz standards, but have no intention of excluding other styles of music. We also believe it's important for each CD to present tunes which relate to each other in some way. How often, for example, have you just been coaxed into relaxation by a recorded selection, only to be jolted from it by the next cut? Too often, most likely. Not with a Blue Night Records release.Life is short. Too short not to enjoy it. We hope our music will help you begin "livin' the dream" right now.