About Intakt Records
Intakt Records has never been an ivory tower.
It is about setting topicality to music, where the political and social issues framing the music are also considered. And it does this with idealism, tenacity and a vigor for the cause, while standing up for key socio-political issues and values.
Breaking ground since 1986
For nearly forty years, Intakt has been a space where sound meets substance —
where artists shape music that resonates far beyond the moment.
Founded in 1986 and still fiercely independent, we continue to grow
through long-term collaboration, cultural exchange,
and a belief in music as a living art.
Musicians Lead the Way
— Alexander Hawkins
— Angelika Niescier
— Elias Stemeseder
— Lucas Niggli
— Marie Krüttli
— Christian Lillinger
Newly Created Worlds
The Intakt Records catalogue is a mirror of the musical development of contemporary jazz. Political and social developments and ruptures have left their mark on musicians and cultural activists. But art not only reflects the current world, it also creates new worlds, counter-worlds, alternative images, unknown sounds and structures in the creative process.
As a new production, every album is a piece of a newly created world, be it by condensing or transcending the prevailing world as an experience, or by anticipating sounds, images and future-oriented forms of interaction as a utopia.
Musicians Lead the Way
The musicians and their visions remain at the center. Beyond the music label, Intakt Records is a house of creativity, of invention, of cultural exchange, of the coming together of musicians and cultural activists – a binding of creative energies in a fragmented cultural scene. In its production work and as a concert organizer, the Intakt team follows the musicians and the development of the music.
These long-standing collaborations are the nucleus,
and the radius is expanding.
Open Space for New Developments
The label, which was founded in the mid-1980s, is characterized by important personalities of the musical awakening: Irène Schweizer, Maggie Nicols, Joëlle Léandre, Barry Guy, Evan Parker, Paul Lytton, Paul Lovens, Pierre Favre, Alexander von Schlippenbach, Andrew Cyrille, Oliver Lake, Cecil Taylor, Aki Takase, Günter Baby Sommer, Elliott Sharp. Many musicians of this generation are deeply rooted in the jazz tradition. However, they take jazz into the open and emancipate the music from predetermined processes and roles. They create an open space for new developments, for advanced musical forms and highly individual sounds.
Between Tradition and Renewal
The generation of pioneers was followed by two, three, four generations of musicians who broke new ground in the interstices between tradition and renewal, composition and improvisation, incorporating influences from rock, new music and various forms of local musical traditions. Personalities such as Fred Frith, Tim Berne, Jim Black, Sylvie Courvoisier, Lucas Niggli, Stephan Crump, Rudi Mahall, Aly Keïta, Ingrid Laubrock, Tom Rainey and Angelika Niescier, to name but a few, are active in this broad field. Musicians of a younger generation such as Alexander Hawkins, Kris Davis, Kaja Draksler, Christian Lillinger, Dave Gisler, Vera Kappeler, Aruán Ortiz, James Brandon Lewis and Trio Heinz Herbert continue this project of musical jazz modernism. They are out in the open, searching for new paths, deepening and refining – with respect for their teachers.
Continuity and Renewal
"We are continuously facing financial challenges. How can we lead Intakt Records into the future, with the experience and knowledge that the market will not carry a creative music company? In addition to creativity and the work to raise funds, we must find a way to enable culturally valuable but economically unprofitable production and cultural work. Marginalized by the media and discounted by cultural policy as Pro Spezia Rara, my aim is to maintain and strengthen the cultural relevance of this historic production house. I am confident that, together with the musicians and listeners from all over the world, we can make musical statements heard beyond the mainstream."
Florian Keller, Intakt Records
A Change of Perspective
According to the writer and filmmaker Alexander Kluge, who often quotes this sentence by Adorno, finding a way out of the crisis requires “a balance between empathy and objectivity.”
In this situation, I advocate a change of perspective in order to do justice to the importance of music for our lives. Especially today. At this point – after 40 years of music production – I would like to quote the writer Robert Walser, who wrote about music from a deeply human experience: “I miss something when I don’t listen to music, and when I listen to music, I miss something even more.”
Patrik Landolt, Founder of Intakt Records
Zürich Office
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Florian Keller -
Ariane Pollo -
Fiona Ryan -
Anja Illmaier -
Elia Aregger
(A)tonal Adventures: 37 Years of Music Production
Get a copy of Patrik Landolt's Intakt Chronicle when you sign up for a subscription.
Powered by People, not Platforms
Intakt Records has provided a supportive home for the avant-garde for four decades, but without the support of our passionate listeners the cultural institution we have developed would not exist.
In order to bring high-quality productions of contemporary jazz to the world as a cultural institution, we must fight against media marginalization.
As an Intakt Records Subscriber, you help us to secure the future of this important music and preserve a vast legacy of musical emancipation.
This is your invitation to be a part of it.