Mike Gerber
GEARBOX
You’ve thrived as a trader in London’s financial sector, then established a successful maritime security business… so, what do you do next? What Darrel Sheinman did, in 2009, was found a record label dedicated to producing quality audiophile vinyl.
Initially, it was something of a hobby for an audio enthusiast who in his downtime played drums, mainly in funk combos: “Because I played drums, I used to do my own recordings using cassette machines, overdubs, and playing along to one until the degradation got bad,” Sheinman tells us. “I’ve always had a fascination with tape. My dad had a reel-to-reel machine I used to play with and splice with when I was a kid.”
It was while attending an N.E.R.D gig that the yearning to start a label took hold: “they were playing with two drummers, they were so tight. I thought, ‘this is great’. So I tried to get the rights, because my wife’s best friend was doing the live streaming and video. But I was nobody, so no way would I get a licence to release that.
“So I went to the BBC and looked for rights I could easily get, things like radio broadcasts, and jazz for vinyl rights was easy. Hence we did the Tubby Hayes Jazz For Moderns, our first release.”
Tenor saxophonist and vibraphonist Hayes was one of Britain’s most revered jazz musicians, and the album was a first-ever commercial release of a 1962 broadcast. Archive-first releases continue to be a significant component of Gearbox’s burgeoning catalogue; the latest such is Dexter Gordon’s Fried Bananas, mastered from VPRO radio broadcast tapes recorded during the celebrated American jazz saxophonist’s 1972 Netherlands tour.