Because of his experience as a record buyer Koester understood the value of music that had been recorded but not issued, or recordings that were out of print. Through his many connections he has acquired some very important master recordings. "We had the opportunity to buy the George Lewis masters recordings made for a major corporation for a school transcription program. Buying masters was from then on, forever on my mind. We bought sometimes one master, sometimes three or four. The most commercial acquisition was the United because we got good source on virtually everything. I was afraid of the United deal because I had heard that there were silent partners. I can say the same thing for the Apollo; they were both cases where I made fairly good deals because of this rumor. | wasn't willing to pay a hell of a lot for it I was going to have to deal with that kind of a gamble."....
Be sure to check out the excellent new releases by Ernest Dawkins' New Horizons Ensemble - an ambitious live jazz recording spanning the African American experience; and Jeff Parker, the guitarist of avant jazz/sound units Tortoise, Chicago Underground Quartet, and Isotope 217, among others including New Horizons Ensemble.
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