American. Tappan Zee was a Jazz-Fusions label, and was owned by pianist Bob James. It ran from 1977-84 in the States, but enjoyed a slightly shorter life in these islands; over here a couple of the company's albums appeared on CBS before it was given its own label identity, which happened in January 1979. The first two UK Tappan Zee singles were numbered in the TZ-0s; they were Wilbert Longmire's, 'Black Is The Colour' b/w 'Funshine' (TZ-1; 6/79), and 'Watermelon Man' by Mongo Santamaria (TZ-2; 1979). The latter was only available as a promo, with the same (edited) track on both sides, and despite there being a release date on the promo of the Wilbert Longmire single (1) I have yet to see an issue copy of that, either. Full-length versions of both 'A' sides were issued on a 12"-only various artists sampler in June 1979 - the date given on the promo - so the 7" version of 'Black Is The Colour' may never have been given an actual release. That sampler and subsequent Tappan Zee releases shared CBS's main catalogue series. The Bob James record shown above dates from January 1980 despite the '1979' on the labels, but it does at least provide an example of a non-demo label. Needless to say, CBS handled manufacture and distribution. The Discography below covers the '80s as well as 1979.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.