About Us
Beyond category, beyond preconceptions, beyond boundaries: Since first materializing onto the scene more than two decades ago, Abstract Logix has consistently specialized in revolutionary music by visionary artists — sounds that defy genre in their quest for new expressive dimensions. That they have not just survived but thrived amidst the shifting sands of the music industry landscape is testament to Abstract Logix’s inventiveness, agility, and tireless support of musicians and projects that would challenge the imagination of any other outfit. What began as a modest home business is now an internationally recognized musical force, with two Grammy™ Awards to their credit: Best Improvised Jazz Solo for John McLaughlin’s “Miles Beyond” in 2017 and Best Global Music Album in 2024 for Shakti’s This Moment – the first new studio album from the pioneering world music outfit in 45 years.
The longevity of Abstract Logix may be tied to the fact that the firm came into being in 2002 — the dawn of the most tumultuous, transformative time in the history of the music business. As insurgent technologies were upending old models, Abstract Logix appeared first as a blog, a relatively novel medium at the moment, edited by music enthusiast and computer programmer Souvik Dutta. From the outset, Abstract Logix specialized in an emerging musical strain that combined the new horizons revealed by the post-psychedelic jamband movement with the rigor, precision, and complexity introduced by the trailblazers of jazz fusion. Their initial offering was not a physical title, but an online post of a house concert hosted by Dutta, featuring a mind-altering performance by the trio of guitarist Shawn Lane, bassist Jonas Hellborg, and drummer Jeff Sipe.
The first Abstract Logix album release did not appear until 2005, as Dutta’s blog was expanding into a thoughtfully curated online retail business catering to adventurous, open-minded listeners whose musical passions were awakened by artists like the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit, Frank Zappa, and the Grateful Dead. Both musically and technologically, Abstract Logix was ahead of the curve. Before long, any available space in Dutta’s North Carolina residence was crammed with inventory and shipping supplies, and his wife Shweta stepped in to oversee the growing business’s finances.
Lincoln Memorial, which gathered the all-star ensemble of Jimmy Herring, Greg Osby, Ricky Keller, and Jeff Sipe under the banner of Project Z, marked Abstract Logix’s debut as a label. Nearly 70 projects have followed since, the only continuous thread being a commitment to cutting-edge musicianship and a willingness to allow artists to document their creative pursuit without interference, impediment, or compromise. The revolutionary guitarist and bandleader John McLaughlin was an early supporter, granting Abstract Logix the rights to distribute his instructional DVD set This Is the Way I Do It and hiring them to handle tour merchandising, before cementing their relationship via the 2008 Floating Point album, the label’s eleventh release. The label has since provided a home for a series of McLaughlin projects, including the aforementioned Shakti release, new music from his expansive 4th Dimension band (with Gary Husband, Etienne Mbappé, and Ranjit Barot), a live album celebrating the legacy of McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra undertaken with Jimmy Herring and his band the Invisible Whip, and Is That So?, a moving collaboration with Shakti co-founder Zakir Hussain and current Shakti vocalist Shankar Mahadevan.
In addition to the label’s first John McLaughlin release, 2008 also saw the peak of Abstract Logix’s run as an online retailer, with direct to consumer monthly sales (of both their own projects and distributed projects) averaging $50,000 before the decline of physical media set in. Eventually Abstract Logix phased out distributing other labels’ titles and reinvested in the unreproducible thrill of the concert experience — while continuing to release albums by a mix of established and new voices. Booking, tour management, and merchandising responsibilities took Dutta around the world, reaching an apex with the 2010 New Universe Festival, a two-day event in Raleigh, North Carolina featuring an incredible cast of musical luminaries from around the world eventually captured as separate double CD and DVD releases. As a label, the operation continued to further the careers of established artists like McLaughlin, Gary Husband, Jimmy Herring, and Wayne Krantz and gifted newcomers — including Alex Machacek and Oz Noy. They were voted “Best Record Label” in the 2019 Jazz Time readers’ poll, receiving more votes than the Blue Note, Concord, and Rope-a-Dope labels.
Today, Abstract Logix is a nimble and resourceful outfit, nurturing a thriving community of both musicians and listeners that interconnect and reinforce one another in surprising and inspiring ways. In the performance arena, Abstract Logix conceived and executed such notable tours as the McLaughlin/Herring “Meeting of the Spirits” tour, the highly anticipated reunion of the original lineup of Bruce Hampton’s vastly influential Aquarium Rescue Unit, and Shakti’s international 50th anniversary tour – for which the group was joined by a rotating cast of special guest openers including Jerry Douglas, Béla Fleck, Bill Frisell, and John Scofield. On record, Abstract Logix generates a compelling mix of live documents (including Oz Noy’s recent Triple Play, with Dennis Chambers and Jimmy Haslip), previously unheard discoveries such as Wayne Krantz’s captivating Music Room 1985, immaculately conceived and executed contemporary studio recordings from both rising and established performers. “I am not that into musicians who want to emulate what has already been done,” Dutta told Telegraph India. “I am always looking for someone who brings something of their own to the table.”