Par Drops Out of the Rap Race

How’s this for a switch: Par Records, which started out as a rap label just three years ago, has had so much better luck with jazz releases by saxophonists Ronnie Laws and Wilton Felder that the Los Angeles-based firm is pretty much dropping rap.

“I enjoy working contemporary jazz a lot more than rap,� says Par co-owner Chuck Fassert, who in the early ‘60s wrote “Barbara-Ann,� the classic pop-rock novelty tune recorded by the Regents.

“With rap, a little guy like Par has trouble keeping up with the major labels,� Fassert says. “You have to shell out so much money for promotion, and there are only so many radio stations that play rap.�

Par still has a few rap releases in its catalogue, including albums by Fila Fresh Crew, Compton Cartel and a compilation that features tracks by Ice-T and 2 Live Crew. But the emphasis is clearly on jazz. The plan is to put out nine or 10 albums this year.

“Our rap albums only did so-so,� says Fassert. Conversely, the Laws and Felder albums--named “True Spirit� and “Nocturnal Moods� respectively--sold very well, according to Stuart Alan Love, Fassert’s partner.

New releases include “Wayne Henderson and The Next Crusade: Back to the Groove,� which is due out this week. The album finds trombonist Henderson, Par’s director of jazz, and Felder--two of the founding members of the Jazz Crusaders/Crusaders--returning to the studio together for first time in many years. “It’s the sound of the Crusaders at this point in time, had they stayed together,� says Love in describing the album.

Henderson, Felder, pianist Rob Mullins--who is also on the album--and others appear tonight and Saturday at Birdland West in Long Beach.

Also on the upcoming schedule is a new album by Laws, produced, as was “True Spirit,� by Henderson; and a vocal album by ex-Tower of Power singer Lenny Williams, though Love stressed that this collection will have a jazz feel.