Psi Records is an independent record label that was founded by saxophonist Evan Parker, and that focuses on free improvisation.
Parker founded Psi in 2001 with the assistance of Martin Davidson of Emanem Records.[1][2] Parker had previously co-founded Incus Records in 1970, but left the label in 1986, after which he recorded for Leo, FMP, Emanem, and ECM.[3] According to Parker, he started the label because he "missed the feeling of overseeing a project from start to finish,"[3] and chose the name Psi "for all the associations with irrational numbers, golden ratios etc. but above all for the Psi phenomena which I am convinced are at the heart of improvised music making."[1]
From 2001 to 2012, Psi released nearly 90 CDs,[4][5] after which Parker "decided that it's time to pause and think again."[6]
Parker stated that the goal of the label was "to represent my own music in the way I like to see it done and to draw people's attention to the work of other musicians who I feel are not given the prominence they deserve." According to writer Richard Williams, Psi "developed its own identity, visual and tactile as well as musical," with releases that featured a "unified (rather than uniform) design."[6] Critic Stuart Broomer described the label as having "the feeling of an expanded musical family," given the fact that many of the musicians had played with Parker prior to recording with Psi.[3]
Sources:[4][5]