{{Infobox record label <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Music --> | name = Äva Records | image = <!-- logo, such as "LABEL-LOGO.jpg" --> | image_size = <!-- size --> | founded = {{start date|1961}} | founder = Fred Astaire, Elmer Bernstein, Jackie Mills, Tommy Wolf | defunct = {{end date|1965}} | status = Defunct | distributor = MGM Records | genre = Jazz, pop, soundtracks | country = U.S. | location = Los Angeles, California }} '''Äva Records''' was a short-lived American record company and label founded in 1961 by Fred Astaire,<ref name="New Grove">{{cite book|last=Gardner|first=Mark|title=The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, vol. 1|year=2002|publisher=Grove's Dictionaries Inc.|location=New York|isbn=1561592846|edition=2nd|editor=Barry Kernfeld|page=94}}</ref> Elmer Bernstein, Jackie Mills, and Tommy Wolf. The original name was Choreo Records, but it was changed in 1962 to Äva Records, after Astaire's daughter, to avoid a conflict with Choreo Records in Dallas, Texas. Astaire was president, Mills vice-president.
Mills was the producer for jazz albums that included Victor Feldman, Muggsy Spanier, and Ben Tucker.<ref name="New Grove" />
In June 1964, Astaire sold his 62% stock interests. Hermes Pan, a shareholder, sold his stock to Glen Costin, a realtor in Texas, and Costin became the label's president.
From September 1961 to August 1964, the labels were distributed by MGM Records. Äva folded in March 1965, with Astaire owning the masters. Mills was president when it folded. The label's catalogue included Elmer Bernstein, Herbie Steward, Pete Jolly, John Neel, and The Charades.<ref>"[https://books.google.com/books?id=eEUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA40 Ava Folds; Mills Joins M-T Records]", ''Billboard'', Marcy 27, 1965, p. 40</ref><ref>[http://45-sleeves.com/USA/ava/ava-us.htm ÄVA: US Label and Company Sleeve 1963–1965], edited by Franz Zeleny, Austria, posted at {{URL|http://45-sleeves.com/}} (online blog & label database) (accessed 3 June 2013)</ref>
According to ''Billboard'', Costin sold Äva to Charles Jourdan, acting as a representative of a European syndicate.<ref>"[https://books.google.com/books?id=fygEAAAAMBAJ&pg Ava Sold to European Group],", ''Billboard'', May 15, 1965, p. 4</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ava Records}} Category:Record labels established in 1961 Category:Defunct record labels of the United States Category:American jazz record labels Category:MGM Records Category:Fred Astaire