One of New York City’s finer jazz clubs, The Iridium, is set to launch its own record label dedicated to audiophile-quality live recordings. IridiumLive’s first release will pay tribute to Les Paul, who performed regularly at the club until his death in 2009.

Recorded with the club’s state-of-the-art equipment by Grammy-nominated producer Doug Yoel and culled from recent highlights of its trademark “Les Paul Mondays” series, Les Paul Trio And Friends: A Jazz Tribute to Les features the late guitar giant’s band performing with special guests Nels Cline of Wilco, jazz guitar titans Stanley Jordan and Bucky Pizzarelli, and vocalist Jane Monheit. The club will celebrate the launch on April 2 with a special Les Paul Monday performance by Monheit and The Les Paul Trio.

The release underscores The Iridium’s technologically advanced, forward-thinking philosophy. The club’s HD audio/video broadcasts of concerts on Facebook and its own website (www.iridiumlive.net) prompted the Wall Street Journal to dub it “the small club that welcomes millions.” And its adventurous bookings earned it the title of “the city’s — if not the country’s — new home of the guitar” from Guitar World.

Since Paul’s passing, his Trio — guitarist Lou Pallo, bassist Nicki Parrott and pianist John Colianni — has carried on his legacy, performing every Monday night with special guests that have included guitar heroes from a variety of genres, including Jeff Beck, Steve Miller, Ted Nugent and Robert Randolph. A portion of the door from each Les Paul Monday show and from IridiumLive sales go to benefit The Les Paul Foundation, which honors Paul’s memory by supporting music education, engineering and innovation.

While this album pays tribute to the club’s jazz roots, upcoming releases on IridiumLive will showcase blues and rock highlights from the “Les Paul Mondays” series and full concerts from throughout the week.

For more information, go to www.theiridium.com

Tags: Iridium, Jane Monheit, Les Paul, Stanley