The Growing College Market for the "New Music" in the 1970s

IMP-1972 University Series of Fine Recordings

In 1969 Bob Thiele left Impulse to be replaced by Ed Michel. At this point Impulse could have dramatically changed, but sensibly, Ed continued in the same vein as Bob. He continued to promote John Coltrane's legacy, continued to record the existing 'New Music' artists and signed some new artists. When Steve Backer joined Impulse in 1972 as Head of Promotions he brought his Pop and Rock promotional experience to bear, and recognised that Impulse artists were popular on college campuses. He decided to build on this including the creation of an Impulse artists package tour in April 1972. It kicked off at the Fenway Theatre in Boston, followed by six college dates :
University of Rhode Island, Kingston (8th), Clark University, Worcester Mass (9), University of Mass (10), Brown University, Providence (14), Thornton Academy, Sacco Maine (15) and Yale University, New Haven (16).
Pharaoh Sanders, Alice Coltrane and Michael White featured in the Fenway Theatre date. Pharoah then departed due to other commitments. In fact, April 15th was amazingly a High School gig.
It proved very successful with a follow-on two week tour arranged for mid-May going from Vancouver BC to Southern California. Other artists joining that tour included Archie Shepp and John Klemmer.
Since Impulse had set ticket prices low, they had to carry much of the promotional costs. However, some of the artists saw a four-fold increase in record sales, and it proved to be financially successful.
In 1973 a follow-on Fall National Tour was kicked off at Carnegie Hall in NYC with Gato Barbieri, Keith Jarrett and Alice Coltrane. College dates in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit, Boston and Washington DC followed with Barbieri at all concerts, Jarrett all East Coast, and Coltrane all West Coast. In all, eight Impulse artists were involved.