Based in the provincial city of Enschede, in the eastern Netherlands, Criss Cross Records captured the aesthetic essence of cutting-edge hardcore New York jazz more consistently than any other label on 400+ albums recorded between 1981 and 2019. Founder Gerry Teekens (1936-2019), a linguistics professor by day and a semi-professional drummer by night, was a connoisseur of groove -- he  operated by the motto, "If you have a great band, but not a great drummer, forget it."

Teekens knew talent and was not afraid to follow his instincts. Operating on a budget defined by his teacher's salary and subsequent pension, he began by recording such masters as Chet Baker, Jimmy Raney, Johnny Coles, Warne Marsh, Clifford Jordan and Slide Hampton when they were on European tours. As the 1980s progressed, he began to make regular trips to New York to document the best and brightest of several generations of the Big Apple's best-and-brightest young jazz musicians.