Check out this All About Jazz article on Greenleaf Music.
Greenleaf began its life more traditionally, with a distributor and a shelf presence in brick-and-mortar music stores for its first two records, including Douglas’ Mountain Passages with his Nomad ensemble. But as 2005 progressed, Friedman sensed that online retail – the right to which he reserved in Greenleaf’s contract with its distributor – was increasingly the way most effectively to reach Greenleaf’s audience. The strange result is that the Grammy-nominated Keystone became available in stores only subsequent to its nomination.
Besides Mountain Passages and Keystone, the other two records in the Greenleaf catalog are Kneebody’s self-titled debut and the Douglas quintet’s Live at the Bimhuis, from its 2002 European tour. The latter is the first in Greenleaf’s Paperback Series, which, Douglas said, “involves recordings that ought to be out there but that would very rarely get a chance to see the light of day, because of marketing and promotion constraints.” The Paperbacks are professionally recorded, but feature minimalist packaging and are sold only online and at a reduced price ($9 for one set, or $15 for both sets of Live at the Bimhuis).