Its roster includes Ray Anderson, Anthony Braxton, Lisle Ellis, Georg Graewe, Gerry Hemingway, Franz Koglmann, Steve Lacy, Joelle Leandre, Myra Melford, Paul Plimley, Max Roach, Horace Tapscott, Cecil Taylor, Mike Westbrook, John Zorn, Vienna Art Orchestra,[1] David Murray, Luzia von Wyl, Archie Shepp, Jimmy Lyons, Tony Coe, Michel Portal, and Sun Ra,[2] The label progressed through a range of series featuring distinct packaging styles, from the initial runs of initial 12 inch LP's with alphabetical and numerical catalog numbers with sleeve drawings and paintings by Klaus Baumgärtner, to elaborately packaged boxes with inserts and postcards, and then black and white photography on CD releases.
[5] Werner X. Uehlinger started the HatHut label in 1975 to release recordings by Joe McPhee and soon followed with albums by emerging avant-garde jazz musicians including Steve Lacy, David Murray, David S. Ware and Jimmy Lyons.
The first releases on HatHut between 1975 and 1979 had alphabetic catalog numbers starting with A and ending with a triple LP Y/Z/Z making a total of twenty albums in the series.
[8] From 1981 to 1987 Hathut released a total of fifty-one albums in the initial hat ART LP series, many of which were packaged in fold-open cardboard box like sleeves which sometimes included postcards, additional 45rpm EPs, 7" singles, or single sided albums.
[9] Hathut began releasing compact discs on the hat ART label in 1988 with a 6000 series catalog numbers featuring new music and reissues of vinyl albums, sometimes with additional material.