CTI Records (Creed Taylor Incorporated) is a jazz label founded in 1967 by producer/A&R manager Creed Taylor, initially as a subsidiary of A&M Records. Those early albums used the regular A&M label with just a small 'CTI' logo in the upper right quadrant. Taylor had previously founded Impulse Records and worked for Verve Records where he earned the reputation as an industry-respected producer of jazz albums.
CTI became an independent label in 1970 and used several distributors for its releases, among them Motown and CBS. Kudu Records was started as a sister label in 1971, and later, CTI subsidiaries named Salvation Records, Greenestreet, and Three Brothers were launched. The label was initially very successful with best-selling album releases by Deodato or Grover Washington Jr.
In 1978, CTI Records had to file for Chapter XI bankruptcy, but much of its catalog has remained in print (Creed Taylor launched the 8000 reissue series in 1979), and the label continued active until 1984.