The We Jazz name was first used when Matti Nives hosted a club night with saxophonist Timo Lassy in 2009.[1] Later in 2013, Nives started an annual We Jazz Festival in Helsinki, before he launched We Jazz Records in 2016.[2][3] The first release was a self-titled album by Bowman Trio,[3] released in September 2016.[1] It had been recorded at the We Jazz Festival in December 2015.[4]
The label has been noted for releasing different styles of jazz, including those that explore electronica and experimental music. Many of their releases come from within the Helsinki jazz scene.[3]
The We Jazz Festival has continued to be held each year in late-November / early-December, except for in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Finland. Instead, they founded the Odysseus Festival, held in 2021 on the small island of Lonna.[5]
A quarterly magazine, We Jazz Magazine, was launched as an experiment. For the first issue, 1,000 copies were printed which sold out within two weeks.[3] The second issue, released in 2021, increased the number of copies to 2,000.[6]
A We Jazz store was opened in 2019 after Nives was offered a large vinyl collection owned by late Swiss music journalist Francis Montfort.[6]