FLAC (tracks, cue, log) | 1h 17 min | Soul-Jazz, Space-Age, Contemporary Jazz | 463 MB

Black Jazz is a jazz label created in 1971 by Gene Russell.
This legendary label distributed in the 70's by ovation own about 20 albums only from free jazz to funk. The best quality in jazz!!! "Quadraphonic"
For a label that only lasted a little over five years and notched only twenty albums' worth of catalogue in its initial run, Black Jazz Records carved a significant niche in the jazz world. Ahead of the label's 50th anniversary reunion with Doug and Jean Carn, Nate Patrin takes a look at 10 crucial records from the influential imprint.
When Los Angeles-born, Oakland-based pianist-turned-producer Gene Russell co-founded Black Jazz in 1971, the 39-year-old journeyman was just two years removed from a small-trio release on Decca that landed squarely in the lighthearted, pop-friendly, 'Up-Up And Away' and 'Born Free'-covering world of cocktail-bar jazz. But with the turn-of-the-seventies emergence of revolutionary developments from electric Miles to the spiritual directions of Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane – and all sorts of funky mutations in Russell's soul-jazz wheelhouse, to boot – the tight-knit collection of artists he assembled took full advantage of all the possibilities that lay ahead for jazz in the young decade.
As a cultural statement, Black Jazz was both resounding and necessary: Russell's involvement made it the first black-owned jazz label in 50 years, and its focus on promoting a wealth and breadth of black-originated jazz expression promoted an independent autonomy at a when jazz crossover and popular decline in the face of rock and r&b was contentious. And with co-owner Dick Schory's knowledge of state-of-the-art stereo recording techniques, Black Jazz strove for the kind of audiophile status that most '70s indies could barely even dream of. From 1972 to the label's end in 1975 each album was issued with a surround-sound Quadraphonic version.
Despite its abbreviated tenure – Russell folded the label to focus on a new, less jazz-focused one, Aquarican Records, that never got off the ground – the legacy of Black Jazz spans veterans and newcomers, traditionalists and firebrands, and more than a couple names that jazz aficionados would know far better by the end of the '70s. Russell's passing at age 48 in 1981 left the catalogue in limbo, though a combination of adoption by UK acid jazzers and hip-hop's turn to jazz-sourced breaks and beats in the early '90s, kept a spark alive until Japanese specialty label Snow Dog Records reissued the catalogue in its entirety between 2012 and 2013. Legendary DJs like Gilles Peterson, Theo Parrish, and DJ Mitsu the Beats made their preservationist cases with their own mixes focusing on the label, but for the full album experience, here's ten selections from Black Jazz that should give you a wide scope on what they brought to the jazz world in their short .
1. The Awakening – Mode For D.D. (05:37)
2. Doug Carn – Higher Ground (05:03)
3. Calvin Keys – Aunt Lovely (07:30)
4. Roland Haynes – Eglise (03:14)
5. The Awakening – Slinky (06:10)
6. Walter Bishop, Jr. – Coral Keys (06:20)
7. Rudolph Johnson – Diswa (06:33)
8. Henry Franklin – Blue Lights (07:03)
9. Kellee Patterson – Maiden Voyage (05:15)
10. Chester Thompson – Powerhouse (06:30)
11. The Awakening – March On (05:30)
12. Walter Bishop, Jr. – Soul Village (06:18)
13. Rudolph Johnson – The Highest Pleasure (07:37)



DOWNLOAD
uploadgig.com