Black Jazz Records was a jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 record label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 founded in Oakland, California

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

  during the early 1970s by jazz pianist Gene Russell.

Russell founded the label as an alternative to traditional jazz invoking a more political and spiritual tone often with funk overtones. Black Jazz released various types of music including, funk

Funk

Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

, free jazz

Free jazz

Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...

 and soul jazz

Soul jazz

Soul jazz is a development of jazz incorporating strong influences from blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues in music for small groups, often an organ trio featuring a Hammond organ.- Overview :Soul jazz is often associated with hard bop. Mark C...

. According to a 1974 Billboard Magazine, one of the label's more successful artists, Doug Carn, sold more records than Dave Brubeck

Dave Brubeck

David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...

 and Ramsey Lewis

Ramsey Lewis

Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. is an American jazz composer, pianist and radio personality. Ramsey Lewis has recorded over 80 albums and has received seven gold records and three Grammy Awards so far in his career.-Biography:...

. The label existed for six years during its first run and ended following the death of Russell.

Discography

BJQD	Artists	Title	Recorded
1	Gene Russell	New Direction	1971
2	Walter Bishop, Jr.	Coral Keys	1971
3	Doug Carn	Infant Eyes	1971
4	Rudolph Johnson	Spring Rain	1971
5	Calvin Keys	Shawn-Neeq	1971
6	Chester Thompson	Powerhouse	1971
7	Henry Franklin	The Skipper	1971
8	Doug Carn	Spirit Of The New Land	1972
9	The Awakening	Hear, Sense And Feel	1972
10	Gene Russell	Talk To My Lady	1973
11	Rudolph Johnson	The Second Coming	1973
12	Kellee Patterson	Maiden Voyage	1974
13
14	Walter Bishop, Jr.	Keeper Of My Soul	1973
15	The Awakening	Mirage	1973
16	Doug Carn	Revelation	1973
17	Henry Franklin	The Skipper At Home	1974
18	Calvin Keys	Proceed With Caution!	1974
19	Roland Haynes	The Second Wave	1974
20	Cleveland Eaton	Plenty Good Eaton	1975
21	Doug Carn	Adams Apple	1973
22	Doug Carn	New Incentive: Firm Roots	2001

Musicians

• Gene Russell
  Gene Russell
  Gene Russell was an American pop, jazz, and soul keyboardist who played acoustic and Fender Rhodes.He is mainly known for the albums he released on Black Jazz Records.-Discography:*1967: Takin' Care of Business*1967: Up and Away...
  
   - Piano
• Calvin Keys
  Calvin Keys
  Calvin Keys is an American jazz guitarist, known for the several albums he released for Black Jazz Records.The Bay Area virtuoso guitarist is well known for his performances and recordings with greats such as Ray Charles, John Handy, Bobby Hutcherson, Eddie Marshall, Sonny Stitt, Pharaoh Sanders,...
  
   - Guitar
• Walter Bishop, Jr.
  Walter Bishop, Jr.
  Walter Bishop, Jr. was an American bop and hard bop jazz pianist.He was the son of composer Walter Bishop, Sr.. In high school his friends included Kenny Drew, Sonny Rollins, and Art Taylor...
  
   - Piano
• Henry Franklin
  Henry Franklin
  Henry "Skipper" Franklin is an American jazz double-bassist.- Biography :Franklin played on Hugh Masekela's 1968 number one single, "Grazing in the Grass," as well as with Masekela's band at the Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967...
  
   - Bass
• Doug Carn
  Doug Carn
  Doug Carn is an American jazz musician from St. Augustine, Florida, formerly married to Jean Carne and known for his several albums released for Black Jazz Records....
  
   - Piano, Organ, Keyboards
• Jean Carn - Vocalist
• Cleveland Eaton
  Cleveland Eaton
  Cleveland "Cleve" Eaton is an American jazz double bassist from Fairfield, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. His most famous accomplishments are substantial playing stints with the Ramsey Lewis Trio and later with the Count Basie Orchestra...
  
  - bass
• Kellee Paterson - Vocalist
• The Awakening - Instrumental Group
• Chester Thompson - Organ
• Rudolph Johnson - Saxophone

External links

• Official site
• Complete Catalog
• Discogs entry