Hear the deep, soulful 70s sounds of Black Jazz Records

Continuing my learning journey through the history of avant-garde and spiritual jazz, I now have jazz DJ/musicologist Gilles Peterson's sublime mix "Black Jazz Radio" on repeat.

Black Jazz Records was an independent label founded in Oakland in 1969 by pianist Gene Russell and percussionist Dick Schory. The only black-owned jazz label at the time, Black Jazz exclusively featured African-American artists whose non-traditional approach melded jazz with soul, funk, and black spirituality and consciousness. The result were a couple dozen stellar LPs by the likes of Doug Carn, Calvin Keys, Walter Bishop Jr, Kellee Patterson, The Awakening, and Gene Russell. If only I had those recordings on original vinyl! Listen below.

(And don't miss my previous post about Peterson's mix of tracks from the Strata-East label in a similar vein.)