Contrary to the narratives that characterize the 1970s as a static fusion-dominated decade, jazz was as rapidly evolving. For the record buyer, however, it was a time when standard-setting labels like Blue Note and Impulse were in eclipse, and independent and artist-run labels were struggling to gain a toehold in an inflationary market. As a result, no one label was keeping pace with where the music was at that moment and where it was going next.

Established in 1975, Black Saint was an unlikely candidate to become such a barometer, a status exclusive to American labels, historically. A low-profile Italian label that was sold in 1977 after issuing barely a dozen titles, Black Saint nevertheless made an initial incisive statement about the state of the art, documenting the ripening of such Coltrane-inspired saxophonists as Archie Shepp and Billy Harper as well as the rise of AACM and BAG-affiliated artists like Muhal Richard Abrams and Oliver Lake in remarkably short order.

New label owner Giovanni Bonandrini made several well-timed strategic decisions – the creation of Soul Note, a companion label documenting the full spectrum of jazz creativity; a major commitment to record the then emerging David Murray; a deal with Polygram Special Imports to distribute and market the labels in the US – and Black Saint and Soul Note soon broke away from the pack. By sustaining a robust release schedule of albums that hard core jazz fans wanted – needed – to hear, Black Saint and Soul Note became the most celebrated labels of the 1980s. Down Beat’s Critics Poll gave Bonandrini top producer honors seven times during the decade, while Black Saint/Soul Note was voted Label of the Year six years in a row.

Entering the ‘90s, Black Saint/Soul Note had a staggeringly extensive roster of era-defining artists. One needs to look no further than leaders of Black Saint and Soul Note albums whose last name begins with B to gain a sense of how the twin labels embodied the diversity of jazz during the 1980s and ‘90s: violinist Billy Bang; pianist Borah Bergman; saxophonist Tim Berne; drummers Art Blakey and Ed Blackwell; pianists Ran Blake and Paul Bley; saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett; trumpeters Lester Bowie and Bobby Bradford; multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton; saxophonist Rob Brown; and pianist Jaki Byard. Black Saint/Soul Note embraced tradition and innovation equally.

Though the labels have been relatively dormant for the past several years, the influence of dozens of Black Saint/Soul Note albums like Bill Dixon’s November 1981, Max Roach and Cecil Taylor’s Historic Concerts, and The Julius Hemphill Sextet’s Fat Man and The Hard Blues is undiminished. This still-growing 600+ title catalog is a treasure trove, especially for a new generation of listeners discovering that the jazz tradition is the passing on of fire, not the worship of ashes.

So, the clarion call – Black Saint & Soul Note Ride Again – is welcomed news for persons for whom jazz is a burning passion.

Bill Shoemaker, March 2007