Black Saint
Black Saint is an Italian jazz label.
The label was founded in 1975 by Giacomo Pelliciotti . He gave musicians of the avant-garde jazz in particular the opportunity to record records. In 1977 Giovanni Bonandrini took over the management of the label. Another label called Soul Note was founded in 1979 .
In Black Saint and Soul Note many important American musicians recorded from the 1970s to 1990s albums, often those from the environment of the Chicago jazz scene, such as the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and the musician collectives of St. Louis as the Black Artists Group and the Human Arts Ensemble . The first release of the "Black Saint" label was an album by Billy Harper in 1975; records by Muhal Richard Abrams , Archie Shepp and Don Pullen followed in the same year . The two labels were honored several times between 1984 and 1989 in the critical poll of the Down Beat as “Best Label” and “Best Producer”.
The Soul Note label was initially reserved for musicians who are closer to the "mainstream" of jazz, even if the musical transitions between the two labels are fluid. Today you can also find records by Tony Oxley or Bill Dixon on Soul Note .
The record company is based in Tribiano , Italy . Many of the Black Saint recordings were made in Milan , mostly on the occasion of the musicians' tours through Europe, sometimes accompanied by Italian musicians such as Giorgio Gaslini , who also recorded for the label. Giovanni Bonandrini's son Flavio now runs the business.
Web links
- Official website
- Site with selected albums and covers of the label ( Memento from May 12, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
- Interview with Bonandrini
- AllAboutJazz about the two labels
- Black Saint at Discogs
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jazz review on Black Saint / Soul Note ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
