[1][5][2][6] The label was created to promote the talents of young African American jazz musicians and singers, and released twenty albums between 1971 and 1975.
In addition to promoting the first four Black Jazz albums, Russell and his marketing consultant Ray Lawrence did radio, television and newspaper interviews to showcase the label and its artists.
[19] A 1974 Billboard magazine article reported that Doug Carn, one of the label's more successful artists, sold more records than Dave Brubeck and Ramsey Lewis at that time.
[5][21][22] Interest in Black Jazz was revived in the early 1990s when Carn's songs "Infant Eyes", "Adam's Apple", and "Spirit in a New Land" became popular in England and Japan.
[21][23] While Hardge maintains a Myspace page for the label, attempts to sell the CDs online were unsuccessful, and he eventually offered Black Jazz Records for sale on Craigslist for $285,000 in 2011.
[27][28][29] The legacy of Black Jazz Records has been kept alive by reissues of its albums, remixes and samples by DJ's and hip-hop artists.
[23] Guitarist Calvin Keys joined former label mates Henry Franklin and Carl Burnett in "Heroes of Black Jazz, a Tribute to Gene Russell", on July 14, 2011 at the Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center in Leimert Park, Los Angeles.
[31] Keys celebrated the re-issue of "Shawn-Neeq" by performing the entire album at Yoshi's jazz club in San Francisco, California on January 5, 2012.