Co-founded in 1971 by Gene Russell (pianist) along with Dick Schoryl. Russell (Born December 2, 1932 in Los Angeles, CA Died May 3, 1981 in Los Angeles, CA) 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, free jazz, and soul jazz. According to a 1974 Billboard Magazine, one of the label's more successful artists, Doug Carn, sold more records than Dave Brubeck and Ramsey Lewis.

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

In the early 1990s the label and its catalog were purchased by James Hardge. While only one new album by Doug Carn was released, the entire catalog was reissued on CD.

While for a time the label maintained a website and purported to offer items for sale, there were numerous problems with customers not receiving their merchandise. Evidence of this can be found in complaints submitted to complaints.com, ripoffreport.com and other websites. Their My Space page is still available, but no items are currently being offered for sale. Due to this situation, the catalog is once again rather hard to obtain.