Black Hawk Records

[HutchFan]

Recently, I was looking around on the web for some information about Black Hawk Records. There's not much out there, not even a Wikipedia entry for the label. So I did a bit of detective work. I thought I might share what I found.

Black Hawk Records didn't last very long, only a few years in the 1980s. But the label, which was run by Dr. Herb Wong, put out some terrific music. Wong was also behind Palo Alto Records, another excellent but short-lived label. (Here's a brief article about Wong. A fascinating guy.)

In terms of Black Hawk's discography, this is what I've been able to cobble together from a variety of sources:

BHK Artist - Title
***********************************
521 Elvin Jones & McCoy Tyner - Reunited
522 Steve Kuhn - Life’s Magic
523 Carmen Lundy - Good Morning Kiss
524 Brian Bromberg - A New Day
525 Gil Evans - Live at the Public Theater, Vol. 1
526 Gil Evans - Live at the Public Theater, Vol. 2
527 Sir Roland Hanna & George Mraz - Romanesque
528 Sonny Stitt - Good Life
529 Hal Galper - Naturally
530 Roland Hanna - Glove
531 Eddie Gomez - Down Stretch
532 Billy Harper & John Faddis - John & Billy
533 John Scofield - East Meets West
534 ?
535 Haze Greenfield - All About You
536 Charlie Shoemake - Satin Nights
537 Chico Freeman - Tales of Ellington
50101 Maynard Ferguson - Body and Soul
50203 Sathima Bea Benjamin - Memories & Dreams
50204 Abdullah Ibrahim with Carlos Ward - Live at Sweet Basil, Vol. 1
50205 Abdullah Ibrahim - Ekaya (Home)
50206 Sathima Bea Benjamin - Windsong
50207 Abdullah Ibrahim - Water from an Ancient Well
50301 Jimmy Stewart - The Touch
50401 Phil Woods - Heaven
50501 Sheila Jordan - The Crossing
50601 Kenny Barron - 1 + 1 + 1
50701 Billy Holiday - At Monterey/1958
50801 Chico Freeman - The Pied Piper
50901 Tom Harrell - Play of Light
51001 Jimmy Knepper - 1st Place
51101 Stan Getz - Voyage
51201 Pam Purvis & Bob Ackerman - Heart Song
51301 Jessica Williams - Nothin’ But the Truth
51401 The Brubeck/Laverne Trio - See How It Feels
51501 Crystal - Clear
51601 Stephane Grappelli - Live In San Francisco
51701 Trpts - Transforming Traditions
51801 Dizzy Gillespie with the Mitchell/Ruff Duo - Enduring Magic
51901 Dan Moretti - Some Time Inside
52001 The Leaders - Mudfoot


I have eight Black Hawk LPs, and I like every one of them. The albums were beautifully produced and exceptionally well-recorded. (They were also released on nice heavy vinyl.) Interesting cover art too. In short, top-shelf production values to go along with top-shelf musicians.

Of the Black Hawk discs that I've heard, my top pick would probably be Voyage by Stan Getz. Unlike many other Black Hawk recordings, I don't think Voyage has ever been reissued. A shame. Any Getz-lover needs to track it down. I found my copy after reading about the LP in Donald Maggin's Getz biography.


So what about you? Any corrections or additions to the discography above? Any Black Hawk recordings that you've particularly enjoyed?

[kh1958]

Voyage has been reissued on CD.

Surveying the list, I have ten or eleven from the label, and you are right, they are all good. My favorite is Water From an Ancient Well.

[HutchFan]

Originally Posted by kh1958

Voyage has been reissued on CD.

Cool.

Originally Posted by kh1958

My favorite is Water From an Ancient Well.

Yeah, that's a good one for sure. Ekaya is also lovely.