Hyperituals is part of the new research path undertaken by Hyperjazz Records. Entirely curated by Khalab – Raffaele Costantino, HJ’s founder and head of A&R – Hyperituals is a philological investigation that delves deeply into the musical influences and cultural roots of the young Italian label. The theme that runs through Hyperituals is the exploration of the possibilities of sound, rhythm, remix, and endless sampling. Inspiring listening, interpretation, and insight. Is it an exercise in crate-digging that explores the past of some of the most important yet sometimes forgotten record labels and aims to bring to light music that is contemporary both in its sound and its message.
The first stage of this journey is represented by Black Saint/Soul Note, an Italian ‘double’ label based in Milan that, since the 1970s and throughout the 1980s, established itself as one of the most important imprints for international jazz. Founded respectively in 1975 by Giacomo Pellicciotti and in 1979 by Giovanni Bonandrini (to whom Pellicciotti sold Black Saint in 1977), Black Saint and Soul Note have represented a safe haven for incredible and brilliant artists who were unable to find their space elsewhere.
By combining jazz tradition with the political vanguard sentiment of the time, the two sister labels were able to press and produce more than five hundred records (still available today – the catalogue is now owned by CAM Jazz), many of which are by some of the brightest names in creative jazz or the ‘avant-garde’ of the era. Black Saint and Soul Note always placed the artists, their visions, and their music at the center, giving them total freedom of creative expression. It is thanks to this constant, cutting-edge and meticulous commitment that today we have some of the shiniest musical gems by Sun Ra, Archie Shepp, Don Cherry, Max Roach, Anthony Braxton, David Murray, and many others. And it is this long list of jazz gods and idols that led the two labels to be recognized as the best in the world by critics, winning the DownBeat Critics Poll for Best Record Label for six years in a row, from 1984 to 1990, conquering the American market.
This first double gatefold vinyl volume is entirely dedicated to the Soul Note catalogue. Khalab’s selection – focused on rhythms, grooves, and Afrocentric traditions – demonstrates how this music, through its sensibility, can renew our connection to the present in unexpected ways. As the curator and music critic Enrico Bettinello writes in the compilation’s liner notes, in this volume “we find moments of ecstasy, irresistible percussive webs, fiery solos, poetic awareness, and magical ritual lyricism.”
A second volume focused on the Black Saint catalogue is already in the works.
Catalogue number: HJ007LP – NO DIGITAL, ONLY VINYL
Released April 8, 2022
All tracks licensed by Kepach Music S.r.l.
Liner notes by Enrico Bettinello Enrico Bettinello – curator and music critic
Translations by Megan Iacobini de Fazio and Jessica Phelan
Warm thanks to Martel Ollerenshaw for revising the texts