Giovanni Bonandrini

Italian producer, founder of twin jazz labels Black Saint and Soul Note, retired. Father of Flavio Bonandrini. Giovanni Bonandrini is an Italian music producer of avant-garde and free jazz from Milan and was head of the labels Soul Note and Black Saint for many years. Bonandrini was already interested in jazz as a teenager and bought his first shellac records in 1945. In 1977 he took over (as a partner and co-owner of the Hi-Fi & Record Center) the Black Saint label founded by Giacomo Pellicciotti in 1975, which by then had released 13 records in the avant-garde jazz field, and expanded it greatly at a time when the big US labels showed little interest in this area and scaled back their program. In 1979 he founded the sister label Soul Note for more bop-oriented jazz. Artists from both labels initially included Paul Bley, Billy Harper and David Murray, as well as the World Saxophone Quartet, Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Old and New Dreams, Steve Lacy, Muhal Richard Abrams, Sun Ra, Henry Threadgill, Julius Hemphill, Archie Shepp, Max Roach, Art Blakey, George Russell, Dave Douglas, Chico Hamilton, Hamiet Bluiett and many Italian jazz musicians like Giorgio Gaslini, Enrico Pieranunzi, Gianluigi Trovesi, Enrico Rava. By 2004 they had around 500 albums in their portfolio (which also continued to be available) with around 12 to 15 new releases per year. Bonandrini retained his independence and for this reason already canceled a contract with Polygram when they wanted to talk him into his program. 1982-1985, 1987-1989 he won the Down Beat Critics Poll as producer. His son Flavio Bonandrini continues as his father's successor in the management of the label.