Le label

Black and Blue is a French jazz and blues record label, founded in Taverny, Val-d'Oise. It was founded in 1968 by Jean-Marie Monestier (1938-) and Jean-Pierre Tahmazian (1944-2022).

The label was founded in 1968 by Jean-Marie Monestier, a record dealer in Bordeaux, and Jean-Pierre Tahmazian, a jazz enthusiast and professional instructor-educator, to record "some of the last representatives of classic jazz," whom they brought to France, "bringing them out of the anonymity into which they had been forgotten. Enthralled by the audience's reception at their concerts, the musicians recorded some of their finest tracks for Black and Blue." Beginning in the mid-1970s, the label developed a publishing business with American jazz and blues musicians touring France and Europe. According to the Soulbag website, "Black and Blue has developed a catalog that many American labels would envy."

The label's address was formerly located at 279 rue de Paris, 95150 Taverny, in the Val-d'Oise department, between July 1, 1987, and June 13, 2003. Since 2005, the label has been located at 30 bis Rue du Bailly, 93210 Saint-Denis, in Seine-Saint-Denis.

In the 2000s, Jean-Michel Proust and Jean-Marc Fritz launched The Definitive Black and Blue Sessions series to rediscover the label's treasures. In March 2017, Black and Blue celebrated its 50th anniversary with an evening event at the Jazz Club Étoile in Paris.

Co-founder Jean-Pierre Tahmazian passed away on July 31, 2022, at the age of 78.

Since 2022 and the death of Jean-Pierre Tahmazian, the label has been managed by Jean-Marie Monestier, co-founder of the label, and Guillaume Tricard, a long-time collaborator.