Les Schreiber (1901–1965) was an American record executive and entrepreneur best known as the founder of Black & White Records, an independent jazz label established in Brooklyn, New York, in 1943. Schreiber was an avid jazz enthusiast and had privately recorded pianist Art Hodes shortly before the American Federation of Musicians’ recording ban began in 1942. He used those recordings as the foundation for Black & White’s first releases. Wartime shortages of shellac and the recording ban delayed the label’s development, but Schreiber continued recording and issuing jazz during the mid-1940s.
Schreiber initially operated Black & White from Brooklyn and also had an interest in Comet Records. In early 1945, he sold Black & White and Comet to Paul and Lillian Reiner, who moved Black & White’s operations to Los Angeles. The Reiners subsequently hired Ralph Bass as recording director, helping the label expand into blues and rhythm and blues.
After selling Black & White, Schreiber launched the short-lived Red Hot and Blues Recording Company before establishing Swan Records in 1946. His career illustrates the important role that independent entrepreneurs played in documenting American jazz and blues during the 1940s.
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