Henry Butler, the New Orleans jazz pianist, released his debut album, “Fivin’ Around,” in 1986. And along with ratifying a major talent — a smartly rampaging virtuoso whose engagement in New York soon afterward drew a smattering of notable pianists — it signaled the reactivation of Impulse Records, the storied former home of the saxophonist John Coltrane, which had then been dormant for nearly a decade. “We had a nice little hand in reviving the label at that time,” Mr. Butler recalled this week.

History may be about to repeat itself, in a fashion. Impulse has, in effect, been quiet since the late 1990s. But on July 15 it will release “Viper’s Drag,” a new album by Mr. Butler and the trumpeter Steven Bernstein. The first in a series of scheduled new releases, it represents another hopeful reboot for the label.

This new iteration of Impulse, to be announced on Wednesday, is being run by the veteran executive Jean-Philippe Allard, as a division of Universal Music France. It has a strict jazz focus, with other releases including a 1990 concert recording by the bassist Charlie Haden and the guitarist Jim Hall; a joint effort by the violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, the bassist Stanley Clarke and the guitarist Biréli Lagrène; and new albums by an impressive and diverse heap of pianists: Kenny Barron, Ran Blake, Sullivan Fortner, Rodney Kendrick, Jacky Terrasson and Randy Weston.

Image John Coltrane, who defined the image of Impulse Records.

Provisionally speaking, Impulse’s reactivation reflects a larger turnaround for major-label jazz divisions, most of which had struggled or been shuttered within the past decade or so. OKeh Records, another historically significant jazz label, was revived last year under the umbrella of Sony Masterworks, and has released albums by artists both emerging and established. Blue Note Records, which endured a few shaky seasons under EMI, is on stronger footing as it celebrates its 75th anniversary — and is now a property of the Universal Music Group, as is Verve. If you also factor in Nonesuch, ECM and Concord Jazz, which operate as independents with major backing, you get a picture more robust than anyone would have dared to imagine just a few years ago.