Narada is a record label formed in 1983 as an independent

new-age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation technique, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecs ...

label and distributed by MCA. A fully owned subsidiary of

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

and distributed by

Capitol Music Group Capitol Music Group (CMG) is an American front line umbrella label distributed by Universal Music Group which oversees handling of record labels assigned to UMG's Capitol Records division. It was inherited from UMG's acquisition of EMI's catalog ( ...

Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue notes of jazz and the blues. Or ...

, the label evolved through an expansion of formats to include world music,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considerab ...

, new flamenco, acoustic guitar, and piano genre releases.

Label history

In 1979, John Morey started a mail-order business to sell new-age music. This led to the creation of Narada in Milwaukee in 1983, and the roster eventually included

David Arkenstone David Arkenstone (born July 1, 1952) is an American composer and performer. His music is primarily instrumental, with occasional vocalizations. Most of Arkenstone's music falls into new age category; however, he also worked in other genres, inclu ...

Jesse Cook Jesse Arnaud Cook is a Canadian guitarist. He is a Juno Award winner, '' Acoustic Guitar'' Player's Choice Award silver winner in the Flamenco Category, and a three-time winner of the Canadian Smooth Jazz award for Guitarist of the Year. He has ...

Michael Gettel 'Michael Gettel'' (born Oct. 18, 1958) is a recording artist, composer, and pianist, who has been creating, teaching, and performing music for decades. Widely known for his piano and composition work, the native of Evergreen, Colorado, has release ...

, Michael Jones,

David Lanz David Howard Lanz (born June 28, 1950 in Seattle, Washington) is a Grammy-nominated pianist and composer. His album '' Cristofori's Dream'' topped the New Age music charts in 1988. Early years Lanz attributes his interest in the piano to experien ...

, Oscar Lopez, and

Billy McLaughlin Billy McLaughlin is an American New-age music, new age acoustic guitarist, composer and producer. Background McLaughlin, of Irish ancestry, graduated with honors from the University of Southern California. He is one of nine children. McLaughlin n ...

Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

bought Narada in 1997, along with

Higher Octave Higher Octave Music is a sub-label imprint of Narada Productions. Since 2013, it is part of Universal Music Group's Capitol Music Group, which is located in Los Angeles. History Higher Octave was acquired by Virgin Records on behalf of EMI in 199 ...

and Back Porch, and directly signed Yanni and other New Age/Smooth Jazz acts. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Narada created several sub-label imprints to differentiate its offerings, in particular Sona Gaia, Antiquity Records, Rising Sun Records, Narada World, Narada Equinox, Narada Jazz, and Narada Mystique. Since the acquisition, Narada was the principal U.S. licensee for Peter Gabriel's

Real World Records Real World Records is a British record label specializing in world music. It was founded in 1989 by English musician Peter Gabriel and original members of WOMAD. A majority of the works released on Real World Records feature music recorded at ...

until 2008. The sub-labels of Narada were retired and their albums folded into the company's main imprint, Narada. Shakti Records was created in 2000 for electronic music, but the last release was in 2004 as Narada concentrated on contemporary jazz. Higher Octave and Back Porch were absorbed into Narada in 2004 as sub-labels, without the original staff, significantly reducing their roster of artists and albums. In 2005, Narada was named No. 4 in the 2005 top four contemporary jazz labels in ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine's year-end charts. In 2006, EMI moved Narada from Milwaukee suburb

Glendale, Wisconsin Glendale is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. It is a suburb of the neighboring Milwaukee. The population was 13,357 at the 2020 census. Geography Glendale is located at (43.130060, −87.927719). According to the United ...

to EMI headquarters in New York City, to become part of the expanded role for

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical co ...

, EMI's consolidated label group for music for adults. Likewise merged in were

Mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

, Capitol Jazz, Roulette Jazz,

Pacific Jazz Pacific Jazz Records was a Los Angeles-based record company and label best known for cool jazz or West coast jazz. It was founded in 1952 by producer Richard Bock (1927–1988) and drummer Roy Harte (1924–2003). Harte, in 1954, also co-founded ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

, and Metro Blue; announced plans were to continue using existing imprints. As part of this consolidation, Narada's involvement with new-age music was reduced with Narada's focus narrowed to mainly contemporary jazz; new-age would be put on sister label Higher Octave.

Roster

Azam Ali Azam Ali ( fa, اعظم علی) is an Iranian musician. As of 2013, she has released eight full-length albums with the bands VAS and Niyaz, as well as four solo albums. Biography She was born in Tehran on 3 October 1970, Ali spent most of her ...

* Altan * Ancient Future *

* Spencer Brewer * Bob Baldwin *

Peter Buffett Peter Andrew Buffett (born May 4, 1958) is an American musician, composer, author and philanthropist. With a career that spans more than 30 years, Buffett is an Regional Emmy Award winner, New York Times best-selling author and co-chair of the ...

* Doug Cameron *

Paul Cardall Paul Cardall (born April 24, 1973) is an American pianist known for his original compositions and arrangements of various hymns. His music is frequently categorized as Classical, Christian and New Age. Cardall has had several recordings debut ...

* Colin Chin *

* Joyce Cooling *

John Doan John Doan (born May 16, 1951) is an American guitarist and composer. Background Doan grew up in Venice, California, and at the age of eleven began playing the guitar, first a 12-string, and later a double-neck electric in a rock band. Later, w ...

* Down to the Bone *

Lila Downs Ana Lila Downs Sánchez (born 9 September 1968 * *) is a Mexican singer-songwriter. She performs her own compositions and the works of others in multiple genres, as well as tapping into Mexican traditional and popular music. She also incorporat ...

* William Ellwood *

Dean Evenson Dean Evenson is a new-age musician, composer, producer and videographer. His hometown is Staten Island, New York. He has a master's degree in Molecular Biology. He worked in Manhattan as a recording engineer for Regent Sound with many Atlantic rec ...

Alasdair Fraser Alasdair Fraser (born 14 May 1955, Clackmannan, Scotland) is a Scottish fiddler, composer, performer and recording artist. Fraser operates Culburnie Records and is a leading artist on the label. He has founded five summer fiddling programs: ...

* Wayne Gratz * Ralf Illenberger * Jim Jacobsen * Michael Jones *

Bradley Joseph Bradley Joseph (born 1965) is an American composer, arranger, and producer of contemporary instrumental music. His compositions include works for orchestra, quartet, and solo piano, while his musical style ranges from "quietly pensive mood music ...

* Martin Kolbe * Kostia *

Nando Lauria Nando Lauria (born 11 May 1960) is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. Biography At the age of seven, Lauria picked up the violao (Brazilian acoustic guitar). He was raised in a musical family where his older brother played electric guitar in a b ...

* Gabriel Lee *

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer, specializing in electric bass, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (since 198 ...

* Oscar Lopez *

Jeff Lorber Jeffrey H. Lorber (born November 4, 1952) is an American keyboardist, composer, and record producer. After six previous nominations, Lorber won his first Grammy Award on January 28, 2018 for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for '' Prototype' ...

* Peter Maunu *

Robert Miles Roberto Concina (3 November 1969 – 9 May 2017), known professionally as Robert Miles, was an Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ. His 1995 composition "Children (composition), Children" sold more than 5 million copies and topp ...

Keiko Matsui , is a Japanese keyboardist and composer, specializing in smooth jazz and New-age music. Biography Keiko Matsui was born in Tokyo, Japan. Her mother, Emiko, took her to her first piano lesson in the June following her fifth birthday. Japanese t ...

Kathy Mattea Kathleen Alice Mattea (born June 21, 1959) is an American country music and bluegrass singer. Active since 1984 as a recording artist, she has charted more than 30 singles on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts, including four that re ...

* Bruce Mitchell * Carol Nethen * Judith Pintar * Kate Price * Kim Robertson * Randy Roos * Don Ross * Bernardo Rubaja *

Nancy Rumbel Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel are musicians who have performed, recorded and traveled together since 1985, and are responsible for 19 albums. Eric Tingstad is a composer who plays fingerstyle guitar. Nancy Rumbel plays oboe, English horn and ...

Richard Souther Richard Douglas Trowbridge Souther is an American keyboardist who played on several albums of contemporary Christian and chant-based music. He also placed an album in the Top 10 of ''Billboard's'' New Age Albums chart. In the mid to late 1970s, ...

Paul Speer Paul Speer (born 1952 in Lewiston, Idaho, Lewiston, Idaho) is a Grammy nominated guitarist, composer, and record producer. He has released several solo albums, music video albums, and collaborations with other artists such as pianist David Lanz, ...

* Ira Stein *

Miriam Stockley Miriam Arlene Stockley (born 15 April 1962) is a British singer. She was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and her work is influenced by the African music of her home country. Her distinctive ''vocal warm up#Vocalise, vocalise'' style gained in ...

David Sylvian David Sylvian (born David Alan Batt, 23 February 1958) is an English musician, singer and songwriter who came to prominence in the late 1970s as frontman and principal songwriter of the band Japan. The band's androgynous look and increasingly ...

* Eric Tingstad * Tingstad & Rumbel *

Trapezoid A quadrilateral with at least one pair of parallel sides is called a trapezoid () in American and Canadian English. In British and other forms of English, it is called a trapezium (). A trapezoid is necessarily a Convex polygon, convex quadri ...

Artie Traum Arthur Roy Traum (April 3, 1943 – July 20, 2008) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. Traum's work appeared on more than 35 albums. He produced and recorded with The Band, Arlen Roth, Warren Bernhardt, Pat Alger, Tony Levin, J ...

* Vas * Andrew White *

Friedemann Witecka Friedemann Witecka (born August 31, 1951, in Freiburg im Breisgau) is a German guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and music producer Life and work Friedemann made his first appearances in his native town, at the former Southwest Rad ...

* Simon Wynberg *

Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, Oscars and four Grammy Awards, Grammys, and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmys and a Tony Awar ...

Compilation albums

* ''

20 Years of Narada Piano ''20 Years of Narada Piano'' is a 2001 compilation release by Narada. It peaked at #12 on Billboard's Top New Age album charts in the same year. Track listing *1.1 "Endings" – Michael Jones – 5:33 *1.2 "Sunrise" – Kostia ...

'' * ''

Grand Piano (Narada Anniversary Collection) ''Grand Piano'' is a 1997 compilation by Narada. It peaked at No. 10 on ''Billboard's'' Top New Age album charts in the same year. From album liner: "In Narada's 15-year history, no single instrument has more clearly expressd our musical vision ...

'' * ''Gypsy Passion: New Flamenco'' * ''

Narada Smooth Jazz ''Narada Smooth Jazz'' is a 1997 compilation release by Narada. It peaked at #25 on Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz Albums in the same year. Track listing *1.01 "Redwood/Nocturne" – Spencer Brewer – 4:20 *1.02 "Gravity" &ndash ...

'' * ''Stories (Narada Artist Collection)'' * ''The Next Generation – Narada Sampler'' * ''Narada Film and Television Music Sampler'' (1998) * ''The Wilderness Collection'' (1990)

External links

Official website

References

{{Authority control American record labels Music of Wisconsin 1983 establishments in the United States Record labels established in 1983 Easy listening record labels Jazz record labels EMI Virgin Records New-age music record labels World music record labels Universal Music Group Smooth jazz record labels Companies based in Los Angeles