Owl Studios is a jazz record label founded in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2005. In 2013 the label was sold and renamed Owl Music Group.

History

Founding

Owl Studios was started in 2005 by Al Hall, an Indianapolis businessman, to promote local jazz musicians. He grew up playing trumpet in northern California and moved to Indianapolis in 1981. The label began as a basement studio for his sons. Hall said he intended Owl to be run differently from other labels. He said that usually a record label will pay for an album's recording costs, but the musician doesn't see much money until the label has recovered the additional cost of making and promoting the album. His plan was to have the label pay little or nothing in recording fees but immediately share revenue with musicians. He said that this approach gave an incentive for musicians to help promote their work. Owl's roster includes Indianapolis saxophonist

Rob Dixon Rob Dixon is an American jazz saxophonist. A native of Atlanta, Dixon went to Indiana University where he came under the influence of the renowned jazz educator David Baker. After moving to New York in 1996, he began gigging around town with ...

, jam band

Garaj Mahal Garaj Mahal is a jazz fusion band formed in 2000 that combines jazz, rock, Indian music, and funk. The band consists of Fareed Haque (guitar), Kai Eckhardt (bass), Sean Rickman (drums), and Eric Levy (keyboards). Garaj Mahal allows its music to ...

led by Chicago guitarist Fareed Haque, and a new version of the Headhunters, a

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

band active in 1970s that featured

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

; drummer Mike Clark, vocalist

Cynthia Layne Cynthia Layne (February 27, 1963 – January 18, 2015) was an American jazz and neo soul singer. Layne performed around the world singing in many styles. She signed with Indianapolis jazz label Owl Studios in 2006. She worked with Rob Dixon and ...

, trumpeter

Derrick Gardner Derrick Gardner (born June 3, 1965) is an American jazz trumpeter from Chicago, Illinois. Gardner began playing trumpet at the age of 9 in his hometown of Chicago. In 1991, he moved to New York City and played with groups such as the Count Ba ...

, Indianapolis pianist and composer

Steve Allee Steve Allee (born September 14, 1950) is an American jazz musician and composer. Career Allee attended Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was in a band during the early 1970s called the Baron Von Ohlen Quartet which released an ...

, clarinetist and saxophonist

Frank Glover Frank Glover (born June 27, 1963) is a contemporary jazz musician and composer from Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion ...

, the Busselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra; Chicago trumpeter Pharez Whitted, and New York City groups Bill Moring & Way Out East, and the Rick Germanson Trio.

Other projects

In 2009 Owl purchased the rights to the

Indy Jazz Fest The Indy Jazz Fest is an annual jazz festival in Indianapolis, Indiana. It first took place on June 17, 1999. It was created by a consortium of Downtown Indianapolis hospitality, civic and business interests as a way to spotlight Indianapolis' ri ...

from the American Pianists Association and took ownership of the annual festival, turning it into a non-profit organization and a way to promote jazz in Indianapolis. The following year Owl started the Emerging Jazz Artist Project to promote new musicians. The first release was the album ''Blocks'' (2011) by the

Jeff McLaughlin Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes * ...

Quartet.

Owl Music Group

In 2013 Owl Studios was sold to Kenny and Valerie Phelps and renamed Owl Music Group. Kenny Phelps is a drummer who toured with

Dee Dee Bridgewater Dee Dee Bridgewater (née Denise Garrett, May 27, 1950) is an American jazz singer and actress. She is a three-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award-winning stage actress. For 23 years, she was the host of National ...

from 2012–2014.

Awards and honors

* Independent Music Awards, ''Echoes of Ethnicity'' by Derrick Gardner & The Jazz Prophets, 2010 * Independent Music Awards nomination, Best Jazz Album, ''Carnival of Soul'' by Mike Clark, 2011 * Independent Music Awards nomination, Best Jazz Album, ''Transient Journey'' by Pharez Whitted, 2011

Roster

Bill Moring Bill Moring is an American jazz Upright bass, bassist. Career Bill Moring was born in 1958 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Fort Wayne, Indiana. After attending Indiana State University for a year, he toured with jazz groups in Indianapolis and Cincinnati ...

Buselli–Wallarab Jazz Orchestra Buselli–Wallarab Jazz Orchestra is a jazz orchestra consisting of seventeen pieces. BWJO co-founders Mark Buselli and Brent Wallarab are music educators, as well as musicians and composers. Their common commitment to America's jazz heritage bro ...

* Fareed Haque *

* Mike Clark * Monika Herzig * Pharez Whitted *

Rick Germanson Rick Germanson (born May 29, 1972) is an American jazz pianist from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Career Germanson started playing piano at a young age. After winning the grand prize at the American Pianists Association's Jazz Piano Competition in 1996 ...

The Dixon-Rhyne Project The Dixon-Rhyne Project is an American jazz group from Indianapolis, Indiana. The Dixon-Rhyne Project was formed in 2007 when tenor saxophonist Rob Dixon approached organist Melvin Rhyne, of Wes Montgomery Trio fame, about forming a boundary-pu ...

* The Headhunters *

The Twin Cats ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

Todd Harrold Todd or Todds may refer to: Places ;Australia: * Todd River, an ephemeral river ;United States: * Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community * Todd, Missouri, a ghost town * Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporated ...

References

External links

Owl Music Group
{{Authority control Jazz record labels American independent record labels Record labels established in 2005