Earth, Wind & Fire is the debut studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in February 1971 by Warner Bros. Records. The album got to No. 24 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and was certified Gold in France by the SNEP.
David Walter Foster is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans more than five decades, beginning in the early 1970s as a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark, before focusing largely on composing and producing.
Donald Jay Fagen is an American musician best known as the co-founder, lead singer, co-songwriter, and keyboardist of the band Steely Dan, formed in the early 1970s with musical partner Walter Becker. In addition to his work with Steely Dan, Fagen has released four solo albums, beginning with The Nightfly in 1982, which was nominated for seven Grammys. In 2001, Fagen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Steely Dan. Following Becker's death in 2017, Fagen continued to tour under the Steely Dan name.
Maurice White was an American singer, musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer. He was best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter and chief producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, also serving as the band's co-lead singer with Philip Bailey.
Wind-up Entertainment was an American independent record label founded by Alan and Diana Meltzer in 1997. It was based in New York City and was distributed by BMG Distribution. Wind-up's best-selling artists worldwide were Creed and Evanescence.
Cyrus Chestnut is an American jazz pianist, composer and producer. In 2006, Josh Tyrangiel, music critic for Time, wrote: "What makes Chestnut the best jazz pianist of his generation is a willingness to abandon notes and play space."
Kai Eckhardt is a German born musician and composer who plays bass, best known for his work with John McLaughlin, Vital Information, Torsten de Winkel, Billy Cobham and Garaj Mahal—a band he co-founded. Educated at the prestigious Berklee College of Music Eckhardt has also collaborated on projects with guitarist Larry Coryell as well as keyboardist Tom Coster. Eckhardt is known for his fast chordal slap-style abilities, and for his unique combination of funk, jazz, and world music.
Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd., often pronounced Korombia, operating internationally as Nipponophone Co., Ltd., is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK Columbia trademarks in 1931. The company changed its name to Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd. in 1946. It used the Nippon Columbia name until October 1, 2002, when it became Columbia Music Entertainment, Inc.. On October 1, 2010, the company returned to its current name. Outside Japan, the company operated formerly as the Savoy Label Group, which releases recordings on the SLG, Savoy Jazz, and continues to operate as Denon. It also manufactured electronic products under the Denon brand name until 2001. In 2017, Concord Music acquired Savoy Label Group. Nippon Columbia also licensed Hanna-Barbera properties in Japan until those rights were transferred to Turner Japan sometime in 1997. Currently, these rights are owned by Warner Bros. Japan LLC.
Jerry Hey is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's Thriller, Rock with You, Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough, Workin’ Day and Night and the flugelhorn solo on Dan Fogelberg's hit "Longer". Additionally, he has performed with artists such as George Benson, Nik Kershaw, Al Jarreau, Barbra Streisand, Donna Summer, Earth, Wind & Fire, Whitney Houston, Frank Sinatra, George Duke, Lionel Richie, Rufus and Chaka Khan, Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin, Patti Austin, among many others.
Richard Niles is an American composer, arranger, record producer, guitarist, broadcaster, and journalist.
Vladimir Četkar is a Macedonian recording artist, composer, arranger, producer, guitarist and vocalist who is based in New York City. He was born in Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia where, in his childhood, he played the violin. He was greatly influenced by such jazz, funk, soul and disco bands and musicians as Change, Chic, Earth Wind and Fire, Patrice Rushen, Cameo, The Brothers Johnson, Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Quincy Jones, Jamiroquai and many more. Later in life, Vladimir came to the United States to attend Berklee College of Music. There, he focused on contemporary writing and production with the jazz guitar as his main instrument.
The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 is the first greatest hits album by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire issued in 1978 by Columbia Records. The album rose to No. 3 & 6 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums and Billboard 200 charts respectively. The album has been certified Quintuple Platinum in the US by the RIAA, as well as Platinum in the UK and Canada, by the BPI and Music Canada, respectively.
Ralph Randolph Johnson is an American singer, songwriter, musician and producer. Johnson is a member and percussionist of the funk/soul/disco band Earth, Wind & Fire.
Charles Stepney was an American record producer, arranger, songwriter and musician. Stepney is noted for his work with artists such as The Dells, Ramsey Lewis, Rotary Connection and Earth, Wind & Fire.
Damian Drăghici is a Romanian musician of Romani origin.
Raymond Lee Brown is an American trumpeter and flugelhornist. Brown was a longtime member of the Earth, Wind & Fire Horns.
Avex Taiwan Inc is an entertainment and record label based in Taiwan. It was founded in July 1998 and is a foreign consolidated subsidiary of parent company Avex Group, based in Japan. As of 2015, Avex Taiwan is managed by Avex International Holdings (Singapore) Proprietary Ltd. Its main businesses are planning, creation, and sales of music (CDs) and video (DVDs). Apart from producing music for artists based in Taiwan, it also distributes for other Avex and foreign artists, such as Kumi Koda and Super Junior.
Tony Fennell is a British musician, songwriter and producer. He was the lead singer, lyricist and musician for the band Ultravox from 1992 until 1994, as well as a writer and producer of music for television.
Adrian Harpham is an American session drummer, record producer, recording artist/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in New York City. He grew up in Southern California, Philadelphia and the Boston area.
"Guiding Lights" is a song by the band Earth, Wind & Fire, released as a single in 2012 by Sony Music/Legacy. The song reached No. 16 on the Billboard Smooth Jazz Songs chart and No. 30 on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart.
