| Owl Studios | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Founder | J. Allan Hall |
| Genre | Jazz, R&B, jam band |
| Country of origin | U.S. |
| Location | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Official website | www |
Owl Studios is a jazz record label founded in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2005. In 2013 the label was sold and renamed Owl Music Group.
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. [1]
Owl's roster includes Indianapolis saxophonist Rob Dixon, jam band Garaj Mahal led by Chicago guitarist Fareed Haque, and a new version of the Headhunters, a jazz fusion band active in 1970s that featured Herbie Hancock; [1] drummer Mike Clark, vocalist Cynthia Layne, trumpeter Derrick Gardner, Indianapolis pianist and composer Steve Allee, clarinetist and saxophonist Frank Glover, the Busselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra; Chicago trumpeter Pharez Whitted, and New York City groups Bill Moring & Way Out East, and the Rick Germanson Trio.
In 2009 Owl purchased the rights to the Indy Jazz Fest from the American Piano Awards 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 Quartet.
In 2013 Owl Studios was sold to Kenny and Valerie Phelps and renamed Owl Music Group. [2] Kenny Phelps is a drummer who toured with Dee Dee Bridgewater from 2012 to 2014. [3]
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 be recorded at concerts.
Fareed Haque is an American jazz guitarist, based in Chicago, Illinois.
Pharez Whitted is an American jazz trumpeter, composer, band leader and educator from Indianapolis, Indiana. In January 2011, Whitted was nominated for the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards in the Jazz Album category for Transient Journey.[2] In December 2016 he was named one of six "Chicagoans of the Year" by the Chicago Tribune.[3]
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.
Melvin Rhyne, was a jazz organist best known for his work with Wes Montgomery.
Robert Broom Jr. is an American jazz guitarist, composer, and educator. He was born and raised in New York City, then moved to Chicago, which has been his home town since 1984. He performs and records with The Bobby Broom Trio and his organ group, The Bobby Broom Organi-Sation. While versed in the traditional jazz idioms, Broom draws from a variety of American music forms, such as funk, soul, R&B, and blues.
Virtue Hampton Whitted was an American jazz singer and bassist who is best known for her performances during the 1940s and 1950s as a member of the Hampton family band and The Hampton Sisters, a musical group she formed during World War II with her siblings, Aletra, Carmalita, and Dawn Hampton.
Cynthia Layne 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 Reggie Bishop.
Steve Allee is an American jazz musician and composer.
Derrick Gardner is an American jazz trumpeter from Chicago, Illinois.
The Jazz Kitchen is a prominent jazz club and restaurant in Indianapolis, Indiana. The club showcases local, regional and national jazz acts. The Jazz Kitchen opened in 1994 at the former location of The Place to Start at 54th Street and College Avenue in the Meridian-Kessler/South Broad Ripple neighborhood. Voted one of the top 100 jazz clubs in the world in 2009 by Down Beat magazine, the Jazz Kitchen is owned by David Allee, son of jazz musician and composer Steve Allee.
Vincent Gardner is an American trombonist and composer.
Rob Dixon is an American jazz saxophonist.
Platinum is an album by the jazz fusion band The Headhunters that was released in 2011. The album combines jazz and hip hop.
Bill Moring is an American jazz bassist.
The Dixon-Rhyne Project is an American jazz group from Indianapolis, Indiana.
Aletra Hampton was an American jazz pianist and singer, best known for her performances during the 1940s and 1950s as a member of the Hampton family band and The Hampton Sisters, a quartet she formed during World War II with her siblings, Carmalita, Virtue and Dawn. The Middletown, Ohio, native began performing at a young age and moved with her family to Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1938. Hampton and her eight siblings performed in the 1940s and 1950s in Duke Hampton's band, their oldest brother's jazz orchestra. The group became well known as the house band at nightclubs in Indianapolis and Cincinnati, Ohio, and toured the United States playing at venues that included New York City's Carnegie Hall and Harlem's Apollo Theater and the Savoy Ballroom. The family's band dissolved in the 1950s, but Hampton and two of her sisters, Virtue and Carmalita, continued to perform as the Hampton Sisters for several more years. The trio reunited in Indianapolis in 1981 after almost a twenty-year hiatus. Hampton and her sister, Virtue, continued to perform as a duo, mostly in Indianapolis, until 2006.
The Hampton Sisters, an African-American quartet of jazz musicians was formed in Indianapolis, Indiana, during World War II. The group initially consisted of four siblings: Aletra Hampton, Carmalita Hampton, Virtue Hampton Whitted, and Dawn Hampton. Although the Middletown, Ohio, natives signed a recording contract in 1954, they were better known for their live performances as part of their family's jazz band during the 1940s and 1950s and as the Hampton Sisters. The Hampton family of four sisters and five brothers performed at New York City's Carnegie Hall and Harlem's Apollo Theater and the Savoy Ballroom. The group also toured the United States and performed as the house band at nightclubs in Indianapolis and Cincinnati, Ohio. Dawn Hampton left the group in 1958 to pursue a solo career as a New York City cabaret singer and, later, a swing dancer, while the other sisters formed a trio and continued to perform as the Hampton Sisters for several more years. Carmalita reunited with her sisters, Aletra and Virtue, in 1981, after a nearly twenty-year break. Following Carmalita's death in 1987, Aletra and Virtue performed as the Hampton Sisters duo, mostly in the Indianapolis area, until 2006.
Marquis Hill is an American jazz trumpet player, composer, and bandleader from Chicago, Illinois. His musical style stems from African-American music, incorporating hip-hop, R&B, Chicago house and neo-soul to jazz. In 2014 Hill won the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Trumpet Competition. He strongly advocates for the education of the next generation of musicians through active mentoring, treating the music he creates as a living art.