Jamar Chess is an American music publisher. He is president and co-founder of Sunflower Entertainment Group, a music publishing firm and record label that focuses on independent Latin music and manages a catalogue of music, including work from

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles M ...

, Count Basie, Ike Turner,

Jackie Wilson Jack Leroy Wilson Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer and performer of the 1950s and 60s. He was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", he was considered a mas ...

, Otis Redding,

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

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Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

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, and Charles Stepney.

Early life

Jamar Chess is the son of Robin and Marshall Chess. His grandfather is Leonard Chess, who started

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...

in Chicago in 1950. Chess Records was the label of artists including Chuck Berry,

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, sh ...

, Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy,

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...

, Howlin' Wolf, and

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...

. Chess's father, Marshall Chess, is a record producer who formed Rolling Stones Records in 1970, which he ran for seven years. He helped create

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

tongue and lip logo, and was executive producer on seven Rolling Stone albums. As a young man, Chess worked at Arc Music Group, the publishing arm of Chess Records, managing the blues catalog. He later became creative director of the company, He also held the Creative A&R International position where he managed the company's international operations. He worked with the company's catalog and focused on remix projects, digital licensing and synchronization licensing.

Career

In 2002, Chess co-founded Sunflower Entertainment Group, a specialty music publishing house that focuses on independent Latin music and classic publishing catalogs, with Marshall Chess and Juan Carlos Barguil. Sunflower was established under Arc Music. Chess was featured in ''Billboard'''s annual "30 Under 30 Power Player" list for 2009. In 2015, Chess worked with music producer

Liza Richardson Liza Richardson is a music supervisor for numerous films and TV shows, and served as a DJ at KNON then KERA in Dallas, Texas, then KCRW, an eclectic music and NPR news radio station based in Santa Monica, California. She frequently publishes playl ...

to include over 40 songs from Sunflower's Columbian catalog in the

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series ''

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''. In April 2016, Chess and business partner Juan Carlos Barguil started Spirit Music Latino, a joint venture with indie music publisher Spirit Music Group. Spirit Music Latino is a division of Spirit Music focused on Latin songwriters, artists and catalogs.

Personal life

In 2018, he married Shana Renée Scala.Together, they have a son, Jackson Leo Chess (b. 2019).

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chess, Jamar American music managers American music industry executives Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) American people of Polish-Jewish descent Chess family