Mapleshade Records is an American

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

record company and

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

founded by

Pierre Sprey Pierre Michel Sprey (November 22, 1937 – August 5, 2021) was an American defense analyst. Working with John Boyd and Thomas P. Christie at the Pentagon, he was associated with the self-dubbed ' Fighter Mafia', which advocated the use of ener ...

Upper Marlboro, Maryland Upper Marlboro, officially the Town of Upper Marlboro, is the county seat of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population within the town limits was 652, although Greater Upper ...

, United States, in 1990. Mapleshade's catalogue includes Bobby Battle,

Gary Bartz Gary Bartz (born September 26, 1940) is an American jazz saxophonist. He has won two Grammy Awards. Biography Bartz was first exposed to jazz as the son of the owners of a jazz nightclub in Baltimore. In 1958 he left Baltimore to study at the J ...

, Walter Davis,

Clifford Jordan Clifford Laconia Jordan (September 2, 1931 – March 27, 1993) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player and composer. Originally from Chicago, Jordan later moved to New York City, where he recorded extensively in addition to touring across ...

Frank Kimbrough Frank Kimbrough (November 2, 1956 – December 30, 2020) was an American post-bop jazz pianist and composer. He was born and raised in Roxboro, North Carolina. He did some work at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Chapel Hill before moving to Washingt ...

, and

Norris Turney Norris Turney (September 8, 1921, Wilmington, Ohio, United States – January 17, 2001, Kettering, Ohio) was an American jazz flautist and saxophonist. Biography Turney began his career in the Midwest, playing in territory bands such as the Jete ...

. Sprey, an electronics enthusiast, built his equipment and has a recording studio in his house. At one time,

Hamiet Bluiett Hamiet Bluiett (; September 16, 1940 – October 4, 2018) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. His primary instrument was the baritone saxophone, and he was considered one of the finest players of this instrument. A membe ...

and Larry Willis were artists and repertoire ( A&R) men for the company. Both musicians recorded albums as leaders for the label. Before his career in jazz recording, Sprey worked as a

systems analyst A systems analyst, also known as business technology analyst, is an information technology (IT) professional who specializes in analyzing, designing and implementing information systems. Systems analysts assess the suitability of information syst ...

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

, helping with the proposals for the

A-10 The Fairchild Republic A-10 , also infamously known under the nickname , is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 19 ...

and

Lightweight Fighter program The Lightweight Fighter (LWF) program was a United States Air Force technology evaluation program initiated in the late 1960s by a group of officers and defense analysts known as the " Fighter Mafia". It was spurred by then-Major John Boyd's ...

. A sister label, Wildchild Records, was founded in 1995. In later years the label branched into R&B and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

Roster

Steve Abshire Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen. Notable people A–D * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Abel (born 1970), New Zealand politician * Steve Adams (disambiguation), se ...

Douglas Allanbrook Douglas Allanbrook (April 1, 1921 – January 29, 2003) was an American composer, concert pianist and harpsichordist. He was associated with a group of mid-twentieth century Boston composers who were students of Nadia Boulanger. His composition ...

Okyerema Asante Okyerema Asante is a master drummer. Born in Ghana, he is famous for performing all parts of a traditional five-person drum group by himself. He attaches percussion instruments to various parts of his body and simultaneously plays drums, a balaf ...

* Bobby Battle *

Keter Betts William Thomas "Keter" Betts (July 22, 1928 – August 6, 2005) was an American jazz double bassist. Early life and education Born in Port Chester, New York, he was nicknamed "Keter", a short form of the word mosquito. He graduated from Port C ...

* Walter Davis Jr. *

Archie Edwards Archie L. Edwards (September 4, 1918 – June 18, 1998) was an American Piedmont blues guitarist, who in a sporadic career spanning several decades worked with Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, and John Jackson. His best-known recordings a ...

* Frank Foster *

John Hicks Sir John Richard Hicks (8 April 1904 – 20 May 1989) was a British economist. He is considered one of the most important and influential economists of the twentieth century. The most familiar of his many contributions in the field of economics ...

Shirley Horn Shirley Valerie Horn (May 1, 1934 – October 20, 2005) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She collaborated with many jazz musicians including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis and oth ...

* Danny Knicely * Consuela Lee * Paul Murphy * Ted Nash *

Bob Northern Robert Northern (May 21, 1934 – May 31, 2020), known professionally as Brother Ah, was an American jazz French hornist. Life and career Born in 1934 in Kinston, North Carolina and raised in The Bronx, Northern studied at the Manhattan School of ...

* John Purcell *

Tao Ruspoli Tao dei Principi Ruspoli ( ; born 7 November 1975) is an Italian and American filmmaker, photographer, musician, and co-founder of The Bombay Beach Biennale. He is the son of Alessandro Ruspoli, 9th Prince of Cerveteri and part of the Papal nob ...

* Gali Sanchez * Kendra Shank * Warren Smith * Sunny Sumper *

* Charles Williams * Larry Willis

References

External links

* {{Authority control Audiophile record labels American jazz record labels Record labels established in 1990 1990 establishments in Maryland American companies established in 1990 Companies based in Baltimore