Ear Up Records founder Jeff Coffin during a performance at Rudy's Jazz Room for 615 Indie Live, 2/1/2025
Best Label in Nashville 2026: Ear Up Records
When prolific multi-instrumentalist and educator Jeff Coffin began Ear Up Records back in 2011, it might have been fair to speculate about how much time he could devote to a record label. In addition to all his other work (including membership in the Dave Matthews Band), Coffin has shown his dedication to advocating for adventurous and musically diverse projects. Ear Up’s impressive catalog is now up to 45 releases, including straight-ahead jazz and genre-bending releases from large and small ensembles, as well as projects that showcase Coffin’s own immense skill and ambition to push the idiomatic envelope. This year’s best releases from Ear Up are emblematic of what makes the label special. They include When Now, a four-track outing featuring Coffin, Mark Raudabaugh, Ethan Jodziewicz and Bob Lanzetti; the self-titled debut album from the seven-piece ensemble known as Dusk Dept that nicely blends funk and jazz; and Daydreaming Indigo, the latest from a three-piece unit called Trio Trio. Ear Up continues to remind us what indie labels do best — cultivating acts with imagination and creativity.
