About Us

About Greenleaf Music

Greenleaf Music released its first album in 2005, Mountain Passages, a project I recorded in honor of my father, Damon Greenleaf Douglas. More than anyone, he was the one who set me on the path in music and inspired me to keep going. The name “Greenleaf” traces back several centuries in my family history, and it felt fitting to carry it forward into this endeavor.

Over the past 20 years, Greenleaf has grown into an umbrella for all of my creative work – a home for my own projects and a platform to support and promote artists whose music I believe in. Since that first release, we’ve put out over 100 albums, including all of my major recorded works: quintets, big bands, large ensembles, electric groups, chamber music, and experimental projects.

Greenleaf has also become a home for a broad community of artists. We’ve released music by Nicole Mitchell, Donny McCaslin, Linda May Han Oh, Rudy Royston, Kaisa’s Machine, Itamar Borochov, Mareike Wiening, David Sanford, Manuel Valera, Song Yi Jeon & Vinicius Gomes, Julieta Eugenio, Kazemde George, Ryan Keberle, Emi Makabe, Greg Ward, Michael Bates, Curtis Robert MacDonald, Kneebody, and Sound Prints with Joe Lovano, among others.

In 2023–2024, we welcomed a new wave of artists to the label, including debut releases from bassist Christian Dillingham, the trio of Rodrigo Recabarren / Yago Vázquez / Pablo Menares, the Arun Ramamurthy Trio, and the Kenny Wheeler Legacy.

2024 also saw the debut of Gifts, a new project of mine on Greenleaf, featuring a collaboration with Rafiq Bhatia, Ian Chang, and James Brandon Lewis.

In 2025, we celebrate our 20th anniversary – a milestone that honors both the journey so far and the vibrant creative future we’re continuing to build.

Our profit sharing model

From the beginning, Greenleaf Music has offered 50/50 profit sharing deals with all of its artists. That means that after costs are covered, Greenleaf and its artists have an equal share of the profits from digital and physical album sales. In case you were wondering, this is a far cry from traditional recording deals, which are famously exploitative of artists.

The label also has a growing sheet music store and offers a three-tier Subscription platform. When you subscribe to Greenleaf Music, you get access to our entire catalog of recordings, including exclusive-to-subscriber content, the most recent being the CD / Digital release Gifts Trio Live featuring Rafiq Bhatia & Ian Chang. If you aren’t a current Greenleaf subscriber, please join us today and join the global community that’s directly benefiting our artists.

Thanks for your continued support!

Our Podcast: A NOISE FROM THE DEEP

Since 2013, Greenleaf has produced a podcast, A Noise From The Deep, which features interviews with some of the era’s most creative and insightful musicians. The podcast is a free recorded series which you can get at our website, iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. I produce these podcasts out of the joy of learning about the creative process. There is currently no advertising sponsorship for this project. It’s pure music.