Terrace Martin
Musician, producer, larger than life character with an eye and ear on changing the world. His father, Curly Martin, is a notable jazz drummer and his mother a gospel singer. Terrace Martin’s path speaks of a drive that is uniquely his, and uniquely Los Angeles. As a child prodigy, with guidance from his parents and his godfather (Stemz Hunter), Terrace found some notable milestones on his path. First the self bought and self taught saxophone, next the attention of Jay Leno and a solid scholarship to attend Cal Arts. Deciding school was not the thing, Terrace went straight to professional musician, finding favor with Billy Higgins and playing with Billy’s World Stage All Stars in Leimert Park. Soon afterwards, tours with Puff Daddy and Kirk Franklin’s God’s Property followed, as renowned musicians from different genres embraced his versatility and dedication.

Always on the move, with a higher vision driving him on, Terrace in short time he landed beats with Snoop Dogg, producing on several of Snoop’s records and moving on to produce, write, and/or perform on projects from Quincy Jones, Wiz Khalifa, Pete Rock, DJ Quik, Kurupt, and Kendrick Lamar. Stepping out from behind the board, Terrace began releasing his own projects, from THE DEMO to 3CHORDFOLD. Critical acclaim followed, along with a steadily growing underground following - key tastemakers of the social media age who connected the dots.

The music business is often fickle and inattentive - everyone focuses on the next big thing and clings to it, missing the steady and formative scenes that caused the eruption in the first place. As LA was busy watching Hip-Hop, the jazz scene just kept on building. A student of jazz history with both feet on the street, Terrace Martin never forgot. Terrace Martin can disassemble the history of modern music, break it into a thousand pieces, and reassemble it into something both reverent and absolutely fresh at the same time. It is this gift that enabled him to infuse popular records with his style, and with the success of Kendrick Lamar’s To PImp A Butterfly the scope of his mark was felt. Not as a single producer with an ego in the room, but as a unique but integral part of a new kind of team. History will call 2015 a defining moment in both the history of Jazz AND the history of Hip-Hop, and all of the cats in the mix will be forever respected.

Ever restless, Terrace came right out of the Kendrick sessions blazing - producing for YG and Herbie Hancock simultaneously while putting the finishing touches on his next solo release - Velvet Portraits. Choosing a groundbreaking path, he chose to release the album on his new label - Sounds Of Crenshaw, and join the growing family of label imprints in the Ropeadope collaborative network.

‘…the Sound Of Crenshaw is in everything I touch, from Kendrick to Herbie. So with SOC I’m gonna bring it all back and give y’all the whole package: 100% the Sound of Crenshaw’

Velvet Portraits is a wide ranging record with a common distinct style. With a core band of Terrace Martin on sax, Curly Martin on drums, Brandon Eugene Owens on bass, and Robert ‘Sput’ Searight on Keys, Velvet Portraits also features appearances from Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, Lalah Hathaway, Thundercat, Rose Gold, Tiffany Gouche, Marlon Williams and more. Recorded in Omaha Nebraska and Los Angeles, Velvet Portraits portrays the evolution of Martin as a player, producer, and a musician with a deep sense of history.