Ozzie Ahlers is an American songwriter and music producer who plays the keyboard, guitar, and bass. In addition to a solo career, he has played keyboards with Van Morrison, Jerry Garcia. and Craig Chaquico
Early life
Ozzie Ahlers was born June 3, 1946 in Summit, New Jersey. During high school he participated in numerous bands including The Wizards and Oz, winning local talent contests and playing in east coast colleges. Before he graduated from Summit High School, he spent a summer on the road touring as a back up musician with The Shirelles singing group. After graduation, he attended Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, where he formed a popular band in the 60's, The Oz and Ends, touring colleges for 6 years.
Career
In 1970 Ahlers formed the group Glory River and was signed by Jimi Hendrix's Electric Lady Productions to a recording contract in New York City. The band toured and played numerous venues regularly including The Electric Circus and Fillmore East. In 1972, Ahlers moved to California, where he toured with Van Morrison and recorded three albums with Jesse Colin Young on Warner Bros. Records. He played the keyboard in Peter Rowan's band Free Mexican Airforce 1977–1978. During these years he also recorded with Gene Clark of The Byrds and rocker Greg Kihn. In 1978, he was involved with Rob Nilsson's Cine Manifest and wrote the music for the film Northern Lights, which won the Camera d’Or at The Cannes Film Festival. In 1979, Ahlers joined the Jerry Garcia Band, both touring and recording with Garcia for the next two years. He played keyboards on the albums Live at the Capitol Theater, ', Garcia Live Volume One, and Garcia Plays Dylan. In 1981, he became a founding member, songwriter and keyboard player in the rock-reggae band The Edge with bandmates Lorin Rowan and Jimmy Dillon. In 1990, Ahlers was hired by Gumby creator Art Clokey to create the music for the cult classic', and hired Craig Chaquico from Jefferson Starship to play lead guitar. Owing to the time that it takes to complete a feature-length stop-motion film, the movie wouldn't be released until 1995. In 1992, Ahlers and Chaquico collaborated and signed with Higher Octave Records. They recorded their first album in 1993, Acoustic Highway, which rose on the Billboard Magazine charts and Radio & Records Magazine. For their next album, Acoustic Planet, they were nominated for a Grammy Award in 1995 as well as charting a No. 1 position in Billboard. For 2 years in a row, Ahlers and Chaquico won a Bay AreaMusic Award for Best Independent Album. Ahlers continued playing keyboards, songwriting, and producing ten Chaquico albums for another 16 years, as well as being the musical director for his own worldwide touring band. He became a solo artist on the Higher Octave Music label with his album Fingerpainting. During the 1990s, Ahlers co-wrote, produced, and played keyboards for four albums by blues artist Jimmy Dillon: Bad and Blue, The Next Frame, Rituals and Everything. He is the musical director for the Blue Star Music Camps for Kids in the Bay Area, founded by guitarist Jimmy Dillon. In 2011, Ahlers created the DVD piano lesson series Killer Keyboards Made Simple. They have been sold worldwide and continue to be a popular online instructional keyboard series. He also hosts a Webinar Series "The Keyboard Klub" as a streaming instructional group for musicians.
