Founder and CEO, Will Scruggs
Will Scruggs was born in Atlanta and grew up in Raleigh, NC. After he began playing the saxophone at the age of eight, he was immediately drawn to jazz. In1998, Will returned to Atlanta and attended Emory University. At this time, he decided to make Atlanta home. He quickly immersed himself into the Atlanta jazz scene, working both as a bandleader and sideman. He has released five CD's as a bandleader, including the sacred suite, "Song of Simeon: A Christmas Journey". The album received international air play on Sirius XM and NPR, and was reviewed in the Wall Street Journal. Today, Will teaches lessons at Scruggs Woodwinds and is the Founder and CEO of the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Center located in downtown Decatur, GA. The center is home to the new Churchill Grounds Jazz Club. The center also contains a restaurant and coffee shop, Koolbonga Recording Studio, as well as a jazz education center.
General Manager, Karen Greene
Karen Greene was raised in Northern West Virginia. After falling in love with jazz in high school, she decided to make music her career. Upon completing college with a degree in Music Business, she played music fulltime for many years working with the Glenn Miller Band, Melva Houston, Natalie Cole, NNenna Freelon and the nationally-acclaimed Latin jazz band, "Carnivalito". After living in North Carolina for 15 years, she and her husband, Bryan, relocated to Atlanta in1998. She immediately opened a recording studio/media production company which she ran for 27 years. In addition to being a professional musician for 51 years, she is also a two-time GRAMMY-winning audio engineer. She also co-founded Shredder Music in 2009, an online music store selling to 23 countries. In addition to her manager duties at Scruggs Woodwinds, she continues to work as a bandleader and musician on jazz trio and quartet gigs. She is also a seasoned studio musician performing on various album projects, as well as TV and radio commercials.