Dale Oehler

Dale Oehler
Oehler at a recording session in the mid-1990s
Background information
Born	(1941-10-01) October 1, 1941 (age 75)
Origin	Springfield, Illinois
Occupation(s)	Arranger, composer, musician, producer
Instruments	Piano
Years active	1957–present
Labels	Columbia Records, Blue Note, Warner Bros. Records, Elektra/Asylum and others

Columbia Records, Blue Note, Warner Bros. Records,

Dale Dixon Oehler (born October 1, 1941) is an American arranger, producer and pianist.

Oehler's work fuses various elements to enhance several genre of music he worked on, including jazz, pop, country, R&B or easy listening. His credits include artists such as Marvin Gaye, Freddie Hubbard, Joni Mitchell and Andre Kostelanetz. Leonard Feather once described Oehler, in his Los Angeles Times jazz column, as "an adaptable writer".

In his early childhood, Dale received formal piano training in the Classics. While in his teens, Oehler started playing jazz gigs in the Springfield, Illinois area. He later played at clubs in the Chicago area while attending Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

After graduation he went to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to play with J. R. Monterose at the Tender Trap. Other notables that came through the club were Al Jarreau, Dave Sanborn, Freddie Waits and Cecil McBee. He segued from playing in Cedar Rapids to attending the University of Iowa at Iowa City where he pursued his master's degree in Composition and was able to establish the first Jazz Program at that university. While going to school, he represented the University of Iowa at the University of Notre Dame Jazz Festival in 1965 where he received Best Arranger and Best Pianist awards, as judged by Quincy Jones and Clark Terry.