Creative Nation Music (CNM) began as a concert series at Cambridge, Massachusetts' Zeitgeist Gallery in 2000, but quickly grew into a multi-faceted effort to cultivate and organize Boston's local jazz scene.

In 2003, Boston-based musicians Eric Hofbauer and Chris Allen partnered to form Creative Nation Music Productions, a collective organization that produced concerts at a variety of Boston-area venues and sold recordings by local musicians through its online storefront.

By early 2004, CNM Productions began producing CDs that would introduce Boston-based groups to the rest of the world. Led by Hofbauer, the label secured national distribution through City Hall Records and digital distribution through IODA and released four CDs its first year.

Today, Creative Nation Music, as the label is now called, is a respected outlet for independent creative improvised music celebrating its 5th anniversary in 2009.

True to its original principles, it remains focused on documenting and promoting the work of musicians living and working in the Boston area, with a special emphasis on artists with distinctive musical personalities.

What the media is saying:

"The brainchild of guitarist Eric Hofbauer, CNM has released a clutch of vital CDs from Boston's progressive-jazz scene..."
—Jon Garelick, Boston Phoenix

"Boston-based Creative Nation Music marks its fifth anniversary with multiple bills on March 28 and 29 at the Cambridge Family YMCA Theatre. The performances showcase the most sharply inventive new music and jazz outfits around..."
—Bob Young, Boston Herald

"The local production company and record label, specializing in the adventurous end of Boston jazz..."
—Kevin Lowenthal, Boston Globe

"Creative Nation Music, a rising big name in the free jazz world..."
—Mike Szajewski, WNUR 89.3 FM (Evanston, IL)

"Hofbauer is also the founder of his own label, Creative Nation Music, which documents some of the most distinctive musicians in the Boston area."
—Alan Chase, The Wire (Portsmouth, NH)