Monday, September 27, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Summer Reflections and Fall Hustle Preparations: Post #2 (09/01/10)
Hello Everyone,
Welcome to the second edition of This Is My Life, the blog that gives you an in-depth look into my adventures in the world of music. In this edition, I’d like to share some of my favorite moments of the summer, talk about the impact legendary-saxophonist Fred Anderson had on my life, and to share some of my plans for the fall.
I’m writing to you all from an airplane that’s heading to Rome, finally. We had almost a three-hour delay out of JFK due to the weather. It’s nice and quiet on board now, with the lights low, and I find myself thinking about all of the amazing summer experiences I had. The first project I’ll talk about relates directly to the ever-changing music business. While playing in Central Park in NYC with Sam Trapchak and Christian Coleman, we were discussing production plans for our individual recording projects. My first record, Greg Ward’s Fitted Shards: South Side Story, was in the final stages of production and only needed to be pressed and then released and promoted. The cost of promoting a recording can be very expensive, especially in today’s music business world where you’re most likely covering all of the costs on your own. Christian recommended that I look into the RocketHub organization. RocketHub helps facilitate crowd-funding campaigns. They helped put together an amazing website, which had my mission statement, biography, sound and video clips, and a link to FUEL my project directly through PayPal. We also came up with great prizes for folks who got involved such as autographed CD’s, song commissions, and even a trip to one of my favorite NYC restaurants, Jacob’s. One of the best parts of a RocketHub campaign is that it’s all-or-nothing. That means I had to reach or surpass my goal of $3000 or else I wouldn’t get anything. With a little hustle and a lot of faith from friends, family, fans, and strangers, I’m proud to say that I surpassed my goal. People from all over the world supported my cause. I’m still blown away by this strong global community that came together to invest in my art. I will forever be grateful! This music is for all of you! Another highlight of the summer has been having the opportunity to work with one of the most incredible singers of African music, Samba Mapangala. For the past year, Samba has been touring with the Occidental Brothers, an African dance band that I’ve been a member of since it started in 2005. Working beside such a powerhouse of energy has pushed me in many ways. Samba patiently taught me many things, including how to sing in Swahili and French, his own dance moves, and the importance of bringing the energy to the people every time you go out on stage. My interaction with Mr. Mapangala has affected every aspect of performance for me. Every time I play I will give nothing less than 100 percent. There were many more spectacular moments that I’ll share in the future but I’m interested in the highlights of your summer. Send me an email and share your adventures.
Although there were many exciting times this summer, the music world suffered a great loss. On June 24th, Fred Anderson passed away due to the affects of a heart attack. Fred was a giant of the tenor saxophone and improvisation. His performances, recordings, and ownership of the renowned jazz club, The Velvet Lounge, have and will continue to make great contributions to the future of jazz and improvised music. I had a personal relationship with Fred and want to share some of my favorite moments in the next few editions of my blog. We’ll start at the beginning. I first met Mr. Anderson at the Velvet Lounge because one of my closest friends, Josh Ramos, was the bass player for the Sunday night jam session, which was hosted by Dennis Winslett at the time. I had never been to or heard of The Velvet Lounge until this night. When the session ended, Fred came up to me and said, “I can tell you listen to Bird.” Charlie “Bird” Parker is and will always be my hero. Fred, too, was a huge fan of Bird so we had much to talk about. We discussed Bird’s sound, concept, and rhythm and listened to recordings all in that first night. This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship and one of the most important periods of growth in my life. What are some of your favorite Fred moments and interactions?
Lots of exciting projects are getting ready to kick off this fall. One of them is my first recording as a leader, South Side Story, which features my band Fitted Shards. We began this process in December of 2008 at the I.V. Lab in Chicago, IL. Since then, I’ve had such a hands-on journey through many aspects of the music industry in order to get this amazing record to the people. While finishing the production of the CD, I learned so much about the mixing and mastering processes. It’s truly the little details that you capture in every moment that make a great recording. Manny Sanchez patiently led me through this entire process to ensure that our ideas were clearly presented. After meeting some initial opposition from several record labels, we found a good fit in 19-8 Records and will release South Side Story on Sep. 28th. Check it out! I’ve been working with Jason Byrne at Red Cat Publicity to make sure this music reaches as many people as possible! Another project that I’m looking forward to getting off the ground is the Greg Ward Quartet, which is my New York-based band. We’ll be playing our first show at the Jazz Gallery in NYC on Sep. 16th. This band features David Bryant (piano), Joe Sanders (bass), and Damion Reid (drums). In the composition world, I’m still working on my commission from the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra. The piece will feature a 40-piece string orchestra and Fitted Shards and will be performed on Feb. 20th in Texas. As the due date of November 1st approaches, many ideas for this work are flowing out of my mind and on to the page. I just have to craft them into something that best represents me. I’ve been listening and studying a lot of orchestral works lately that have been influencing the development of this piece. Some of my new favorites are R. Strauss’ Tod Und Verklarung, Bruckner’s Symphony 7, 2nd movement, and Ravel’s Rapsodie Espagnole. I highly recommend that you check these out if you haven’t already.
That’s all for now but I’ll continue to keep you posted on new developments as they come up. If you’d like to get in touch with me, please email me at cannonbird@yahoo.com. Until then, let’s keep digging!
Take care,
Greg Ward
Welcome to the second edition of This Is My Life, the blog that gives you an in-depth look into my adventures in the world of music. In this edition, I’d like to share some of my favorite moments of the summer, talk about the impact legendary-saxophonist Fred Anderson had on my life, and to share some of my plans for the fall.
I’m writing to you all from an airplane that’s heading to Rome, finally. We had almost a three-hour delay out of JFK due to the weather. It’s nice and quiet on board now, with the lights low, and I find myself thinking about all of the amazing summer experiences I had. The first project I’ll talk about relates directly to the ever-changing music business. While playing in Central Park in NYC with Sam Trapchak and Christian Coleman, we were discussing production plans for our individual recording projects. My first record, Greg Ward’s Fitted Shards: South Side Story, was in the final stages of production and only needed to be pressed and then released and promoted. The cost of promoting a recording can be very expensive, especially in today’s music business world where you’re most likely covering all of the costs on your own. Christian recommended that I look into the RocketHub organization. RocketHub helps facilitate crowd-funding campaigns. They helped put together an amazing website, which had my mission statement, biography, sound and video clips, and a link to FUEL my project directly through PayPal. We also came up with great prizes for folks who got involved such as autographed CD’s, song commissions, and even a trip to one of my favorite NYC restaurants, Jacob’s. One of the best parts of a RocketHub campaign is that it’s all-or-nothing. That means I had to reach or surpass my goal of $3000 or else I wouldn’t get anything. With a little hustle and a lot of faith from friends, family, fans, and strangers, I’m proud to say that I surpassed my goal. People from all over the world supported my cause. I’m still blown away by this strong global community that came together to invest in my art. I will forever be grateful! This music is for all of you! Another highlight of the summer has been having the opportunity to work with one of the most incredible singers of African music, Samba Mapangala. For the past year, Samba has been touring with the Occidental Brothers, an African dance band that I’ve been a member of since it started in 2005. Working beside such a powerhouse of energy has pushed me in many ways. Samba patiently taught me many things, including how to sing in Swahili and French, his own dance moves, and the importance of bringing the energy to the people every time you go out on stage. My interaction with Mr. Mapangala has affected every aspect of performance for me. Every time I play I will give nothing less than 100 percent. There were many more spectacular moments that I’ll share in the future but I’m interested in the highlights of your summer. Send me an email and share your adventures.
Although there were many exciting times this summer, the music world suffered a great loss. On June 24th, Fred Anderson passed away due to the affects of a heart attack. Fred was a giant of the tenor saxophone and improvisation. His performances, recordings, and ownership of the renowned jazz club, The Velvet Lounge, have and will continue to make great contributions to the future of jazz and improvised music. I had a personal relationship with Fred and want to share some of my favorite moments in the next few editions of my blog. We’ll start at the beginning. I first met Mr. Anderson at the Velvet Lounge because one of my closest friends, Josh Ramos, was the bass player for the Sunday night jam session, which was hosted by Dennis Winslett at the time. I had never been to or heard of The Velvet Lounge until this night. When the session ended, Fred came up to me and said, “I can tell you listen to Bird.” Charlie “Bird” Parker is and will always be my hero. Fred, too, was a huge fan of Bird so we had much to talk about. We discussed Bird’s sound, concept, and rhythm and listened to recordings all in that first night. This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship and one of the most important periods of growth in my life. What are some of your favorite Fred moments and interactions?
Lots of exciting projects are getting ready to kick off this fall. One of them is my first recording as a leader, South Side Story, which features my band Fitted Shards. We began this process in December of 2008 at the I.V. Lab in Chicago, IL. Since then, I’ve had such a hands-on journey through many aspects of the music industry in order to get this amazing record to the people. While finishing the production of the CD, I learned so much about the mixing and mastering processes. It’s truly the little details that you capture in every moment that make a great recording. Manny Sanchez patiently led me through this entire process to ensure that our ideas were clearly presented. After meeting some initial opposition from several record labels, we found a good fit in 19-8 Records and will release South Side Story on Sep. 28th. Check it out! I’ve been working with Jason Byrne at Red Cat Publicity to make sure this music reaches as many people as possible! Another project that I’m looking forward to getting off the ground is the Greg Ward Quartet, which is my New York-based band. We’ll be playing our first show at the Jazz Gallery in NYC on Sep. 16th. This band features David Bryant (piano), Joe Sanders (bass), and Damion Reid (drums). In the composition world, I’m still working on my commission from the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra. The piece will feature a 40-piece string orchestra and Fitted Shards and will be performed on Feb. 20th in Texas. As the due date of November 1st approaches, many ideas for this work are flowing out of my mind and on to the page. I just have to craft them into something that best represents me. I’ve been listening and studying a lot of orchestral works lately that have been influencing the development of this piece. Some of my new favorites are R. Strauss’ Tod Und Verklarung, Bruckner’s Symphony 7, 2nd movement, and Ravel’s Rapsodie Espagnole. I highly recommend that you check these out if you haven’t already.
That’s all for now but I’ll continue to keep you posted on new developments as they come up. If you’d like to get in touch with me, please email me at cannonbird@yahoo.com. Until then, let’s keep digging!
Take care,
Greg Ward
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