The Jazz Bakery, situated for 16 glorious years in the Historic Helms Bakery Complex, will be presenting its last performances in that location on Sunday, May 31, 2009.
Jazz Pianist, George Kahn, will be hosting a special Farewell Performance starting at
3:30 – 6:00 PM that afternoon. In addition to George’s West Coast Jazz Quartet,
this FINAL SHOW at The Jazz Bakery will feature the 18-piece
Santa Monica High School Jazz Band, under the direction of Tom Whaley.
Along with George on piano, the West Coast Jazz Quartet will feature Pat Kelley on guitar, Karl Vincent on bass, M. B. Gordy on drums, and some very special guests. George will be playing selections from his newest album “Cover Up!”, as well as song tributes to Shorty Rogers, Wayne Shorter and other jazz greats.
George Kahn, winner of last summer’s Temecula Valley International Jazz Festival, has released 6 CD’s. His “Cover Up!” has received glowing reviews and major radio play across the country. Selections on the CD include John Mayer’s “Waiting For The World To Change”; The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” and Roger and Hammerstein’s
“My Favorite Things” along with original jazz compositions.
Tickets are $25.00 each, or $15.00 for students with ID. All proceeds from the concert will be donated to the SAMOHI Jazz Band to help with the purchase of new instruments and music.
Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance by credit card by calling the Jazz Bakery.
The JAZZ BAKERY is located at 3233 HELMS AVE LA, CA 90034.
Phone: 310-271-9039.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Technology Is A Pain in the Butt!
I had the great pleasure of recording in the studio for a day with Andy Suzuki, Karl Vincent and M. B. Gordy in January of this year. It was a wonderful studio called Park Hill Studios in Hemet, CA. We had a wonderful time, laid down 6 new tracks. And at the end of the day, I got to take the master tapes home - on DA-88s, which was the format this studio uses.
You would think it would be easy to find a place to get someone to run me a CD off the DA-88s, so I could listen to the tracks - but no. Seems that this format fell out of favor about 8 years ago, when hard-drives became the basic place to "record" onto, bypassing tape altogether.
So what I really needed is to find someone with a couple of DA-88 machines, so they could transfer the traks onto my hard drive using Protools for the basic program, and then get a rough mix burned onto a CD to reference.
Well, almost 2 months later, the project is almost done. The two people I found that had the machines both discovered that they had not used them for so long, they were not functioning, and they needed to be cleaned before the transfer could be done. Finally, the wonderful Craig Pettigrew was able to help me get the transfer done, but did not have the equipment to get into the editing/transfer part of the project. So this will go to my good friend Carl Sealove this week, and then, by sometime next week I should actually be able to LISTEN to what the hell we did back in January.
This got me thinking - what about my other albums? Are they also on formats that are basically not being used any more? IS it worth updating them as well?
I found that the albums since Midnight Brew have all been recorded onto hard drives, and I have them all stored away - of course I should try starting them up, to see if they even function any more.
The first 2 albums it looks like I do not have the 16 track masters, I just have the master CD and some digital tape back-ups. No going back there to remaster, I don't think. I found something that looked like a HUGE floppy disc, about the size of an old 45 RPM single. Don't think too many people have a machine that will read that stuff anymore.
Life gets more and more confusing. At least I don't have to find a place to bake my 2 inch master tapes anymore.
Have a great night - signing off now
You would think it would be easy to find a place to get someone to run me a CD off the DA-88s, so I could listen to the tracks - but no. Seems that this format fell out of favor about 8 years ago, when hard-drives became the basic place to "record" onto, bypassing tape altogether.
So what I really needed is to find someone with a couple of DA-88 machines, so they could transfer the traks onto my hard drive using Protools for the basic program, and then get a rough mix burned onto a CD to reference.
Well, almost 2 months later, the project is almost done. The two people I found that had the machines both discovered that they had not used them for so long, they were not functioning, and they needed to be cleaned before the transfer could be done. Finally, the wonderful Craig Pettigrew was able to help me get the transfer done, but did not have the equipment to get into the editing/transfer part of the project. So this will go to my good friend Carl Sealove this week, and then, by sometime next week I should actually be able to LISTEN to what the hell we did back in January.
This got me thinking - what about my other albums? Are they also on formats that are basically not being used any more? IS it worth updating them as well?
I found that the albums since Midnight Brew have all been recorded onto hard drives, and I have them all stored away - of course I should try starting them up, to see if they even function any more.
The first 2 albums it looks like I do not have the 16 track masters, I just have the master CD and some digital tape back-ups. No going back there to remaster, I don't think. I found something that looked like a HUGE floppy disc, about the size of an old 45 RPM single. Don't think too many people have a machine that will read that stuff anymore.
Life gets more and more confusing. At least I don't have to find a place to bake my 2 inch master tapes anymore.
Have a great night - signing off now
Friday, February 20, 2009
CD BABY Rules the Indie Roost at the Grammys
The music world has changed forever. How do we know?
Although I did not make the cut for a Grammy nomination in 2008, Grammy madness is alive for CD Baby artists!
When CD Baby first started, it was nearly unheard of for a truly independent artist to earn a Grammy nomination (much less win one). Now, a little more than 10 years later, at least 15 (yes, 15!) of our artists were recognized for their outstanding achievements with a Grammy nomination in 2008 alone! The list, with links to the artists, is included at the end of this email, and we are thrilled to report that veteran independents (and CD Baby artists) Burning Spear and Pete Seeger both got to take home one of those little golden gramophones! Congratulations to you and all of our nominated artists.
CD Baby artist payments in 2008 up 28% to a record $34 million!
As the major label machine loses its stranglehold grip in the awards arena, it is taking some heavy hits in the sales department, too. While CD sales from major labels and large indies were down 14% in 2008, CD Baby's CDs grew (2%) thanks to hard-working music makers like you. And digital revenues were up a whopping 45%. In total, CD Baby's artist payments were up 28% in 2008. Since our inception, CD Baby has paid out $98 million to independent artists. How's that for an accomplishment?
And if you don't know this, if you release an independent album that sells, YOU TOO can be a voting member of the Grammys. Let's get in there and turn the tide against the dinosaur record conglomerates. Radiohead did it, you can too! Just go to grammy.com for more info.
If you would like to see a list of CDBABY Artists that were nominated, go here.
Although I did not make the cut for a Grammy nomination in 2008, Grammy madness is alive for CD Baby artists!
When CD Baby first started, it was nearly unheard of for a truly independent artist to earn a Grammy nomination (much less win one). Now, a little more than 10 years later, at least 15 (yes, 15!) of our artists were recognized for their outstanding achievements with a Grammy nomination in 2008 alone! The list, with links to the artists, is included at the end of this email, and we are thrilled to report that veteran independents (and CD Baby artists) Burning Spear and Pete Seeger both got to take home one of those little golden gramophones! Congratulations to you and all of our nominated artists.
CD Baby artist payments in 2008 up 28% to a record $34 million!
As the major label machine loses its stranglehold grip in the awards arena, it is taking some heavy hits in the sales department, too. While CD sales from major labels and large indies were down 14% in 2008, CD Baby's CDs grew (2%) thanks to hard-working music makers like you. And digital revenues were up a whopping 45%. In total, CD Baby's artist payments were up 28% in 2008. Since our inception, CD Baby has paid out $98 million to independent artists. How's that for an accomplishment?
And if you don't know this, if you release an independent album that sells, YOU TOO can be a voting member of the Grammys. Let's get in there and turn the tide against the dinosaur record conglomerates. Radiohead did it, you can too! Just go to grammy.com for more info.
If you would like to see a list of CDBABY Artists that were nominated, go here.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
If We All Give a Little...
I have been moved by the change taking place in Washington, and the shift in the people of our country from working from FEAR to working from HOPE. I am basically a very cynical person when it comes to human nature. Once again referring to Steven Levitt's book "Freakonomics": "Morality, it could be argued, represents that way that people would like the world to work - whereas economics represents how it actually does work."
But the big shift that Obama is presenting is not just adding more big government, but asking each person in the US to take PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY to make things better.
In this vein, I have, for the last four years, held an annual fundraiser called "Jazz For The Holidays". I put together a kick-ass band, we hold the event at the Catalina Bar and Grill, the Premiere Jazz Club in Hollywood, CA, and we raise money for the homeless of Los Angeles.
We specifically raise money for PATH Ventures, an organization that is building "temporary transitional housing" for people in need. PATH (People Assisting The Homeless) provides services for the homeless - giving them a place to eat, get clean, use the phone for job placement and creating resumes, etc. But as well all know, once you fall it is hard to get back up - so PATH Ventures gives these folks a first place to live again as they start their first job, or continue in vocational school to work towards getting that job. It is a wonderful organization, headed by Shane Goldsmith, who herself was a homeless person as part of her resume.
This years show in December was the best ever - I was joined by MB Gordy, Karl Vincent, Pat Kelley, Gabe Johnson, Robert Kyle, and guest vocalists Dianne Wright, Crystal Knighton and the amazing Dwight Trible. And when the night was over not only did the sell-out crowd have a great night of music, we raised over $10,000 for PATH Ventures.
What can YOU do this year to Give a Little?...
But the big shift that Obama is presenting is not just adding more big government, but asking each person in the US to take PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY to make things better.
In this vein, I have, for the last four years, held an annual fundraiser called "Jazz For The Holidays". I put together a kick-ass band, we hold the event at the Catalina Bar and Grill, the Premiere Jazz Club in Hollywood, CA, and we raise money for the homeless of Los Angeles.
We specifically raise money for PATH Ventures, an organization that is building "temporary transitional housing" for people in need. PATH (People Assisting The Homeless) provides services for the homeless - giving them a place to eat, get clean, use the phone for job placement and creating resumes, etc. But as well all know, once you fall it is hard to get back up - so PATH Ventures gives these folks a first place to live again as they start their first job, or continue in vocational school to work towards getting that job. It is a wonderful organization, headed by Shane Goldsmith, who herself was a homeless person as part of her resume.
This years show in December was the best ever - I was joined by MB Gordy, Karl Vincent, Pat Kelley, Gabe Johnson, Robert Kyle, and guest vocalists Dianne Wright, Crystal Knighton and the amazing Dwight Trible. And when the night was over not only did the sell-out crowd have a great night of music, we raised over $10,000 for PATH Ventures.
What can YOU do this year to Give a Little?...
Saturday, January 17, 2009
The Big Musical Picture: Where is Digital Music Going?
With 2008 finally biting the dust, it is time for a little review.
CD sales plummeted over the past three years, from 553.4 million in 2006 to 360.6 million in 2008. MP3 (digital)sales grew from 32.6 million to 65.8 million during the same time period, according to SoundScan. (Remember one "digital" album is equal to 10 individual downloads).
Although legal downloads have more than doubled over the last 3 years, they are still a small fraction of the illegal download and music sharing that takes place on the internet.
THE BASIC ECONOMICS OF DIGITAL MUSIC POINT TOWARDS MUSIC BECOMING "FREE".
The cost of production is dropping every year. Anyone with a computer today can now create their own music (there are plenty of scary examples of this on Youtube and other places). A whole generation of music listeners now expect the music to be free, or almost-free.
As Stephen Levitt said in FREAKONOMICS, "regulation of a legal market is bound to fail when a healthy black market exists for the same product". This is why the RIAA law enforcement has not worked. It is the same reason why gun control does not work. You can pass all the laws you want, but a person that wants a gun can always get one on the black market. Even if the US passed a law to make no new guns as of tomorrow, there is an OCEAN of available guns right now that people can get if they want one. It is the same with free music on the internet.
SO then the BIG question is, How do I make money in a FREE MUSIC market? The answer is found in many places: viral marketing, cross promotion, doing it yourself so you have little or no overhead (like Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead), or be the person that runs the "tollgate", like Myspace Music. The concept there is that while people stream the music for free, Myspace makes it up in advertising on their website.
We are in a brave new musical world, and I can only hope that those of us that believe in quality will keep up the fight to bring great music into the world, where basic economics does not seem to value our art.
CD sales plummeted over the past three years, from 553.4 million in 2006 to 360.6 million in 2008. MP3 (digital)sales grew from 32.6 million to 65.8 million during the same time period, according to SoundScan. (Remember one "digital" album is equal to 10 individual downloads).
Although legal downloads have more than doubled over the last 3 years, they are still a small fraction of the illegal download and music sharing that takes place on the internet.
THE BASIC ECONOMICS OF DIGITAL MUSIC POINT TOWARDS MUSIC BECOMING "FREE".
The cost of production is dropping every year. Anyone with a computer today can now create their own music (there are plenty of scary examples of this on Youtube and other places). A whole generation of music listeners now expect the music to be free, or almost-free.
As Stephen Levitt said in FREAKONOMICS, "regulation of a legal market is bound to fail when a healthy black market exists for the same product". This is why the RIAA law enforcement has not worked. It is the same reason why gun control does not work. You can pass all the laws you want, but a person that wants a gun can always get one on the black market. Even if the US passed a law to make no new guns as of tomorrow, there is an OCEAN of available guns right now that people can get if they want one. It is the same with free music on the internet.
SO then the BIG question is, How do I make money in a FREE MUSIC market? The answer is found in many places: viral marketing, cross promotion, doing it yourself so you have little or no overhead (like Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead), or be the person that runs the "tollgate", like Myspace Music. The concept there is that while people stream the music for free, Myspace makes it up in advertising on their website.
We are in a brave new musical world, and I can only hope that those of us that believe in quality will keep up the fight to bring great music into the world, where basic economics does not seem to value our art.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Music Gets Free-er. A good thing?
I had an interesting discussion with Lee Gomes a while ago, about the concept of the "Long Tail". Lee was taking the position that the Long Tail works as a concept, but as a business model it is no way to actually make money. He felt that by having an infinite amount of choices in music, it would cheapen all the music, and lead towards everyone making less money. I argued against that idea, and felt that there was room for everyone, and the "cream will rise to the top" in every area of the Long Tail.
Well, I am not sure who is right, but it is pretty clear that for 2009 the vote is coming in loud and clear that people want their music for free and unfettered.
Even Apple iTunes is gradually moving towards getting rid of the DRM (digital rights management) on songs you download from them. Amazon, CDBABY and other major sites are already offering downloads of songs now that, once you buy them, you can copy them to your hearts content.
But why bother buying the music, when you can listen by "streaming" it for free on your computer? MYSPACE now has a jukebox feature where you can create playlists of songs from thousands of artists ranging from little old me to people like Eric Clapton, Guns n Roses, you name it. last.fm, jango.com, pandora.com, imeem.com- all these sites give you unlimited access to music free. They are all working on the business model that they can pay a fraction of a penny per streamed song since they run ads on their websites, and they use the ad revenue to pay for the incredibly cheap music.
All well and good. but I wonder, where will it end? If everyone can create the music, and the basic business model is to give it away, what will happen to the quality of music? Perhaps there is less cream to rise than I thought...
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Well, I am not sure who is right, but it is pretty clear that for 2009 the vote is coming in loud and clear that people want their music for free and unfettered.
Even Apple iTunes is gradually moving towards getting rid of the DRM (digital rights management) on songs you download from them. Amazon, CDBABY and other major sites are already offering downloads of songs now that, once you buy them, you can copy them to your hearts content.
But why bother buying the music, when you can listen by "streaming" it for free on your computer? MYSPACE now has a jukebox feature where you can create playlists of songs from thousands of artists ranging from little old me to people like Eric Clapton, Guns n Roses, you name it. last.fm, jango.com, pandora.com, imeem.com- all these sites give you unlimited access to music free. They are all working on the business model that they can pay a fraction of a penny per streamed song since they run ads on their websites, and they use the ad revenue to pay for the incredibly cheap music.
All well and good. but I wonder, where will it end? If everyone can create the music, and the basic business model is to give it away, what will happen to the quality of music? Perhaps there is less cream to rise than I thought...
Copy this code to your website to display this banner!
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