Today I gave the final go-ahead to the cd pressing company, and in time for our cd launch event, ion Zoo will have its first cd out for public consumption. Distributed by Cellar Live, this is the first release on the new NOW Orchestra Records label. Our launch party is November 19th at where else, but The Cellar.
I have to say that I am quite humbled to have this opportunity. There are so many great musicians and fine recordings in the Cellar Live roster, I am indeed honoured to be associated with this label. And Cory deserves a big shout out for supporting this offshoot of the label. This musical style may not be to his personal taste, but he's been very supportive of this project. Who knows, maybe it'll be a hit in Uzbekestan, or one of those stans.
The act of recording of the cd was quite unremarkable, because everything went so smoothly. A whole different set of aesthetics comes into play with totally improvised music, very different from straight-ahead jazz. Yet, many of the same finely-developed musical skills are required to make the performance effective and engaging, and we have rehearsed and gigged for years to get to that point as a group.
People have described good improvisation as composition speeded up. (John Korsrud calls the process of composition "improvisation slowed down".) We feel that we are pretty good at spontaneously composing in performance, so the performance itself usually feels like very little work. The act of making music becomes more and more effortless.
In contrast, it feels like like a lot of effort has been put into the production of the cd post-recording. Certainly Raymon Torchinsky did an excellent job with the initial recording. Though he's way too modest to admit it, he's really good at it. Carol and I spent many enjoyable hours at Chris Gestrin's place mixing it down, and really appreciated Chris's many contributions to the process. Another guy with ears like a bat, that Chris. He simply hears stuff many people don't. If he was similarly talented in the wine or perfume business, he'd be a "nose". So I guess he's an "ear".
It took some time to get all the proper arrangements to be set up between NOW, The Cellar and our group, being the guinea pigs for all future artists on this series of recordings. I don't think there were any particular conflicts, it just was not the top priority on anyone's list, so things dragged out.
The graphic design was a challenge. The new label is to have a consistent look as a unified series of releases. This was where more concensus was required, to negotiate a balance between the designer, NOW and us as the creative artists. We had a good number of photos of the band to work with, but not single great band shot. Carol and I both have a certain amount of skill behind a camera, but we know better than to try to shoot ourselves during a performance. Eventually we came up with enough shots for the cd, electing to go with an abstract image on the cover. This whole process felt like work to me. Group entropy set in more than once, and it was good that there was always someone willing to move things ahead.
In the end, the design company, Vanilla Five, came up with something that everyone could get behind. If they are good enough to work for Frank Gehry, then they're more than good enough for us.
The work's not over, as now we move into the distribution phase and ensuring that it gets into the right hands.
So the effortless improv stands in contrast to the work required to put an actual cd on the shelves, a medium that may become obsolete in the near future. But we plow ahead, regardless.
That leaves the other cd, by Wanda and the boys, to finish off. Recording costs got out of hand and the budgeted funds got spent all too quickly. We're optomistic that we can finalize the remainder of the financing in the next couple of weeks, and then get it mastered, licensed and pressed by year's end. That would be a nice Christmas present for the band.
It's interesting to reflect on the similarities and differences of the two projects. Going into the studio versus one take live off the floor, each way has a totally different creative process coming into play. Both have been invaluable experiences.
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