{"id":656,"date":"2019-12-13T08:34:20","date_gmt":"2019-12-13T08:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/?p=656"},"modified":"2019-12-13T08:54:54","modified_gmt":"2019-12-13T08:54:54","slug":"alchemy-fusion-and-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/2019\/12\/13\/alchemy-fusion-and-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"ALCHEMY, FUSION AND FUNDING"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ALCHEMY, FUNDING AND FUSION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in\nthe UK I was occasionally involved in successful crowd funding campaigns. For\ninstance, we raised a required six thousand pounds to script, cast, direct and\nproduce a film to be used in schools to examine the notion of hate crimes and\nhow to reduce them. I recall with great pride the red carpet \u00b4premiere\u00b4 of the\nLeaky Shed production of And She Cried. The film was based on the real life\nhate crime against a young goth girl, Sophie Lancaster, and was produced to be\nshown in schools and youth clubs etc to generate celebration of, rather than\nfear of, our differences. The film was intended to create awareness and\nincrease social tolerance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Kimmie Rhodes
with Radio Dreams
realised
by crownd funding<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the\npast year or so, we at all across the arts have also publicised a similar appeal\nfor funding by an acquaintance of mine, Kimmie Rhodes, a Texan singer writer. I\ninterviewed Kimmie several times during the nineteen nineties when she toured\nthe UK and I met her husband, a musician of some renown called Joe Gracie. He\nwas the composer of a song called Contrabandistas, much covered by several\nfamous country music acts. When I met him, though, he had just lost his voice\nto cancer, and despite somehow remaining in good humour, his career as a singer\nand producer and radio dj was being prematurely ended. Joe died a few years ago\nnow and Kimmie has always wanted to collate his papers and create his memoirs,\nbut it seemed the cost of publication would be prohibitive. However, she\nlaunched a crowd funding campaign, reaching out to those American and British\nfans who remember Kimmie Rhodes and Joe Gracie making great music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ncrowd-funding target was subsequently reached and 2019 saw the book published:\nand what stories it will tell its readers. Those of us who knew him fondly\nremember Joe as a great raconteur but can\u00b4t quite believe some of the stories\nhe told have been allowed into print or that some of his escapades have been sufficiently\nsmoothed over as to make them suitable for the mass market. Joe and Kimmie,\nthough, were always charm personified, and I have a feeling this crowd-funded\nwork will shed some new light on each of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
PABLO AND HUMBERTO
piano and violin innovators
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Another\nexample of successful crowd-funding has been achieved by a duo of musicians I\nsaw play at the El Grifo Bodega. After delivering a great instrumental concert\nover here, Humberto and Pablo invited audience members to support their appeal\nfor funds to record a debut album. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They then\nsettled back down in in La Palma, rehearsing and exploring new ideas to incorporate\ninto their debut\nalbum; a fusion of jazz and folklore from Cuba and the Canary Islands. They described this period as\n\u00b4a very enriching and intense time\u00b4 and they promised they would be sharing\nthis campaign with their fans throughout the whole process! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nre-visit this story because our all\nacross the arts<\/em> office has just received an e mail from Humberto And Pablo,\nconfirming they now have an album available for review and to purchase. Its\neleven original tracks fuse jazz, Canarian and Cuban folklore and the classical\nsounds of the early twentieth century impressionist era. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They asked supporters who hadn\u00b4t already done so to share and talk about the project on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, to which the boys would then frequently upload small sound-bites and videos.

At that concert here on Lanzarote I was accompanied by visitors we had staying with us, one of whom is a weekly radio broadcaster of two jazz programmes on major UK digital and internet outlets. Steve Bewick will be as delighted as I am to hear that the album is now ready and can be found at Spotify and bandcamp and that \u00b4hard\u00b4 copies of Conversaciones can now be ordered directly from the boys\u00b4 contact address at   http:\/\/pablorodriguezmusic.com\/conversaciones<\/a>  I therefore look forward to hearing Steve play some tracks on his Hot Biscuits Radio programme, transmitted every Wednesday and Thursday at 9pm or late Saturday at 11pm. The programme can also be found at www.fc-radio.co.uk<\/a> with archives of the shows available at www.mixcloud.com\/stevebewick<\/a> and we recently posted a profile of the broadcaster here on Sidetracks And Detours. <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
PABLO & HUMBERTO
send their thanks<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Listen\nin on these conversations, they say, and we will hear unique sounds, and \u00edf you\ncan believe your eyes and ears\u00b4 as The Mamas And Papas once said of one of\ntheir own early albums, you will see and hear the violin become a small guitar\nor a percussive instrument and you will also witness a piano being played from\nwithin. Although the music alternates between improvisation and moments of high\nvoltage the melodic simplicity is never lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humberto\nand Pablo speak in their e mail of \u00b4the privilege\u00b4 of working with\npercussionist Rupert Ruppik and clarinettist Holger Werner on two tracks on an album\nthat aims to show the relevance of the existing musical link between The Canary\nIslands and Humberto and Pablo\u00b4s beloved land of Cuba. The tracks referred to\nare Travesia Hacia El Atardecer and Nuevos Aires, each running for around seven\nminutes. Of around the same length is PSP Blues and other tracks include\nTransoceana and Primavera on an album, running for over an hour, that was\nrecorded and mixed by Stefan Lurke and mastered by Joao Alves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the songs in these Coversaciones were premiered during that tour of Europe And The Canary Islands and the two musicians are already busy planning a release tour for next year to promote the album. However, those of us who can\u00b4t wait to hear how these songs have turned out can order a physical CD through the musicians\u00b4 Bandcamp page, and can meanwhile pick up itinerary details on Facebook and Instagram as the tour takes shape. They might even have been tempted to become the musical equivalent of a theatrical \u00b4Angel\u00b4 and support these artists who seem destined to enjoy a successful and sustained recording career. So it is fantastic to announce on these pages that the first step has been taken, and an album has been released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Readers\nmay well be getting fed up of me speaking so often recently about \u00b4musical\nalchemists\u00b4 who to coin a line by the late John Stewart \u00b4are out there turning\nmusic into gold\u00b4 but I am sure Humberto and Pablo have managed to achieve that\nin the studio, in the same as they did when I saw then in performance. I also\noften borrow a phrase that author Angela Carter seemed to borrow form TS Eliot\nwhen she spoke of how \u00b4writing is the art of pouring new wine from old bottles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
in conversation
album cover<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

There is all this and more in Humberto\u00b4s and Pablo\u00b4s live performances and I\u00b4m share it is there on the album too. These gentlemen are pioneers, blending Canarian and Cuban music into new cocktails in much the same way as is Antonio de La Rosa, with his flamenco fusion outfit, also mixing the old and the new. I suggested on Lanzarote Information at the time that searching on a favourite engine would discover samples of their music, and that anyone who did so was likely to be very impressed. Crowd-funding is not just another word for asking for a few pennies in a musician\u00b4s flat cap. Unless the amount requested is reached within a certain period of the request being posted then the pledges received cannot be \u00b4cashed in\u00b4, so it is incumbent on the musicians (or artists in other forms) to not only ensure that the amount requested will actually cover the costs of the project they are aiming to deliver, but also that they have a contact list of sufficient supporters who might wish to support them. To attract that support from their fan base the musicians must, of course, offer something of an incentive, as in this case Humberto and Pablo are doing by delivering free \u00b4samples\u00b4 from the studio throughout the recording process. These might never have any real financial value to the recipients but do serve as welcome mementoes showing an appreciation from the musicians. And of course, should the artists move on to great acclaim then so these souvenirs will increase in, at least, sentimental value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It strikes\nme however, that so few of the wonderful, truly amazing musicians on Lanzarote manage\nto secure recording contracts. Maybe some of the funding dedicated to the\ndelivery of free concerts could instead be directed towards the recording of a\ncompilation album showcasing their talents in a recorded format. Perhaps then\nsome professional recording labels might see the sense and potential\nprofitability of recording the best of the artists concerned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, huge congratulations to Humberto And Pablo for complementing their\nmusical expertise with the entrepreneurial skills of creating a concept,\nidentifying a market, producing a product and making it available and\naccessible. Their Conversaciones are certainly well worth listening to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pablo says of that this work is \u00b4an open\njourney to improvisation. It is there that versions and compositions of my own,\nand the classical and popular, find their place. Jazz, Folk, Latin \u2026all these\nare part of the voyage we want to share with you\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two artists were born and raised\non two wonderful islands, Cuba and La Palma, both separated and united by the\nsame sea, only to migrate towards the unknown. So this album is the starting\npoint of an inspiring transatlantic journey – a journey where numerous ideas and\ninfluences have led to eleven unique conversations between the violin and the\npiano. Through improvisation and their eagerness to find new soundscapes, the\nduo captures special moments of their search for a voice and identity of their\nown. Likewise, they aim to express the melancholy of living distanced from\ntheir roots as they seek to contribute to and reinforce the cultural link\nbetween their two countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Conversaciones

the cd is available now<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The album runs for well over an hour and includes the tracks Transoceania, which sums up the ethos of the whole album, a lively and fluctuating Danza de los Tomates and the lengthy but beautiful  Neuvos Aires, as well as the more sombre PSP Blues. All tracks are composed by Pablo Rodr\u00edguez & Humberto R\u00edos and we have already mentioned the special guests playing on the album, Ruven Ruppik on percussion & handpan and Holger Werner on bass clarinet. Steffen L\u00fctke was responsible for the superb recording and mixing, with engineer Chris Kosides. The album was recorded at Fattoria Musica, Osnabr\u00fcck (Germany) and was eventualy mastered by Joao Alves at Sweet Mastering, Lisboa (Portugal). It has been issued in a contemplative sleeve with graphic design and photography by Pedro Fausto. Conversaciones can be heard on Spotify, Apple and Bandcamp, where  a hard copy can also be ordered on via Pablo\u00b4s e mail address shown on the bandcamp page. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only\nhas clever and incentivised crowd funding by Humberto and Pablo led to the\nrelease of this excellent debut album, but all across the arts are also pleased\nto report that Kimmie Rhodes\u00b4 similarly funded and careful collation of work by\nher late husband, record producer and dj, Joe Gracey, is now in print. Stories\nabout him have never waned in their verbal telling. The book clearly identifies\nhis musical genius, too, so keep an eye out for reviews throughout our various all across the arts<\/em> outlets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ALCHEMY, FUNDING AND FUSION Back in the UK I was occasionally involved in successful crowd funding campaigns. For instance, we raised a required six thousand pounds to script, cast, direct and produce a film to be used in schools to examine the notion of hate crimes and how to reduce them. I recall with great […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-literary","category-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}