Inspired by the demonstrations in
Zuccotti Park and other Occupy Wall Street locations around the country,
"Start A Fire" explores the motivations of those who aren't quite ready
to make the commitment that those people living outside in the cold are
making. Click on the cover shot above to listen to "Start A Fire", a RAR
casual. And thanks to whomever is pictured in the shot above, taken
recently in Zuccotti Park.
New Releases on
RARadio: Trouble in Mind 2011
label sampler;
Black Box Revelation Live on
Minnesota Public Radio;
Apteka "Striking Violet";
Mikal Cronin's "Apathy" and "Get
Along";
RAR NOTE:
Signel-Z is the brainchild of bassist/guitarist Steve
Ignelzi, who has recently released his jazz collective's first CD
io Rise, available on iTunes and elsewhere.
The techie allusion within the
title of the CD should be a tip-off to what you are dealing with here, which is
stuff too smart for some rooms. (It is not, however, the sort of electrical
switch open/switch closed product implied by the title - it is all real
musicians on real instruments.) This is a jazz fusion, which won't appeal to
those who don't appreciate that form, but for those who do this is a real
pleasure. It is a series of wonderful original compositions, performed with a
live energy, feel and sound that is unusually anarchic for a form that really
exists as a tribute to the traditional jazz forms that came before. There is a
thing going on with East Coast underground jazz that seems to be captured in the
horn work of this band from Boulder, a sort of revolutionary vibe played out
through the bleat of sculpted brass and the peppery accents of 16th-note bursts
of jazz guitar.
Steve Ignelzi is one of the more
interesting artists at work anywhere today, in part because he does so much.
Rather like a model for Buckaroo Bonzai, Ignelzi is a chemist by day - a
discipline he has now maintained for decades - and a working musician by night,
playing in Signel-Z, the adventurous Martian Acres, Girls on Top, and
from time to time a big show band with horn section. And somehow he has raised a
family, and sent a kid to college, while another son performs on drums with
Signel-Z. He has maintained a long marriage, often working with his wife Chris,
who is an excellent vocalist. And Ignelzi does all this with a disarming charm,
a sort of low profile boyishness that seems outwardly void of any personal
obsessions, other than enjoying the most minute details of musical expression,
production and engineering. Just read the marketing promo below and you'll get a
good feel for the Steve Ignelzi approach, which is smart without pretension.
"Signel-Z has been evolving as a band, as composers and players. The ability
to listen hard is valued as highly as the ability to play dramatically. The
balance between structure and improvisation is the playing field upon which the
original compositions are expressed at each live performance. The album was
tracked live with very little use of modern studio trickery in order to capture
the human element and the artists performance. Several of the band members
provided original music compositions for the album. The compatibility of the
composers and players really comes across nicely in the progression of the sound
from the start to the finish of the CD lending greater depth and diversity to
the music than what would have been possible with a less collaborative approach.
"The approach to the mixing and mastering was meant to emphasize the
complexity of the sounds and to couch them in a full bodied mix that describes
the perfect live soundstage. Perhaps an evening concert in the desert, the
Arcosanti amphitheater or the Red Rocks amphitheater in Colorado. A sensual
sound that would be ideal if driving or meditating late at night results. The
group can perform jazz, funk and other genres, but prefers to develop each piece
as distinct from the others such that a distinct character is achieved in each
piece as well as a great progression of the overall set."
_____________________
Lee Trees Makes Rare Appearance
If for 20 years a guy just plays out
in public only once a year or so, one might tend to assume that
he just had other priorities. This is made more interesting by
the fact that when singer-songwriter Lee Trees does make a rare
pilgrimage to the public arena, he always kills, as he did
earlier this month when Lee Trees And
The Commoners -- featuring
Eric Gunnison on keys,
Christian Teele on drums, and
Kirwan Brown on bass -- played
the Rock'n Soul Cafe in Boulder. One finally must conclude that
Lee just has his life ordered a certain way, and while clearly
music is a big part of it, pursuing the career aspects of a
working musician are not. That's a decision of the soul, as
soulful as his Samba. Catch him if you can.-
RAR
________
Ash Ganley Signs
Publishing Deals
Colorado
- Multi-threat musician/singer/songwriter Ash Ganley
reports that he has signed a number of publishing deals aimed at
breaking him beyond the regional popularity he presently enjoys
in the Rocky Mountain States.
"Well....I have lots of news. After
several months of cold calls, warm emails and hot coffee, I
have signed with two publishing/licensing companies and a
fantastic, forward-thinking and successful indie label. Two of
these companies have been on my radar for years, and have
basically been my focus, my 'dream' partners during this time. I
wanted to wait until I had all three records done at Summit Road
Studios before I approached them. In December, I did- and have
signed with both.
"The first company I signed with in
late December is
NOMA Music, a major music licensing and publishing company
is Los Angeles. NOMA has taken on all of my recorded material,
staring with 2006 release "Dark Fuel" all the way up to my
upcoming Feb. 2011 release "Magic Season". They have an amazing
track record of getting their signed artist's music placed in
some of the biggest television shows and movies out there.
Within two weeks of signing, NOMA had two of my songs- 'Elysian
Fields' and 'Only In Our Dreams'- picked up by hit Canadian
television series "Heartland",
for use in back-to-back episodes to be aired later this month.
Currently, NOMA is submitting my material to the FX series
"Justified" for use this season. If this early action is any
sign of things to come, NOMA clearly delivers.
I am also signing this week with San
Rafael, CA based
Magnatune Records. This label is a unique, forward-thinking
success story in adaptation to the digital market place. Check
out their website if you can- they are like a breath of fresh
air and a welcome change from the "old" way of doing business in
music. They have a number of innovative and creative outlets for
marketing their artists and I am really excited to be partnering
with Magnatune.
"I have also signed another deal
with Germany-based licensing/publishing company
Goldentraxx. They are another innovative company that
promotes their artist roster to European and world media markets
in televsion, film etc..
"In the coming weeks I am expecting
to complete another non-exclusive deal with UK-based
licensing/publishing company
Mango Reel.
James Geisler
Former
Boulder Resident Producing Musical Theater Productions
Along the lines of the story
we have on the Music page on Phillip Rauls
and his relationship with the late music industry
personality Buddy Zoloth
(various management capacities with Stephen Stills,
Manassas, Blues Image, others), I was pleased recently to
hear from another Zoloth associate, James Geisler, who back
in the day I knew as "Jimmy".
Jimmy is 61 years old now, which
seems odd because I'm still 29, and still in the
entertainment industry. He works with the Florida-based
musical production company Cirque Productions (http://www.cirqueproductions.com),
which describes its mission as "combining the European
cirque-style of performance artistry with American circus
arts and Broadway theatrics".
Rather like Cirque de Soleil,
Cirque Productions presents a number of shows in venues
ranging from Broadway to theater tours to cruise line
productions. Their Website says that 50 million people have
seen their shows.
This would be right up Jimmy's
alley as he had a long history with production companies,
mostly as an event manager and promoter. He did some artist
management, including work with singer-songwriter
Willis Alan Ramsey
("Muskrat Love").
Jimmy and I inadvertently
conspired to undermine Colorado Senator Gary Hart's 1982 bid
for the presidency, an odd bit of treachery for a couple
liberal Democrats (at least at that time).
Jimmy Geisler's vocations have
always been entertainment-business oriented, and it is
something he is quite good at, but his real passion is for
his art. He is a talented sculptor, who when I met him was
working primarily in metals.
He once tried to give me a
fanciful metal work that I loved called "King Rat", this in
lieu of money he owed me, which I foolishly didn't accept at
the time. "King Rat" is probably worth a fortune now, or at
least it should be. Cool stuff.
Jimmy
Geisler has lived in Santa Fe for the past 20 years, has
been married since 1987, and has a 20-year old daughter, a
biology major in college who is currently studying in Japan.
"Nothing to do with Biology, just spending Dad's money,"
writes Jimmy.
Below is a video of one of the
productions presented by Cirque Productions.-RAR
