team building

this week saw me on the phone a fair bit, communicating with potential collaborators.  I am looking to develop a community of collaborators and ensembles around Tucson.  And I've been fortunate to be able to connect with some of the most creative, experienced and committed musicians in Arizona.

This week I spoke with Enrique "Hank" Feldman, Erika May, Brian Luce and Heidi Wilson.  In addition to the above qualities, Enrique and Brian have lots of teaching experience and experience with 'kids' of various ages.  Erika and Heidi meanwhile, both work in the healing and wellness fields when not doing music.

I feel deep gratitude for these new connections, as well as for the connections already working with Tani, Yacouba, Elijah and Djam.

The main angle that I am emphasizing in 'pitching' the project to potential collaborators is 1) that they will own the rights and eventual royalties based on the promotion of the musical stories they make.  2) we are seeking to develop a reliable 'factory' to be able to release 3-4 new stories/week within a couple of months time in order to develop our reputation as a solid competitor to netflix and other subscription entertainment services which may lack in our degree of meaning, aesthetics, and virtue.

We are also focused simultaneously on developing a core ensemble to begin to perform live shows in larger auditorium settings, as well as smaller more intimate venues.

On saturday, I am meeting with Enrique and Erika in the afternoon, and then playing a show with yacouba and a reggae band in the evening.  Then on sunday, playing a dance class with yacouba, and then heading over to the local drum circle to meet the members of baba marimba .. and then adjourn to this guy Michael's place to meet and jam with him (a local percussionist) and a flamenco guitar player collaborator of his.

A lot of people have said that 'less is more' and in many ways I can see how that mantra makes sense.  however, when it comes to momentum for a large scale project there needs to be a critical mass of motivated professionals to lay the foundation.  And that seems to be where we're at.

yacouba and I wrote and began recording on two new pieces this week as well.