LCoM Alumnus Pete Lee's Velvet Rage album and Kickstarter

Pianist Pete Lee is raising funds for the release of a new album, The Velvet Rage, an ambitious new work that features many familiar faces to the northern jazz scene - like fellow LCoM alumni Alex Munk, Ali Thynne, Huw Foster and Matt Roberts.

After graduating from LCoM, Lee moved to London to study a masters at the Royal Academy. Since then, his reputation as both a band leader and as a sideman has grown and grown, leading his own groups like Narcissus and touring with vocalist Alice Zawadski to name but two.

Aiming to raise £5,000, Pete's kickstarter is going strong; currently standing at £4,255 but with only 6 days to go, he stills needs that vital push to ensure he reaches his target.

As ever with Kickstarter, donors are offered a range of incentives - from signed cds to private piano lessons and even the opportunity to name one of the as-yet-unnamed tunes to be featured on the album.

Below is some background information on the project but for full information and to donate, visit the Velvet Rage Kickstarter page.

This album showcases compositions I've written over the last 10 years, drawing not only from my educational and professional experience, but also from the highs and lows of my own personal experience. Isn't that what we all write about? Family, friends, love and romance; those basic things that can hurt the most, but can also feel the most fulfilling. I'm keen to take full advantage of my opportunity to say something meaningful.

We recorded for 5 days in Fieldgate studio recording some of our classic tunes as well as some brand new material. 

You'll hear Pete Lee (piano/compositions), Josh Arcoleo (sax), Alex Munk (guitar), Huw Foster (bass), Ali Thynne (drums), and the Amika Strings: Laura Senior (violin), Rich Jones (violin) Lucy Nolan (viola) and Peggy Nolan (cello).

The session was recorded by Andy Lawson, Alex Killpartrick & Matt Williams at Fieldgate Studios in South Wales. Matt Roberts produced the album.

We’re immensely excited to invite you to help us continue our journey. We need to raise £5,000 within 4 weeks. If we fail to reach our target, you won't be charged a penny and we'll receive nothing. It's an incredibly nerve racking time for us, so we'd be eternally grateful for your help.

Your donations will help us:

• Mix/ Master/ Manufacture the album
• Record a final track at the studio
• Record Promotional Videos
• Pay for a PR Campaign to spread the word.
• Pay our skilled band-members.

Alex Munk's Flying Machines Kickstarter Launched

Jazz listeners first came across guitarist Alex Munk when he came to Leeds to study Jazz at Leeds College of Music from 2006-2009. He then moved to London to study his Masters at the Royal Academy in London and since then, he has proved himself to be a guitarist at the forefront of the jazz scene. He has maintained his connections with the North, bringing his own group Flying Machines to perform in Leeds as well as working with fellow LCoM Alumnus Matt Anderson in his group Wildflower and in 2015, he was invited to take part in an all-star big band put together by Nikki Iles to celebrate 50 years of Leeds College of Music.

Alex has recently recorded his debut album with his quartet, Flying Machines and has now launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to help with mastering, CD and print costs and PR. Their target is £3,500 and the total currently stands at 38% with 20 days to go.

Alex says

We have the end in sight! It's been a long haul (no pun intended) but the final mixes of our debut album, which we recorded last year, sound like they did in my wildest dreams. All the rehearsing and gigging really paid off. We've captured 9 original compositions in the studio and there's something on the album for everyone, from visceral, rock out improv to lyrical ballads and lush soundscapes. We worked with an incredible engineer called Tim Thomas for both the recording and mixing; he has done a wonderful job of bringing this music to life. 

We are aiming for a late September 2016 album launch date, ahead of our national tour in February 2017. We already have a number of dates booked, from Cornwall, London to Edinburgh - we hope to see you at one of them! We'll be adding more dates as we go along.

Donors can opt to pledge at a number of different levels, each with their own rewards. These range from digital downloads of the album to guitar lessons and private gigs by the band.

You can find out more about Alex and Flying Machines by visiting his website, and to learn more about the Kickstarter and donate, see their campaign page.

Acts Announced for LUME Festival & Kickstarter Launched

Earlier in the year, we reported on the plans for LUME festival, a day of music run by Dee Byrne and Cath Roberts in London. Committed to supporting original and improvised music, the musicians have worked tirelessly to promote live music in London in recent years. The festival marks their next step and after an open call for submissions, today they launched a Kickstarter to support the running of the event.

The North will be strongly represented with three out of the six groups hailing from Manchester and Leeds. Ant Traditions is a duo featuring pianist Adam Fairhall and David Birchall (Manchester), Hot Beef Three are from Leeds and feature Ollie Dover, Craig Scott and Andrew Lisle and guitarist Anton Hunter brings his large ensemble work Article XI, a previous recipient of the Manchester Jazz Festival commission.

These three Northern groups are joined by Birmingham's Little Church, Kjær/Musson/Marshall from London and Blueblut from Austria.

LUME has received some core funding from Arts Council England to support their work but their newly launched Kickstarter will raise funds to help with travel costs and artist fees to ensure they feature as much music as they can. Donors will receive a number of rewards depending on the amount they donate including Live at LUME cds, tickets to the festival, a special trip to London Aquarium with Cath and Dee and a special piece written for you and performed by Word of Moth.

For full information on the Kickstarter which runs until May 12th, visit the website.

Kickstarter Campaign - Keith Tippett Octet on Discus

Martin Archer's label Discus Music have launched a Kickstarter campaign to support the release of Keith Tippett's newest album, The Nine Dances of Patrick O'Gonogon.

The 56th album to be released on the label features a new suite of music commissioned by Richard Wiltshire and was recorded at Real World Studios.

This new suite is based on themes from Irish folk music and was written for his new octet, which includes several recent graduates from the Royal Academy of Music’s jazz programme along with a long-time collaborator, the drummer Peter Fairclough, and the London-based Italian trumpeter Fulvio Sigurta.

As the album has already been recorded, mixed and mastered, the kickstarter campaign is a way for listeners to purchase their copies in advance to enable Discus Music to distribute the album. The campaign lasts for another 29 days and has a target amount of £1,500.

Keith Tippett Octet are -

Fulvio Sigurta (trumpet/flugel)
Sam Mayne (alto)
James Gardiner-Bateman (alto & flute)
Kieran McLeod (trombone)
Robbie Harvey (trombone)
Tom McCredie (bass)
Pete Fairclough (drums)
Keith Tippett (piano/composition)
Julie Tippetts (voice)

For more information and to contribute to the campaign, visit the Kickstarter page.

LCoM Alumnus Scores New Mark Lobatto Film

LCoM alumnus Jonathan Chung has been invited to write the music for a new film by Mark Lobatto entitled Blue Borsalino.

BLUE BORSALINO is a neo-noir detective film set in the present day with flashbacks to the 1960s, written and directed by Mark Lobatto. 

It's a gripping murder mystery which touches on themes of guilt, forgiveness and redemption, told in Mark's unique style which puts a modern, quirky twist on film noir. Think 'Mulholland Drive' meets 'Amour'.

The film is currently seeking funding through Kickstarter and has generated over £7,000 of the £10,000 goal. Full details of the Kickstarter can be found HERE.

Saxophonist Jonathan Chung moved from Glasgow to Leeds to study his undergraduate at LCoM before moving to London to complete his masters degree at the Royal Academy of Music. As well as being a sideman in a number of projects, he leads Glasshopper featuring Corrie Dick and James Kitchman.

Metamorphic & Royst Kickstarter Campaign

Following on from a successful collaborative tour in 2013, Laura Cole's Metamorphic and Royst Trio led by Kari Bleivik have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to produce an album together.

The 2013 tour coincided with the release of Metamorphic's second album, Coalescence (which received a 4-star review from John Fordham) and was supported by the PRS foundation. The two groups performed together to critical acclaim and now wish to bring the musicians back together to made a studio album of original music.

With Metamorphic bandleader Laura Cole knowing the members of Norwegian vocal trio Royst (www.roystrio.com) from her time in Leeds, they decided to create a tour where both groups would come together, writing new material and rearranging previous work. The lineup was made complete with very special guests Seth Bennett (www.sethbennett.com) on double bass and Ollie Dover (www.shatnersbassoonband.com) on bass clarinet. The result of this collaboration was a special musical chemistry, leaving a profound mark on all involved (as you can see from the photo). Here's a great review of the Royst/Metamorphic gig at the Vortex on 25/06/13, which was the official album launch gig for Coalescence (http://blueflamingo.eu/music/reviewmetamorphicroysttriovortex/).

The Kickstarter fund would allow the musicians to pay for studio and rehearsal time, sound engineer and mixing/mastering amongst other things. Their target is £2,000 and the campaign ends on 24th October.

More information can be found on the Metamorphic & Royst trio Kickstarter page.

Jazz Does Crowdfunding - UPDATE

                                 Led Bib


Following up from our recent interview with guitarist Alex Roth, today he announced that his Sponsume campaign has raised £1,310.97 to go toward his UK tour with band Otriad. Congratulations to Alex, who has put in a lot of hard work to promote the tour, so head to see a gig if you can.

Led Bib are also going down the crowdfunding route and have started a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a new studio album and live vinyl to mark their 10th anniversary. They've set a £10,000 goal and have until 25th May to achieve it. To see their video or to pledge, visit Led Bib Kickstarter page.