On Monday, I went to see Ingrid Jensen play at Jimmy Mak’s with Alan Jones, Randy Porter, and Dave Speranza. It was a great show with only a $5 cover. I was worried that the crowd might be thin, since I hadn’t heard much press about the event, but both sets were pretty full. It was especially great to see so many musicians out to hear a show - young and old.
I first met Ingrid at the Port Townsend Jazz Workshop in 2005, when she was my combo coach there. I was lucky enough to be able to sit in with her band in NYC a few months later at a club called Kitano. I also got to see her play a number of times, mostly with Maria Schneider’s band. As far as trumpet players go, I don’t think you can ask for much more. I hope Alan keeps finding ways to bring her out here.
In other news, JazzPDX.org has a new look, or will soon after I post this. I’m looking forward to adding some new features, most notably a podcast which is in the works. If you’re a Portland musician, be sure to send your album info to submit@jazzpdx.org so that I can put it in the “Featured Album” section.
In the past couple of weeks, I’ve been spending a lot of time researching what it takes to put out a CD - not even the music portion, just the physical product. The first major concern has been how many to print. Using most companies, it’s most economical to have them press 1000 copies, and it seems difficult to find a way to make less without using CD-Rs.
Packaging is another major concern. The practical environmentalist in me wants to choose something made out of cardboard, with little or no plastic. However, (some) people expect a professional product to come in the same plastic jewel case that has been the industry standard since CDs came out. If I break down and end up going the jewel-case route, I’d like to at least forgo the plastic shrink-wrap which is a pretty meaningless waste of petroleum.
Composer and band-leader Andrew Durkin has had some pretty interesting stuff on his blog recently about choosing packaging - he recently settled on the “Arigato Pak,” which is made locally by Stumptown Printers. While it seems like an attractive product, I’m still leaning a bit towards Digipaks.
So much to consider…
I’m starting a picture gallery on JazzPDX.org and would like to get ahold of any Portland jazz-related pictures that people might have. You can e-mail them to john@johnnastos.comThanks!
In the press realm:
David Valdez recently interviewed me and has posted the conversation on his blog.
Stereo Subversion reviewed Drew Shoals’ album “The Greatest Haven’t Been Born Yet,” which I play on. They gave the album a 9.5/10 rating. You can read the whole review at their website.
