About this project

KLANG, a jazz quartet I founded in 2006, will go into the studio again in late November to record Other Doors, a new recording featuring arrangements and compositions I created in celebration of jazz legend Benny Goodman. Much of this music was first conceived for the Chicago Jazz Festival in 2009, the 100-year anniversary of Goodman's birth who was, like me, a Chicago native.

When the curators of the Chicago Jazz Festival first contacted me about a "tribute" to Goodman, I was perplexed: how could I, as a modern jazz clarinetist, pay tribute to an older style player whom I sound nothing like and have no real ambitions of imitating. After months of research and thought, I realized two important aspects of Goodman I had previously overlooked: (1) the incredible spontaneity in his bands, much like the spontaneity I have tried to foster in KLANG and (2) Goodman's imprint on American culture and race relations. Goodman was one of the first well-known white band leaders to have black musicians in his band and stood up for them, time after time, when they encountered issues of racial discrimination.

One such account I read about was a particular concert Goodman and his band were scheduled to play in a southern city in the late 1930's. The promoters of the show asked Goodman to have the black musicians in his band enter the concert hall through "other doors" than the white musicians. Goodman, who by that time was quite famous and well known, put his foot down: "If you want me to play tonight," he steamed, "all my musicians enter through the same door." Because of his clout, he won that battle and a small victory for civil rights in America. This story inspired me to write a new composition called Other Doors and to use that phrase as the name for this new record.

Other Doors will feature my take on classic Goodman tunes like Memories of You, Stompin' at the Savoy, Rose Room and others, and will have several original compositions I created in light of my study of Goodman and his life. But this will not be a "swing" record nor any attempt to play in the style of Goodman and his cohorts. Rather, Other Doors is an attempt to pay homage to a jazz master by doing what jazz musicians have always done: be open-minded, spontaneous and creative, even while looking back a few generations.

As on KLANG's first recording, 2009's Tea Music, I will be joined by Jason Adasiewicz on vibraphone, Jason Roebke on bass and Tim Daisy on drums, as well as guest artists Jeb Bishop on trombone, Josh Berman on cornet, Keefe Jackson on tenor saxophone and Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello. The record will be made between November 22 and December 10 at the wonderful Victorian Recording Studio in Barrington, IL, with Josh Richter engineering. The official release date is set for March 29, 2011.

The fund raising I am doing for Other Doors is to cover the cost of the recording, mixing and artist fees but is only a fraction of the total budget of the project. This will be the 6th release on my own label, Allos Documents and though I continue to believe in this "do it yourself" approach to recording, it does come at a high cost. Over the years I've funded my recordings, in part, through grants but many of those are harder to come by in the current economic climate. And so an organization like Kickstarter and a campaign such as this becomes more than just a fundraiser, it becomes a way for me to connect with those interested in my work and for all of us to work together to bring something new and artful into the world.

I hope you'll take some time to read all the information here on the Kickstarter site, view the film and consider a pledge. There are some great incentives for your pledge including one I'm super excited about at the $100 level.

If you'd like to learn more about my work, hear samples of KLANG's music and read reviews, you can find all of that and more at my website: http://allosmusica.org/

Kind regards from Chicago,

James Falzone
20 November 2010