About this project
Mary Lou Williams told me 30 years ago at my first lesson with her that “you have to go through the muck and the mud to play the blues.” Now in midlife, having slogged through some deep mud and muck, I can say that the dirt and all of my life experience counts, and that it informs and enriches my artistic voice.
I am very excited to share Sumi Tonooka: NOW--live at the Howland, as my first solo piano recording and a project that reflects my musical development up to now. You can be a part it by helping to finish and release this recording.
The program was recorded this spring at The Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY, with the first set devoted to the standards and jazz masters that have inspired me, and a second set of my original compositions.
PROGRAM:First Set
I Hear A Rhapsody (Fragos, Baker, Gasparre)
Heaven (Duke Ellington)
I'm Old Fashioned (J.Kern, J. Mercer)
Mary Lou Williams Medley: Baby Man (John Stubblefield), Waltz Boogie (Williams), Dirge Blues (Williams)
Evidence (Thelonious Monk)
All Of Me (Cole Porter)
Second Set
Phantom Carousel an early composition based on a 6-tone Egyptian scale
Sojourn 1 and Uganda Blues composed in 2011 inspired by a recent tour to Africa
Morrocan Daze based on a Moroccan rhythm in 7/4
Mingus Mood composed as a theme in the film “Crosstown”
At Home a waltz
Encore:I'm Confessin' (Eubie Blake)
Playing solo gives me the opportunity to explore the full harmonic, melodic and percussive range of the instrument-- 88 keys, pedaling, tone and touch--without anything else in the way. If you like my work, or solo piano, I think you will enjoy this program as much as my live audience and I did.
Funds for this project cover the costs of recording, mixing, mastering, manufacturing and marketing. The project will be released through Artists Recording Collective, which does not provide production or marketing funds. This project will not be funded unless all funds are raised by the deadline, so please pass this along through your social networks and share with your friends. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions or comments. Contributions at any level are deeply appreciated.
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on September 24, 2011.
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$10 gets you a digital download of the CD, a week before its release date!
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$25 gets you the above, plus a signed, advance copy of the CD (shipping included).
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$50 gets you the above, plus a video download of a selection from solo studio session recorded earlier this year at Tedesco studios.
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$100 gets you the above, plus two video downloads from solo studio session, plus a signed score of “Phantom Carousel”.
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$250 gets you all the above, plus an hour-long piano or jazz improvisation lesson with Sumi (Skyped if need be).
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$500 - A pledge at this level gets you special thanks mention on the actual CD. A signed, advance copy of CD, a video download of a selection from studio date recorded earlier this year at Tedesco studios. A signed score of “Phantom Carousel”. A meet and greet with me, plus 4 free tickets to promo concert (Phila, New York, more possible locations TBA).
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$1000 - A pledge at this level gives you all the above, plus an ASSOCIATE PRODUCER listing.
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$1500 - A pledge at this level gives you all the above, plus an original solo piano composition, composed and recorded in your honor (or a person or cause of your choice) and performed at promo concert.
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$2500 - A pledge at this level gives you a private solo piano performance at venue of your choice, a producer listing, a signed, advance copy of CD, a video download of a selection from studio date recorded earlier this year at Tedesco studios, a signed score of “Phantom Carousel”, and a meet and greet dinner with me, plus 4 free tickets to promo concert (Phila, New York, more possible locations TBA).
Project By
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Sumi Tonooka (pronounced To-NO-ka) has been called a “fierce and fascinating composer and pianist” (Jazz Times), “provocative and compelling” (New York Times), and “continually inventive, original, surprising, and a total delight,” (Cuadranos de Jazz, Madrid).
Noted jazz critic Francis Davis, one of the first to recognize her as an extraordinary talent, placed Sumi Tonooka “among the best of today's young pianists." During a career now spanning more than 25 years that has taken her from Philadelphia to Boston and then to New York City, Sumi Tonooka has been surprising and delighting audiences -- and quietly piling up accolades from jazz writers and her fellow musicians. Working in trio or quartet with such noted jazz stalwarts as bassist Rufus Reid and drummers Akira Tana and Lewis Nash, Tonooka's recordings characteristically blend her own compositions with highly personal readings of jazz standards. Her most recent recording, Initiation (2009, ARC Records, with tenor saxophonist Erica Lindsay), garnered an “Honorable Mention” the 2010 Village Voice Jazz Critics' Poll.
In addition to her jazz recording and performing, she has composed for award-winning films. She is also featured in an upcoming full-length documentary from Citygate Films on the youngest victims of HIV/AIDS in Africa. A Note of Hope, is set for wide release in 2012. She tours as part of a sextet featuring her musical compadre of two decades--jazz violinist John Blake, Jr.
Tonooka's career has been chronicled in Living the Jazz Life by Royal Stokes, ln The Moment by Francis Davis, and Madame Jazz by Leslie Gourse (all from Oxford University Press).
Tonooka, along with alto saxophonist Chris Burnett and tenor saxophonist Erica Lindsay, co-founded the ARTISTS RECORDING COLLECTIVE (ARC), an international recording label. She now divides her time between her responsibilities as the chief Public Relations Officer for ARC, composing, teaching, and performing for an increasing audience of jazz lovers who have discovered her wide-ranging talents.
sumitonooka.com
