Kickstarter

In late October of 2011, we began the process of recording my debut album at 58 North 6th Media Labs in Williamsburg (Brooklyn). My dad flew all the way across the country from SF to engineer the session, heading straight to the studio and spending the night there in order to set everything up for our session! 6 of my favorite people/musicians gave their time for two days of recording, filled with  vamps, giggles, and lots of Thai food. The album is in the can, ready for the public's ears, but we are in need of your help to get it out to the world!

"Unfolding" represents my first efforts as a band-leader. It features nine songs, seven of which are my original compositions. The songs are a reflection of all the beautiful music and people I have been exposed to in the last few years. The incredible band includes my dear friends Ivan Rosenberg (trumpet), Chad Lefkowitz-Brown (tenor sax), Pascal Le Boeuf (piano), Ruben Samama (bass), Jake Goldbas (drums) and features special guest Peter Apfelbaum (tenor sax), my musical mentor since childhood.

Growing up in the diverse climate of San Francisco, I have had an eclectic artistic palette from an early age. I grew up playing salsa, latin jazz, brazilian, modern jazz, and world music, performing with many Bay Area luminaries who brought out in me both a reverence for musical traditions, along with a boundless energy to find new ways to interpret emotions through music. I spent much of my childhood exploring theater, dance, and music, all with an equal amount of curiosity, and to this day the dynamic and lyrical nature of theater and dance seep through my musical work. In NYC, I am involved with a number of projects (Trey Anastasio Band, Peter Apfelbaum and the NY Hieroglyphics, Wyllys and the NY Hustler Ensemble, to name a few) that realize the notion of finding new ways to express human emotion with a disregard to "coloring within the lines" of a certain genre.

My vision for this project is to expose the elasticity of genres, to push away musical boundaries and allow styles to blend into one another, and in the process create something refreshing and universal. The music we have recorded encompasses the varied influences of all the great music of today that inspire me, including jazz, indie rock, R&B, folk, and world music. However, the nature of this project is to do away with those labels entirely in order to create a unique hybrid that transcends the limitations of categorization.

We need your support to fully realize this project. I am in need of funding in order to manufacture, distribute, and publicize this album so I may share this music with you. Donate what you can, even the smallest donation can help us achieve this goal.There are many gifts of appreciation as a thank-you for your support: check out the right side of this page.

Thank you!

Much love,

Natalie Cressman