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About this project
We’re in the midst of our Loose Wig Tour 2010! The Solomon Douglas Swingtet (an eight-piece instrumental jazz orchestra) and the Solomon Douglas Quartet (consisting of four members of the Swingtet) is performing in eleven cities from May 11th to May 22nd.
We're attempting to raise $5,000 to help fund this tour. We intentionally set the "funding goal" at a conservative $500 for this Kickstarter campaign because any amount of money will be a big help to us! But, to break even on our expenses, we need $5,000, not $500.
Touring is an expensive undertaking, and we would love your help. Our total expenses for the tour will be approximately $11,100, and our total expected revenue from the eleven shows we’re performing is $6,100. This leaves us $5,000 short, and that’s where you come in!
If all of these gigs were on Friday or Saturday nights in big cities, then we wouldn’t be asking for help. But since most of them are on weeknights in smaller cities and towns, it means that the venues cannot afford to pay us enough to cover our costs. We believe that bringing great live music to small towns is a culturally important thing to do. We hope that you do too! Your pledge will help us in our mission to present excellent live swing music to audiences who don’t often get an opportunity to hear it.
The Solomon Douglas Swingtet
The Solomon Douglas Swingtet is an eight-piece instrumental jazz band that plays the great music of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s: Basie, Ellington, Lunceford, Fletcher Henderson, Jelly Roll Morton, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Quincy Jones. The band’s exciting performances breathe life and energy into this amazing music, with deep respect for the tradition and with original zest and creativity.
The band has been in existence since the fall of 2002. Its two album releases are Swingmatism, a studio recording released in 2006, and Live at the Legion, a live concert recording released in 2009. A third album, Ain’t No School Like the Old School, is due to be released this summer.
The Solomon Douglas Swingtet plays many styles of swinging jazz music:
- pre-swing-era hot jazz: South, Buffalo Blues, Singin’ the Blues Till My Daddy Comes Home
- classic old-school swing: Shorty George, “Big Apple Contest”, For Dancers Only
- late-50s Count Basie music: I Needs to Be Bee’d With, Cherry Point, One O’Clock Jump
- swinging modern jazz: Funk Junction, Alfie’s Theme, Stolen Moments
- beautiful ballads: Dream a Little Dream of Me, Moonglow
Tour itinerary
Here are all the cities we’re playing in; click on the links for Facebook events:
- 5/11: Quartet at Eleven on Grove in Asheville, NC
- 5/12: Quartet at Laurel Theater in Knoxville, TN
- 5/13: Quartet at the Academy Ballroom in Atlanta, GA
- 5/15: Swingtet at CHEX in Charleston, SC
- 5/16: Swingtet at the RDU Rent Party in Durham, NC
- 5/17: Swingtet at The Boot in Norfolk, VA
- 5/18: Swingtet at Jam Cellar in Washington, DC
- 5/19: Swingtet at the Quarter in Harrisburg, PA
- 5/20: Swingtet at Frim Fram Jam in New York, NY
- 5/21: Swingtet at the at the Capital Region’s Elks’ Lodge in Albany, NY
- 5/22: Swingtet at the Dovercourt House in Toronto, ON
What the money is for
All of the money will go towards the following things:
- Gasoline, tolls
- Vehicle wear-and-tear
- Food and lodging
- Paying the musicians’ wages
- Bribes and/or bail
- Beef jerky and/or ice cream
- Tipping wait staff extravagantly
- Drinks with little umbrellas in them
T-shirt design
Here's the image on the front of the tour t-shirt, which is available to anyone who pledges $30 or more. The shirt was lovingly designed by Calico Goodrich. Men's shirts are black, women's are deep royal blue.
Wait, do you need $500 or $5,000?
In order to break even on our expenses, we need to raise $5,000. However, we’ll still go ahead with the tour even if we don’t raise that much money. Hence, we’ve set a conservative Kickstarter funding goal of $500. Any shortfall, should we raise less than $5,000, will be covered out of our own pockets: not an eventuality that we relish but one which we’re willing to accept.
57
Backers
$1,678
pledged of $500 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on May 23.Pledge $5 or more
Exclusive daily e-mail updates during the tour. Crazy and unlikely things tend to happen during a Swingtet tour, and you'll be the first to find out! Hey, if there's anything you want from us that isn't listed, below, as a reward, then please e-mail me (srcd@alum.mit.edu) and suggest it. Anything at all. I'll add your suggestion as an available award, and then you can choose it!
3 BACKERs
Pledge $10 or more
A digital download of one of our existing albums, either "Swingmatism" or "Live at the Legion", and exclusive daily e-mail updates during the tour.
5 BACKERs
Pledge $13 or more
An autographed copy of one of our existing CDs, either "Swingmatism" or "Live at the Legion" (your choice), and exclusive daily e-mail updates during the tour.
2 BACKERs
Pledge $14 or more
A digital download of our upcoming album, "Ain't No School Like the Old School", when it is eventually released, and exclusive daily e-mail updates during the tour.
10 BACKERs
Pledge $16 or more
Free admission to one show during the tour, and exclusive daily e-mail updates during the tour.
0 BACKERs
Pledge $18 or more
A digital download of both of our existing albums, "Swingmatism" and "Live at the Legion", and exclusive daily e-mail updates during the tour.
2 BACKERs
Pledge $20 or more
Autographed copies of both of our existing CDs, "Swingmatism" and "Live at the Legion", and exclusive daily e-mail updates during the tour.
5 BACKERs
Pledge $22 or more
An autographed copy of our upcoming CD, "Ain't No School Like the Old School", when it is eventually released, and exclusive daily e-mail updates during the tour.
6 BACKERs
Pledge $30 or more
A beautiful tour t-shirt in your size, and exclusive daily e-mail updates during the tour.
4 BACKERs
Pledge $31 or more
Digital downloads of both of our existing albums, "Swingmatism" and "Live at the Legion", plus a digital download of our upcoming CD, "Ain't No School Like the Old School", when it is eventually released, and exclusive daily e-mail updates during the tour.
1 BACKER
Pledge $38 or more
Autographed copies of both of our existing CDs, "Swingmatism" and "Live at the Legion", plus an autographed copy of our upcoming CD, "Ain't No School Like the Old School", when it is eventually released, and exclusive daily e-mail updates during the tour.
8 BACKERs
Pledge $50 or more
Free admission to every show during the tour, and exclusive daily e-mail updates during the tour.
0 BACKERs
Pledge $60 or more
A one-hour private dance lesson from Calico Goodrich, and exclusive daily e-mail updates during the tour. (Note: Calico lives in Seattle; her travel costs are not included in this reward; either you'll have to do the lesson in Seattle, or you'll need to schedule a date when she is already planning on being in your city, or you'll have to chip in for her airfare.)
0 BACKERs
Pledge $60 or more
A one-hour private dance lesson from Solomon Douglas, and exclusive daily e-mail updates during the tour. (Note: Solomon's travel costs are not included in this reward; either we'll have to schedule a date when he is already planning on being in your city, or else you'll have to chip in for his airfare.)
5 BACKERs
Pledge $100 or more
An exclusive IMMEDIATE digital download of our as-yet-unreleased album, "Ain't No School Like the Old School", and exclusive daily e-mail updates during the tour.
1 BACKER
Pledge $155 or more
A gorgeous limited-edition framed print of a photograph of the Solomon Douglas Swingtet, and exclusive daily e-mail updates during the tour.
0 BACKERs
Pledge $300 or more
Solomon Douglas will perform a solo-piano concert in your living room at a future date; plus, you'll receive exclusive daily e-mail updates during the tour. (Note: Solomon's travel costs are not included in this reward; either we'll have to schedule a date when he is already planning on being in your city, or else you'll have to chip in for his airfare.)
0 BACKERs
Pledge $450 or more
Solomon Douglas will perform a duo concert (piano and bass) in your living room at a future date; plus, you'll receive exclusive daily e-mail updates during the tour. (Note: Solomon's travel costs are not included in this reward; either we'll have to schedule a date when he is already planning on being in your city, or else you'll have to chip in for his airfare.)
0 BACKERs
Project By
Solomon Douglas
Seattle, WA
Send MessageSolomon Douglas is a jazz pianist, a bandleader, and a dance instructor. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his wife and two cats, but spends most of his time traveling to perform with the Solomon Douglas Swingtet, a large jazz ensemble that plays classic swing music.
