Just posted some exciting news over on the Efpi website… HAQ (featuring Beats & Pieces members Anton Hunter, Sam Andreae and Finlay Panter alongside Eero Tikkanen who also guest appeared with Beats & Pieces’ one-off Finnish iteration in 2009) are releasing their brand new album, ‘Walking Walking Falling‘ on Efpi on February 21st. They’ll also be embarking on a 7 date tour over February and the beginning of March, supported by Jazz Services’ Touring Support scheme. I’ve been mixing and producing the album with the guys and I can tell you that it sounds great… Check the Efpi site from next Monday (14th) for an exclusive preview track!
Posted by on 07/02/2011 at 17:39 in b&p friends, news and tagged anton hunter, eero tikkanen, efpi, efpi records, finlay panter, haq, sam andreae, walking walking falling. Leave comments here.
Admittedly its now the 10th of January, but seeing as this is the first post of 2011 (and the first post for a while… sorry) its definitely still acceptable to wish you all the very best for the coming year. 2010 was a great year for us with lots of exciting things happening – thanks for your support and please continue to spread the word!
The seventh issue of our newsletter went out to subscribers last week, with the first news of what we’ve got in store for the next few months – if you haven’t already subscribed you can do so here, and read the newsletter here. I promise to try to post more stuff on the website this year, so I’ll be expanding on some of the things in the newsletter in longer posts soon.
In the meantime, check out the official Efpi Records Festive/New Year Message for 2010…
Posted by on 10/01/2011 at 11:25 in misc and tagged efpi, festive, mailing list, new year, newsletter. Leave comments here.
It gives me enormous pleasure to present to you the third (and final… for now!) in the series of Beats & Pieces remixes, and its one I’ve been looking forward to sharing since it arrived in my inbox a few weeks ago. Rodrigo Constanzo has completely reworked ‘broken’ and it sounds awesome, a fitting end to three weeks of exciting remixes – hope you’ve enjoyed them as much as we have! If you missed the previous weeks’ remixes you can download them all in a single zip file here.
As with the other remixes, its been made available to download for free, but if you enjoy it we’d appreciate it if you considered making a donation to support our work by clicking the big yellow ‘Donate’ button on the right hand side of the Efpi site – ta!
Posted by on 28/07/2010 at 11:08 in b&p friends, news and tagged broken, download, efpi, ep, remix, rodrigo constanzo. Leave comments here.
The second in the series of Beats & Pieces remixes is now available to download over on the Efpi website; this week its ‘bake’ that’s been reworked by Dileu (aka Owain Roberts, aka Messner). Many will know that Owain also plays trombone on the EP, so its been really interesting to hear what he’s done with the track!
Again its been made available for you to download for free, but if you enjoy it please consider making a donation to support out work by clicking the big yellow ‘Donate’ button on the right hand side of the Efpi site – ta!
Posted by on 21/07/2010 at 11:54 in b&p friends, news and tagged bake, dileu, download, efpi, ep, messner, owain roberts, remix. Leave comments here.
In the run up to our gig at the Manchester Jazz Festival on Saturday July 31st, and to celebrate both the end of our first UK tour and the 2nd anniversary of our first ever gig at the 2008 festival, we invited some close friends of Efpi to have a go at remixing some of the EP tracks. We’re chuffed with how they’ve turned out, its really exciting for us and we can’t wait for you to hear them!
The first remix (of ‘broken’ by Tullis Rennie) is available to download over at the Efpi Records site, and another remix will be made available each week until the mjf gig. As always, we’ve made the music available for free but if you enjoy it please consider making a donation to support both Beats & Pieces and the Efpi label – there’s a big yellow ‘Donate’ button at the side of every page on the Efpi site.
Thanks again to all the guys for their efforts in remixing, its been a really exciting process!
Go download! Let us know what you think…
Posted by on 13/07/2010 at 23:31 in b&p friends, news and tagged download, efpi, ep, remix. Leave comments here.
Saw via twitter (follow me @beatsnpieces!) that Maria Schneider has announced another opportunity to participate in the creation of her latest commission – if you’ve $125-$2500 burning a hole in your pocket then click here for details.
I know that this type of deal (and ArtistShare in particular) was groundbreaking at first, and the model has since been adopted by countless other artists, but I’ve always been a bit uncomfortable with it. I think that this is because of the other ‘benefits’ you get if you sign up to donate money – for example, if you sign up for the $2500 Maria Schneider package she’ll phone you up 3 times to chat and update you on the commission’s progress. Fair enough as you’ve paid $2500 for the privilege, but it feels a bit to me like she’s just offering up just a bit too much of herself… Similarly for another one of the albums (I think it was Sky Blue) the top package included the chance to go birdwatching with her in Central Park.
I know that this ‘rewarding’ of investors probably goes in internally behind closed doors inside record companies all the time, and Maria probably does enjoy spending time with her fans, but still aren’t you kind of selling yourself rather than your music? I should stress that its by no means just Maria Schneider following this kind of model – there’s been plenty of other examples that I unfortunately can’t think of at the moment (I definitely read about an American metal band offering cookery lessons or a game of golf or something, thought it was Nine Inch Nails but can’t find it on Google so if you have any ideas as to who it was then let me know!).
While we’re talking about Nine Inch Nails, I think that they manage to do a similar thing without over-selling themselves. For example, you could buy their ‘Ghosts I-IV‘ album in a $300 package that included a hardback book, included the multi-track session files on data DVD and was signed by Trent Reznor himself. Limited to 2500 pieces at $300 each = lots of money. I do recognise though that Maria Schneider’s target market is probably somewhat smaller than NIN’s so this may not be possible for her.
At the same time, other jazz artists have also been funding their albums through donations from fans but in a slightly different way. Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society album was funded by donations, and indeed everything we do at Efpi Records is entirely down to donations from you (cheers!). I think that the difference is that people are donating to/investing in you rather than ‘buying’ you though. Whilst I am certainly very grateful for donations through the Efpi site (indeed transporting a band of 14 people to gigs without financial suicide would be impossible without income from donations), I imagine I would feel a bit uncomfortable about offering myself to someone in return for a few grand. And thats not because I’m miserable and don’t want to spend time talking to people about me or our music, indeed its quite the opposite and thats one of the things that I love doing! Its just the feeling of being paid to do it that I think would be a bit weird (to me).
Again I want to reiterate that this is in no way an attack on Maria Schneider, her music or her business model. Her music is amazing, and I had the good fortune to meet her briefly after her gig at the Barbican in 2008 when she was lovely. I’ve also bought at least 4 of her albums through ArtistShare (as well as the new Chris Potter Underground album) and much enjoyed the extra videos and content that I got through the site. I just thought I’d write a little bit about my feelings about giving people the opportunity to buy access to YOU (important to note that I’m talking about something different than paying for teaching) rather than your music in the hope that it would stimulate some discussion… Go!
Posted by on 24/02/2010 at 15:13 in misc and tagged artistshare, chris potter, darcy james argue, efpi, maria schneider, nine inch nails, secret society. Leave comments here.
We’ve got another review of the EP, this time by Jazzwise contributor Chris Ackerley, writing on his blog, The Sound Of Now – cheers, Chris! You can read the post here, or the full text is posted below. You may also have read the review in the NWJazzworks newsletter, thats written by Chris. If you don’t already subscribe, its a great monthly roundup of all the jazz happenings in the region, so head over to NWJazzworks to sign-up!
Remember, the EP is still available to purchase (£5, handmade limited edition CD) or download for free/flexible price at the Efpi Records site, but if you’re after the limited edition CD then hurry as we’re fast running out!
From its explosive opening bars until its final lingering hum, the Beats & Pieces Big Band’s first EP is nothing less than a bombardment of the senses. The brainchild of Manchester based composer Ben Cottrell, this sizable affair unites the cream of Manchester’s emerging jazz talent, including Sam Andreae (t. sax), Fin Panter (dr), and Graham South (trp).
At its core the ensemble is traditional big band, but by cross-stitching a multitude of genres to its already rich tapestry of sound, something both unique and fresh has emerged. On tracks such as Yafw (part iii) there are reminisces of Quincy Jones’ more malevolent 1970s blaxploitation soundtracks; the underlying latino groove being almost chased along by the dangerously edgy horn section.
Elsewhere, the compositions also show a real elegant restraint, with classy arrangements that show the record’s maturity. This is most notable in the EP’s final track, Broken, which also manages to combine subtle electronic elements successfully. Bjork is evidently an influence, and here the highly lyrical playing is matched with an almost Nordic chill, which acts as calming digestif after some of the more frenzied earlier tracks.
This is a rich and colourful first CD that comfortably combines Hendrixesque guitar riffs, Herbie Hancock style funk, and even inflections of Eno’s ambient music. While for many groups this osmosis of ideas would produce a conflicting overall sound, Beats & Pieces Big Band have created something that’s both catchy and original.
Posted by on 19/01/2010 at 13:09 in beats & pieces, news and tagged beatsandpieces, beatsnpieces, chrisackerley, efpi, ep, review, thesoundofnow. Leave comments here.
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