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!

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!

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…

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!

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.

Thanks to everyone who came to the gig and especially to those who gave up their time and effort to play in the band – it was great to meet and play with you all! Hopefully it won’t be the last gig for the ensemble…

The gig was recorded but unfortunately the sound engineer’s recorder ran out of memory a couple of songs into the set… If I can salvage anything I’ll upload it soon!

Just checked the weather though, here’s the BBC forecast for next Monday…

Good job I’ve been shopping today!

I’m delighted to announce that the debut EP from the Beats & Pieces Big Band is now available to purchase and/or download via the Efpi Records website! You can buy a physical CD as one of a limited edition run of 100 unique handmade packages, or download the EP as high quality MP3s under the ‘honesty box’ model where you choose how much to pay (free if you feel like…). It contains 5 tracks weighing in at just over half an hour’s worth of music, and we’re really proud of it. Tracklisting is as follows:

1. bake

2. yafw (part iii)

3. toan

4. djimi

5. broken

The band features the cream of Manchester’s young improvising talent, many of whom have now moved away to pastures new and are making a mark on jazz scenes in major cities across the continent. The band is as follows:

Ben Cottrell : musical director

Sam Andreae, Kenji Fenton, Sam Healey, Jo McCallum : reeds

Tim Cox, Simon Lodge, Owain Roberts, Paul Strachan : trombones

Owen Bryce, Chris Snead, Graham South, Nick Walters : trumpets

Anton Hunter : guitar

Patrick Hurley : piano, Rhodes

Nick Blacka : bass

Finlay Panter : drums

Hope you enjoy listening to the EP as much as we enjoyed making it!

Its been designed by Angela Guyton who is a local artist, originally from the USA, and amongst other things regularly performs as one third of Takashi’s Shellfish Concern. Thanks a lot to her, as I say it looks amazing!