More about Pictures at an African Exhibition
Sound Reformation and I have been performing this music for about the past three years with my regular band consisting of Zaccai Curtis on piano, Luques Curtis on bass, Wayne Smith Jr. on the drums, and our special guest Nasheet Waits on the drums. The project has grown with each time we have performed the music, and we recently documented the music over the course of a year from 2015-2016, first with recording the small group, and then with the wind ensemble. Finally, each piece of music is accompanied by an original work of art work, done by London based artist David Emmanuel Noel.
Now in the final phase we are hoping to raise funds for the mixing, mastering, packaging, and distribution, as well as promotional and marketing cost. With certain levels of contributions you will be able to receive some amazing perks such as early copies of the album, signed copies of the album, prints of the art work, and more! This project is 100% completely independent and while our desired target mark is $6,000, if we do not reach this cost we will still put all contributions towards the completion of this project. If we are fortunate enough to receive more than our desired cost we will use these funds to promote the album to the best of our ability to make it a success, and if we receive further funding from this campaign it would go towards the budget for recording the second part of this music and arts collaboration.
With art programs across the country constantly taking budget cuts and some being removed from the schools, I am hoping this project will be able to come to fruition to serve as an example for younger generations to come as to what is possible if they use their creative powers. In this project I have drawn inspiration from African art and music, jazz music, classical music, as well as the artwork of David and other visual artists and much more to create this jazz symphony. I am also hopeful that with the themes we've explored in this project we can see that although we all have differences in our various cultures across the world, we all have more in common than we have differences.
Thank you for your time and consideration, and I hope you will find this project deserving of your support. Even if you are not able to donate at this time, even spreading the words to friends and family about this project would be most appreciated and hopefully garner more support to bring it to life. Once again, thank you.
Sincerely,
Darryl