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Dr. Lonnie Smith's Kickstarter Project

mikeweil

By mikeweil
in Artists & Recordings

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Jim Alfredson Enthusiast

Jim Alfredson

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No, The Healer is just a trio. The Kickstarter project uses more musicians. From the Kickstarter page:

The first release--THE HEALER LIVE--is an exciting live document of the music that Doc's working trio (featuring guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg and drummer Jamire Williams) has been wowing audiences around the world with over the past couple of years. It will be released this Summer.

But folks, there's MORE....and that's where you come in!

On March 27th, 28th and 29th--in a warm, beautifully appointed and refurbished warehouse space in Queens, New York, just five minutes from Manhattan--the Doctor will dig into an old-school type of album that's unheard of these days, in front of a live, in-house audience. The dates will be recorded straight to analog tape, giving it the classic feel and sound it deserves. And, the entire event will also be filmed for a simultaneous DVD release.

The Doctor's hand-picked supporting cast for the session will be a who's who of the current scene: Jonathan Blake (drums), "Little" Johnny Rivero (congas), Ed Cherry(guitar), Andy Gravish (trumpet), Ian Hendrickson-Smith (alto saxophone, woodwinds),John Ellis (tenor saxophone, woodwinds), and Jason Marshall (baritone saxophone, woodwinds). All leaders in their own right, they've also backed such heavyweights as Wynton Marsalis, Dizzy Gillespie, Amy Winehouse, Al Green, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Roy Hargrove, Eddie Palmieri and many more.

mikeweil Mentor

mikeweil

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I ordered a copy of "The Healer" for starters - thanks for mentioning that one. I reckon the trio heard on the video is the same, a tough unit.

I sincerely hope he comes throuigh with the Kickstarter project ....

  • 4 months later...
Jim Alfredson Enthusiast

Jim Alfredson

Posted
Posted

Just received this notice in my email:

Thank you again for your generous contribution to Pilgrimage Recording. Without you, we would not have been able to release such a magnificent recording as Dr. Lonnie Smith’s In the Beginning. Because of your contribution, Pilgrimage was able to produce In the Beginning as a double-CD, a soon to be realized vinyl LP, posters, and live appearances with the Octet. We are ever grateful, and write to extend our deepest thanks for your patience and support.

Unfortunately, there have been significant challenges in producing the In the Beginning DVD, and we are substituting that portion of your Kickstarter package with an equally exciting and valuable reward. Each of you will receive two (2) tickets to one of Doc’s upcoming shows so that he can meet you and personally thank you for your participation in this project. All that is required is that you inform us at pilgrimagerecording@gmail.com of the show date, place, and time that you will be attending, and the rest will be taken care of. You can check the tour dates here:

http://drlonniesmith.com/tour/

Come back and check often as these are updated regularly.

We hope you are enjoying the music. You had a big part in making it all happen!



I still have yet to receive anything beyond a poster (a rather nice one at that, signed and all). They did post access to some mp3s to download but I must have missed the notification email as I didn't realize it until checking the Kickstarter page just now and the download window has passed. Oh well. I don't really want downloads, I want what I paid for, ie a vinyl copy of the album and the DVD (on vinyl... just kidding). But now the DVD isn't happening.

I feel sympathy for the good Doctor because I doubt much of this is in his control. Whatever team he put together to manage this thing has done a poor job. In the 18 months since his Kickstarter began and ended, I've produced, by myself, one CD with bonus materials (the organissimo Kickstarter) and I'm about to put the finished touches on another CD and DVD project (the Big John Patton tribute) which will go to the duplicators by the end of next week at the latest. It should be noted that the Smith project raised as much money as both of my projects put together.

What I would do as the producer(s) of this project is level with the backers and explain why it has taken so extraordinarily long to fulfill their obligations, what unforeseen hardships and obstacles they've run into in the process, and exactly why the DVD isn't happening. This would serve two purposes: It would save face and hopefully generate a bit of sympathy towards the people involved instead of simply leaving us hanging with confusion and indignation. And it would also serve as a valuable learning tool for other people considering doing something similar. Crowdfunding and self-producing multimedia products seems to be, for better or worse, the Brave New World of the music business and those of us out here attempting to do the same thing can use all the advice we can get.

That said, none of this diminishes in the least my respect and love for Dr. Lonnie Smith. He's one of the masters. I'll support him again in a heartbeat. And he even listed me as A Friend Indeed on his website and possibly in the CD, so I feel a bit awkward posting this. But it is my hope that this experience can serve as a learning tool for other musicians out there on the trials and tribulations of self-producing your own material. I know I learned a lot from my first Kickstarter (we shipped three months late after all). Here's hoping the Doctor's team will let us in so we can all learn and hopefully laugh at the absurd but unfortunately necessary situation of producing your own content.

king ubu Apprentice

king ubu

Posted
Posted

Jim, this goes further off-topic, but of all the kickstarter and indigogo campaigns I took part in so far, there was only one other than yours where you got (actually get, it's not yet finished) such regular updates. And I think yours is the only one offering some video or other actual preview content, too. You handle that stuff in a great way :tup

Jim Alfredson Enthusiast

Jim Alfredson

Posted
Posted

I never received a CD. Then again, the backer level I pledged isn't very specific about what I receive. Maybe I just get the vinyl and not a CD.


Jim, this goes further off-topic, but of all the kickstarter and indigogo campaigns I took part in so far, there was only one other than yours where you got (actually get, it's not yet finished) such regular updates. And I think yours is the only one offering some video or other actual preview content, too. You handle that stuff in a great way :tup

Thank you. I pride myself on not only producing quality product but being timely and communicative.

David Newbie

David

Posted
Posted

Jim, this goes further off-topic, but of all the kickstarter and indigogo campaigns I took part in so far, there was only one other than yours where you got (actually get, it's not yet finished) such regular updates. And I think yours is the only one offering some video or other actual preview content, too. You handle that stuff in a great way :tup

Agreed, Jim. I'd be a happy supporter regardless, but you've really handled these well from a "business" standpoint. Can't wait to hear the CD/DVD!

  • 1 month later...
Jim Alfredson Enthusiast

Jim Alfredson

Posted
Posted

I still haven't received anything from the Dr. Lonnie Smith Kickstarter except a signed poster. No vinyl copy like I was promised. No CD. No DVD. Nothing. I guess my $200 went to produce the CD for other people. I see the CD on the jazz charts (along with my Patton tribute, which everyone who was a backer should have received by now). And yet I don't have a copy for my $200 pledge to his Kickstarter.

I've attempted contact three times; once through Dr. Smith's personal website and twice through Kickstarter. I've heard nothing.

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