By Rodney Jones
Welcome to The Making of A Jazz CD, my personal journal about the
making of a Jazz CD. My goal here is to provide you with a window into
the behind-the-scenes events that go into making a Jazz CD--from
conception to completion and
beyond. At the outset, it's important to note that there are many ways
to get to the same endpoint. Each musician's route to getting his or her
music out there will be different. That said, a number of common
elements go into putting out a CD.
I signed with Blue Note Records in 1998. My first CD, The
Undiscovered Few, came out in June of 1999. I learned a lot about
the Jazz music business from making that CD. For the purposes of this
discussion, I will divide the many facets of the process into two parts:
music and everything else (see below).
In the world of Jazz, perhaps more than any other musical genre, art
remains a dominant focus. Because of this, most Jazz music does not
achieve widespread popularity. I am not trying to engage in a broad
discussion of why Jazz music is not more widely accepted--I'm simply
observing that Pop, Country and R&B music have a much greater share of
the marketplace. If your goal is to sell a lot of CDs, then you don't
choose Jazz. On the other hand, Jazz is a great medium if you're trying
to create music driven by your heart and soul--with the intent of
expressing who and what you are, and revealing the contents of your heart.
Sometimes Jazz can sell well--but its primary role is to create a
window into a larger room of imagination, not to move units.
Topics I will touch on in this journal include:
THE MUSIC
- Conception
- Creation
- Manifestation
THE MUSIC BUSINESS
- A&R (Artists and Repertoire)
- Production
- Marketing
- Publicity
I'll take you behind the scenes as I go through the entire process of
creating my new CD for Blue Note Records. You'll sit in on meetings with
the record company folks, hang out at my desk as I write the tunes,
attend the recording session and the CD release party.
I love what I do and look forward to sharing this journey with you.
And as always, I welcome your comments and questions.
Read about my first meeting with Blue Note Records...
