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"The new record is called Tragic Comedy, and we're doing a fundraiser for it on Indiegogo," says San Diego tenor saxophonist Ian Tordella. "It's going well. I'm trying to raise $4,000 to fund the whole project, I initially set the goal at like $2,000, and we've already passed that, so that's great. We're more than half-way there. It's [Indiegogo], just like Kickstarter, a crowd-funding platform."
"The recording is done. It's mixed, mastered--it's ready to go. I'm basically raising money to pay off the plastic. And, I'd also like to be able to pay the musicians that played on the project, because all of them did it for free, just for the love of being able to record weird music."
Tordella fronts a rather unusual ensemble, (for jazz), "It's Danny Weller on bass, Richard Sellers on drums, and there's two guitars-- Joey Carano and Jeff Miles, and me, I'm the lone horn player."
The saxophonist was after a different, more "old-school" vibe for this disc, starting with his choice of studios- " We did it at this room called Audio Design, it's on El Cajon Blvd., near SDSU. It's small room, but they have a vintage 16 channel API console, and they have isolation booths-- it's a really neat room, actually, the Styletones, they use that room a lot. We used this engineer, Chris Hobson, who's done a lot of acoustic stuff, he's a great engineer, and on top of that he's got like $10 million dollars worth of microphones," said Tordella, laughing, and adding, "it's not quite $10 million--but he's got a lot of vintage mic's, and so we used all old microphones, and tracked it there, then I mixed it down at a friend's studio in Texas, and we mixed it to quarter-inch, because I wanted that tape sound, rather than mixing it in the computer. So we got a 100% analog mix, using real hardware reverbs and equalizers. Obviously, I did it because I think it sounds better."
Tordella makes his living by having many irons in the fire. He teaches saxophone students from junior high level to a player in his 60s, does his own podcast and, jazz gigs wherever he can pick them up.
Speaking of gigs, Tordella's got one coming up on Jan. 21, at 98 Bottles in Little Italy. Featuring a band similar to the one on the upcoming album, there are a couple of notable changes: Ben Wanicur will handle the bass duties, and local legend Peter Sprague will replace Jeff Miles. Both Danny Weller and Miles are currently in NYC.
The gig will be a multi-media affair, with works on display from two San Diego artists: noted photographer Michael Klayman, and Michelle Robinson, a mainstay of the Ray. St. art scene in North Park.
Expect to hear, "modern jazz, with no walking bass, post- Wayne Shorter harmonies, and the influence of bands like StereoLab and Squarepusher," promises Tordella.
Make a contribution to help launch Tragic Comedy at : indiegogo.com/tragiccomedy
"The new record is called Tragic Comedy, and we're doing a fundraiser for it on Indiegogo," says San Diego tenor saxophonist Ian Tordella. "It's going well. I'm trying to raise $4,000 to fund the whole project, I initially set the goal at like $2,000, and we've already passed that, so that's great. We're more than half-way there. It's [Indiegogo], just like Kickstarter, a crowd-funding platform."
"The recording is done. It's mixed, mastered--it's ready to go. I'm basically raising money to pay off the plastic. And, I'd also like to be able to pay the musicians that played on the project, because all of them did it for free, just for the love of being able to record weird music."
Tordella fronts a rather unusual ensemble, (for jazz), "It's Danny Weller on bass, Richard Sellers on drums, and there's two guitars-- Joey Carano and Jeff Miles, and me, I'm the lone horn player."
The saxophonist was after a different, more "old-school" vibe for this disc, starting with his choice of studios- " We did it at this room called Audio Design, it's on El Cajon Blvd., near SDSU. It's small room, but they have a vintage 16 channel API console, and they have isolation booths-- it's a really neat room, actually, the Styletones, they use that room a lot. We used this engineer, Chris Hobson, who's done a lot of acoustic stuff, he's a great engineer, and on top of that he's got like $10 million dollars worth of microphones," said Tordella, laughing, and adding, "it's not quite $10 million--but he's got a lot of vintage mic's, and so we used all old microphones, and tracked it there, then I mixed it down at a friend's studio in Texas, and we mixed it to quarter-inch, because I wanted that tape sound, rather than mixing it in the computer. So we got a 100% analog mix, using real hardware reverbs and equalizers. Obviously, I did it because I think it sounds better."
Tordella makes his living by having many irons in the fire. He teaches saxophone students from junior high level to a player in his 60s, does his own podcast and, jazz gigs wherever he can pick them up.
Speaking of gigs, Tordella's got one coming up on Jan. 21, at 98 Bottles in Little Italy. Featuring a band similar to the one on the upcoming album, there are a couple of notable changes: Ben Wanicur will handle the bass duties, and local legend Peter Sprague will replace Jeff Miles. Both Danny Weller and Miles are currently in NYC.
The gig will be a multi-media affair, with works on display from two San Diego artists: noted photographer Michael Klayman, and Michelle Robinson, a mainstay of the Ray. St. art scene in North Park.
Expect to hear, "modern jazz, with no walking bass, post- Wayne Shorter harmonies, and the influence of bands like StereoLab and Squarepusher," promises Tordella.
Make a contribution to help launch Tragic Comedy at : indiegogo.com/tragiccomedy