Funding any sort of internet endeavor is never easy, but a jazz interview podcast? Really difficult – you are playing to a small audience to begin with, yet have to deal with the same real world technology costs of any other web site or podcast. Jason Crane of The Jazz Session made numerous attempts, getting underwriting from AllAboutJazz.com and then setting a ‘member drive’ that sought a monthly subscription … but over time there just wasn’t enough income to sustain operations and so last fall he had to call it quits. And while there have been other things going on, it was clear that he wanted to return, and there was an audience who obviously wanted him back. So to fund the next season, he has initiated a Kickstarter.
Project Title: The Return Of The Jazz Session!
Status: Active
Closing Date for Funding: Wednesday Jul 31, 11:59pm EDT.
URL of the Project: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/932910271/the-return-of-the-jazz-session
From the developer: Here are some key features:
Why do musicians do what they do?
Answering that question was at the heart of the 417 episodes of The Jazz Session that aired from 2007-2012. My guests included Sonny Rollins, Ron Carter, Maria Schneider, John Abercrombie, Robert Glasper, Marian McPartland, Darcy James Argue and hundreds of others. I loved asking questions that got beyond the mechanics and uncovered the passion, the thought, the inspiration behind the music.
Let’s do it again.
Explanation of The Jazz Session Kickstarter
The basic purpose of the campaign is to cover the expenses required to produce a year of shows. As noted on the campaign page:
The money raised in this campaign will send me to New York for a week to conduct the interviews, and it will help pay for the production costs and the server space for the show. That server space alone is getting very expensive, given the show’s 2.5 million downloads (and counting).
Why I think you should back this effort:
Support for the arts has always been critical to me. And as music has become more and more about the control of the big labels, discovering artists has required new avenues. In the jazz world, streaming ‘discovery’ services barely skim the surface and tend to veer towards obvious choices and older picks. So in order to get a taste for new artists worth checking out, either you need proximity to a major jazz center, or something like The Jazz Session. Each week there is a new artist featured, along with music, insights, and maybe even some other artists mentioned. I can’t think of how many artists I have discovered this way, but it is many. The chance to have Jason Crane back – and with support of luminaries such as Sonny Rollins – is fantastic!
Here is a look at Jason producing The Jazz Session:
For more info and to keep up-to-date on the progress:
The Jazz Session! main site
The Jazz Session! Facebook Page
The Jazz Session! Twitter Page
And of course head to the Kickstarter page to get more information about how you can support the project!
Thank you very much!