Maintenant le début

As you may already be aware, Secret Society have signed with New Amsterdam Records. So for those of you who have been asking me, repeatedly, for the better part of three years, "Dude -- when are you guys going to record?" here is your answer: we record in December (at Bennett Studios), and the album will be out in May 2009. You'll be able to order physical copies directly from the New Amsterdam website (they ship worldwide). We are unabashedly old-school in our preference for physical objects and hope you will opt for the CD version -- we are planning a lavish digipack designed by Travis Williams, who also created this blog's masthead, the fabulous Secret Society t-shirts, and much else besides. But there will also be the option to purchase digital tracks from New Amsterdam, iTunes, Amazon, etc.

It feels pretty sweet to join the New Amsterdam roster. I have been a huge fan of the stuff they have been putting out, ever since their first release back in early 2007. Some NewAm artists are collaborators of mine -- longtime Secret Society saxophonist Sam Sadigursky has two albums on the label, and NewAm cellist Jody Redhage is a Pulse alumnus. Others are close friends, like singer-songwriter Corey Dargel (though we are also soon-to-be collaborators: I am currently working on an arrangement of a song from his upcoming Other People's Love Songs, to be performed by Corey and NOW Ensemble at Corey's record launch, Oct. 29 @ LPR). Some I know only slightly, though I've been blown away by their music: Ted Hearne (who killed at the Stone last Sunday), itsnotyouitsme (see Caleb's sweet profile in the NYT), Build, and others. I suppose some might consider this all a wee bit incestuous, but come on, who among us has not at one time secretly identified with Shellbyville Manhattan's yearning for his attractive cousins?

Okay, cheap incest jokes aside, what I like best about New Amsterdam is that the label brings together a group of artists that feels like a community without feeling like it's bound to a specific musical ideology. Beyond a basic agreement on a set of core principles that would go without saying in most circles -- "popular music is art," "embracing diverse influences is cool," "grooves feel good," "smart music can be fun" -- there's really not a definitive sound or style that you could pin down as being "the New Amsterdam thing." And while it's not exactly a "jazz" label, I feel that the kind of music I've been pursuing with Secret Society is, in a lot of ways, closer in spirit to what many NewAm artists are doing than it is to contemporary mainstream jazz.

Now, given some of my anti-record label comments on this blog in the past, some may be surprised that I am going with a label at all for our debut recording. Labels, we are told, are over. The contracts are irredeemably exploitative -- you have to give up ownership of your creative work, and these days they don't really do all that much to help you anyway. In fact, there's every chance they will seriously fuck you without your knowledge or consent. The thing to do is to put it out youself.

Well, sure. That's one way to do it -- and more power to those who do. But there is also value in being part of a movement. There's value in being associated with like-minded artists. There's value in trying to be constructive, in trying to build a mutually supportive scene. This is what New Amsterdam has set out to accomplish. And it's not just a bunch of hand-wavy crap either. Founders William Britelle, Judd Greenstein, and Sarah Kirkland Snider are all formidable composers themselves, and they are genuinely commited to fostering a mutually beneficial relationship between artist and label. Don't believe me? New Amsterdam's Arist Agreement is a publically available Google Document. You can read it right here.

Some highlights:

• You retain full ownership of all material on your album, including the master recording itself.

• Gross proceeds from album sales are split 80/20 [in the artist's favor] until artists costs are recouped, at which point the split moves permanently to 50/50.

• Proceeds, including CD sales, from live performances that are booked/presented by New Amsterdam are split 80/20 in favor of the artist. New Amsterdam gets nothing from shows that are booked/presented by the artists.

• This agreement is valid for 4 years from the release date of each record (on a record-by-record, not artist-by-artist basis). At the end of the term, both parties may agree to extend this term. If the term is not extended, New Amsterdam will no longer collect any proceeds related to the master recording.

Compare that to a typical major label contract. No, go ahead. I'll wait.

Ultimately, though, what swayed me was their reaction to our July 9 hit at Le Poisson Rouge. Bill, Judd, and Sarah all came out for that show (along with a fair number of New Amsterdam artists). In talking to them afterwards, it was obvious that they had a genuine response to our music, and more importantly, that they were really hearing the connection between their world and ours. When someone tells you that they like your music, you can always instantly tell if they are bullshitting you. My conversations with Bill, Judd, and Sarah have, thus far, been blessedly bullshit-free. Unless you have had prior dealings with the music "industry," you have no idea how rare a thing that is.

Speaking of that July 9 LPR show, you may have noticed that three selections from that hit are now fully mixed and masterd (at YME Studio by Paul Cox) and available for download from Secret Society's New Amsterdam Artist Page. Or you can get them here (click to listen, right/ctrl-click to download):

1) MP3: Ferromagnetic
Solo: Tim Hagans, trumpet

2) MP3: Desolation Sound
Solo: Sam Sadigurksy, soprano sax

3) MP3: Transit
Solo: Nadje Noordhuis, fluegelhorn

You'll notice that these "premium" tracks sound way better than any previously available recording of the band. I'll have more to say about them later, but for now I hope they serve to whet your appetite for the upcoming studio recording. And while they are, as usual, freely offered for your downloading/sharing/burning pleasure, if you like 'em, we'd certainly appreciate your kicking in a couple of bucks to help us defray our studio costs:

As always, my co-conspirators and I thank you for supporting independent music.

UPDATE: Dammit I almost forgot to ask -- what tunes would you most like us to record in December? Seriously, let me know -- either in comments or by email. Obviously, I have my own preferences, but, you know, I'm not made of stone. Feel free to campaign for your favorites.

Comments

[Mwanji Ezana]

1.

As I commented on Facebook, congratulations, I look forward to hearing it. Song to record:

An all-singing, all-dancing "Perils of Empire", with a new final section that is happy or sad depending on what happens in November.

[mrG]

2.

There's nothing wrong with labels per-se, and by the sounds of it, this is one of the good ones. I've been encouraged lately by a rise in whole-systems thinking labels rising up around new big-band, with orgs like Butch Morris and NuBlu or the Sonar Kollectiv to name just two. These new orgs know how to leverage the new media, and they understand that while maybe no one is ever going to be The Next Beatles, they can fill out their catalog and pad the revenue stream with a wide variety of things, tours, subset ensembles, videos and ...

Now this may raise some ire and send some into shock or a run for the door, but I think these labels also need to do some artist-mining in the way of remixes. There's nothing evil or unprecidented in this. Teo Macero greatly remixed Miles and 'Trane to make them into a hot commodity, even the Beatles never recovered from the loss of George Martin. It is a simple fact that records are not the same thing as the music you play live, they are fundamentally different media, so if someone knows how to "make a record" using your sound as source, I don't see as there's anything wrong with letting their work paying your mortgage, provided you get your due from them.

Macero famously received phonecalls from players who recognized their lines but couldn't recall the session, or received royalties for recordings they never heard before, and they were right: What we call "Miles Davis" was very often a Teo Macero remix culled from many sessions, and there's no question, the money was good. I don't know if your new label has such plans, but I am saying they might want to consider it, as should the artists. Lee Scratch Perry built a whole global genre industry doing it this way, the new-jazz folks can too (and several are).

[Kass]

3.

First of all...YAY. I'm so excited for you and this record
Secondly, I am a strong advocate for Zeno

[DJA]

4.

Hey Kass,

Thanks! So far, the three tunes on the short list are "Transit," "Habeas Corpus" and "Zeno" (plus the two new tunes I'll be premiering at the Jazz Gallery). That leaves us with two more possible choices.

[Kass]

5.

Can't wait to hear the new tunes!
oh and uh...Drift? no pressure.

:]