Not only new stuff. Orpheus, they play everything. But it’s their openness ... There’s a classic science fiction novel coming out with it. By an artist who used to work with marble and things like that. He’s independent now. He lives in Switzerland with his family. I’ve seen his stuff. He is the guy. Among other people, but he’s the guy.”
people my age. You can’t just travel around the country and go to every city and find a jazz station anymore. Sadly. There are only a few fortunate cities where you have a 24-hour jazz station, turning you onto new things. There are new ways that people discover music and it’s imperative that people keep up with it.
Was has children who are musicians. “When I talk to them about how they find “They actually play without out about music, it’s mainly a conductor. The manager of YouTube and things like that. the orchestra does something very eye-opening,” Shorter told They listen to jazz constantly, and they turn me on to All About Jazz in December. things they find online. It’s “Everyone has a voice when imperative that the record they rehearse. Everyone has labels understand that and suggestions. They’re the new thing ... They’re doing new stuff. start addressing the way people discover music these days. Even
“Congressman Jeffries out of Brooklyn came to Capitol Tower [the Capitol Records Building in Los Angeles]. He’s on the [House of Representatives] Judiciary Committee. We talked about protecting the artist, making sure they have a royalty stream coming back. It requires a certain regulation so that people just can’t steal the music.
Don Was: Cont. to Babylon, produced by Was in 1997]. But to get to spend a little quality time with him and be able to work on the music with him is incredible.” Later this year, the next Shorter recording will be released. It’s a project his quartet did with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. But it will also be featured with a book by a famed graphic novelist. Explains Was, “We wanted to do something special with it. There’s a graphic novelist by the name of Randy DuBurke. He did a really great graphic novel of the autobiography of Malcolm X. He lives over in Switzerland. I’ve been a fan of his work for over a decade now. We put him together with Wayne. Wayne is describing the visions in his head when he’s writing and playing this music. He scores imaginary movies, in a way, when he plays. Randy is doing a graphic novel of these visions, to go along with it. The CD is in the book. It’ll be a beautiful book. It won’t be a comic book. It’ll be a really nice thing to have. It will give a whole other dimension to getting inside the music that Wayne creates. It’s magnificent.
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“ People are still selling With technology constantly [concert] tickets. An artist who, changing, and CD sales down, ten years ago, might have sold some say records labels are a 100,000 records and is now thing of the past. Many artists selling 8,000 records, is still have their own small labels selling the same number of and many produce their own tickets. They’re probably still material without giving a selling 100,000 tickets over the record label much thought. Was course of a year. The people are is acutely aware of the changes still there. It’s not like they went in the business. But Blue Note away,” he says. “So it’s important is trying to address the issues record companies learn how and get ahead of the curve. The to get the information out to most important thing is not people. The gig is really simple: to sit still; to ignore the words Make great records, and let as “status quo.” many people know about it as possible. That’s really what we’re Everything is changing all the supposed to do. When you say time. If you just rely on the it like that, it doesn’t sound so methods of doing business that hard. But it calls for a lot of worked in 1983, that worked imagination these days.” in 1995, that worked even five years ago, you’re going to be There also needs to be a in trouble. You have to find revenue stream. Art and new ways to keep up with the commerce have always been audience,” Was says. delicate dance partners.