three cheers for the private sector

In our never-ending quest to take over the world, I'm always looking for ways to improve and develop BHIC. The collective frequently gets offers to perform that we can't take advantage of due to the workshop structure of our program. That's why I'm happy to announce the expansion of Black House with a new Black House flagship performing group that features some of the best of Kansas City's young, up-and-coming jazz talent:
 
trumpet - Nick Howell
tenor - Hunter Long
trombone - Ryan Heinlein
bass clarinet - Russell Thorpe
guitar - Jeff Stocks
bass - Ben Leifer
drums - Matt Leifer
 
This septet will function as a working group and play on a more regular basis than the current 3 workshops per year. As with all things BHIC, this group will exclusively perform original music produced either in our workshops or by the members of the group. We have produced a wealth of work over the past two years of Black House that I feel deserves a chance to live on. This will also serve as an incentive for workshop participants to develop their music for a chance to be picked up by the flagship group. 
 
The creation of this new project is due to the support of Take 5 Coffee + Bar. I was contacted by the owner, Lori, about bringing in the Collective, which I had to turn down due to logistical reasons. I told her about the idea for this group and she immediately agreed to give us 3 shows, which enabled me to actually put the band together.
 
For those of you who might be curious about what it's like to put together a band that consists of in-demand jazz players, it's a "chicken or the egg" situation that goes something like this:
 
Wannabe band leader:"Hey I'm thinking about putting together a kick-ass band. Would you be interested?"
 
Musician politely responds:"Let me know when you've got some shows and we can go from there."
 
So you've got to have gigs to get a band together but how do you get gigs before the band exists? 
 
If you're looking for how to support and nurture the local music scene, look no further than Take 5 Coffee + Bar. The premiere performance of this group will be on Friday, January 13 from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., but I encourage you all to head out to Take 5 before then to check out all the great jazz they put on. 
 
If you're interested in booking the new BHIC flagship group, email me at blackhouseimprov@gmail.com   
 

Comments

[Cb]

GREAT! Way to go guys! Peace, Cb