ENSO CROWD FUNDING
THE ENSO STORY
In 2019, I started thinking about a new recording project and approached producer-arranger Gil Goldstein to see if he would consider coming on board. I had in mind an acoustic recording with great arrangements and orchestrations, tapping into some of the sonics of my youth as a classical flute student and tying into what I do today. An introduction by Gil led to talks with a major label in Japan…then the pandemic hit. All seemed lost.
But with the bad always comes the good, and while the initial project got scrapped, I was fortunate to be awarded an SBA Loan and slowly rebuilt the project albeit not the fully orchestrated version initially envisioned, but an album that still felt full, gorgeous, and from the heart. Gil arranged and produced 3 tracks including one of his original compositions, arranger Miho Hazama came on board for 2 tracks, Brazilian artist Lucas Arruda wrote, produced and even played all the instruments on a song, poet Ursula Rucker came on board as a guest which fulfilled a bucket list of mine, koto artist Asuka and my stepfather Lew Tabackin also lent their spectacular talents, as well as saxophonist Steve Wilson, not to mention all the amazing musicians who are some of my favorite on earth. Long time friend, engineer and sonic wizard Dave Darlington gelled it all together into an album I am incredibly proud of.
ENSO MEANING
Most people know the zen calligraphy symbolizing the circle of life. The idea behind the drawings is that anyone can draw the circle and it will be as individual and unique as any one person is, no two are the same, and the circles are always drawn incomplete, symbolizing a life still being lived. The kanji (Chinese characters) for this is 円相. There is another meaning to the word “enso” with the kanji 演奏 which means musical performance, and I loved the double meaning behind the word. I wanted to make an album that in a way is my own musical cycle from my classical beginnings in flute to the music forms I have been inspired by, explored and have made mine today.
THE RECOrding
The basic recordings with the rhythm sections took 3 days starting in November with 3 tracks produced & arranged by Gil Goldstein recorded at Samurai Studios manned by studio owner and engineer David Stoller, and the other 2 days in December recorded at Dave Darlington’s studio Bass Hit Recordings, except for the Lucas Arruda track which he recorded separately in Brazil. We spent 4 days spread out through January to do instrumental and vocal overdubs, then 2 days to mix and master. Ursula Rucker and Asuka did their overdubs respectively in Philadelphia and Tokyo, making for a pretty international and eclectic recording. The day I did my flute and alto flute overdubs over Gil’s intricate and lush arrangements made me feel that all those years training as a classical musician culminated to that very moment, to be able to finally use my abilities in a way I hadn’t until then had the opportunity to, and to hear the string arrangements by both Gil and Miho come alive was frankly emotional in how beautiful they were.
THE MUSICIANS, ENGINEERS, VISUALS
I was recently asked in an interview if I could record with anyone, who would it be? I had just finished recording the basic rhythm tracks for ENSO and in reflecting over the amazing array of musicians on the recording, I had to respond: I just did. All the musicians are award-winning, serious heavy hitters; I’ve hyperlinked everyone’s names with their respective bios and pages in case you are not hip to them (be prepared to be wowed!).
The Gil Goldstein recordings are with of course Gil on piano and accordion, Cole Davis (bass), Joyce Hammann (violin), Eriko Sato (violin), Louise Schulman (viola), Thapelo Masita (cello), Freddie Bryant (guitar), and Keita Ogawa (percussions & drums). Rhythm section day 2 was with Misha Tsiganov (Rhodes), Cole Davis (bass), and Keita Ogawa (percussions & drums). Rhythm section day 3 was with David Kikoski (Rhodes), Fima Ephron (bass), Gene Lake (drums), and Sean Harkness (guitar). Miho Hazama’s arrangements overdubs were with Saki Uetsuhara (violin), Hector Falcon (violin), Hiroko Taguchi (viola), Kirsten Jerme (cello), and Steve Wilson (soprano sax). Other guests as mentioned are Lew Tabackin (flute), Asuka (koto), Ursula Rucker (spoken word), and Lucas Arruda who played all the instruments on his song written for this project. I played flute, alto flute, some shakers, and of course all the vocals.
I couldn’t have done this without Dave Darlington of Bass Hit Recordings, and additional thanks to Dave Stoller of Samurai Recording Studio.
Love and respect must be thrown at Takashi Matsuzaki who did the photography as well as my hair & makeup, and to Sumio Takemoto (Papaan!) who did the graphics & art direction of the artwork. And last but certainly not least, Greg Farrell who tirelessly documented the recording process.
THE SONGS
There are 11 songs. 8 are my originals, two which were previously recorded on “Naked Breath 2” in a guitar duet format but given new life on ENSO with fuller arrangements, a Gil Goldstein’s original song “The Soundless Song,” Lucas Arruda’s original song composed for this project which I wrote the lyrics to entitled “Pivot,” and the cover of a Japanese folk song “Ringo Oiwake.”
CROWD FUNDING PACKAGES
I’m sure it’s pretty clear why I’m doing this crowd funding: The SBA Loan is just that, a loan, and money spent towards recording ENSO needs to be returned to the government — the goal is $40,000.00, and this is before I’ve even paid myself. This is a passion project and one I’m confident will not disappoint as I feel this is some of my strongest works yet.
The CDs and downloadable mp3s were released on 07.08.2022. The vinyls are set for release on 08.08.2022.
THE PACKAGES:
ENSO CD: $17.99
ENSO Vinyl (Limited 500 copies, available August, 2022): $49.99
ENSO downloadable high quality 320kbps mp3: $9.99
FAN PACKAGE: $100.00 - Personalized ENSO CD & Vinyl, and ENSO downloadable mp3, ENSO T-shirt
UBER FAN PACKAGE: $250.00 — Personalized ENSO CD & Vinyl, ENSO downloadable mp3, ENSO T-shirt, personalized video thanking your participation, free participation in upcoming Lyricize (lyric writing) Workshop (4 weekly online sessions), bound booklet of handwritten lyrics from ENSO
SUPPORTER: $500.00 — Personalized ENSO CD & Vinyl, ENSO downloadable mp3, ENSO T-shirt, personalized video thanking your participation, free participation for one upcoming Lyricize (lyric writing) Workshop (4 weekly online sessions), bound booklet of handwritten lyrics from ENSO, personalized vintage Monday Michiru CD from my personal collection, free tickets with premium seating for 2 to any upcoming New York or Tokyo live performances, private online live performance for 2 (with other Supporter and above participants) followed by live Q&A (date TBA).
PATRON: $1,000.00 (limited to 6) — Personalized ENSO CD, personalized first pressings #5-10 of ENSO Vinyl, ENSO downloadable mp3, ENSO T-shirt, personalized video thanking your participation, free participation for one upcoming Lyricize (lyric writing) Workshop (4 weekly online sessions), bound booklet of handwritten lyrics from ENSO, personalized vintage Monday Michiru CD and vinyl from my personal collection, free tickets for 2 with premium seating to any upcoming New York or Tokyo live performances, private online live performance for 2 (with other Supporter and above participants) with opportunity to request a song to be performed in dedication, followed by live Q&A (date TBA).
GRAND PATRON: $2,500.00 (limited to 3) — Personalized ENSO CD, personalized first pressings #2-4 of ENSO Vinyl, ENSO downloadable mp3, ENSO T-shirt, personalized video thanking your participation, free participation for one upcoming Lyricize (lyric writing) Workshop (4 weekly online sessions), bound booklet of handwritten lyrics from ENSO, personalized vintage Monday Michiru CD and vinyl from my personal collection, free tickets for 2 with premium seating to any upcoming New York or Tokyo live performances, private online live performance for 2 (with other Supporter and above participants) with opportunity to request a song to be performed in dedication, followed by live Q&A (date TBA), and hang out (you +1) with Monday Michiru for dinner in New York or Tokyo (date to be agreed upon, dinner is on me!).
GOD-PATRON: $5,000.00 (limited to 1) — Personalized ENSO CD, personalized first pressing #1 of ENSO Vinyl, ENSO downloadable mp3, ENSO T-shirt, personalized video thanking your participation, free participation for one upcoming Lyricize (lyric writing) Workshop (4 weekly online sessions), bound booklet of handwritten lyrics from ENSO, personalized vintage Monday Michiru CD and vinyl from my personal collection, free tickets for 2 with premium seating to any upcoming New York or Tokyo live performances, private online live performance for 2 (with other Supporter and above participants) with opportunity to request a song to be performed in dedication, followed by live Q&A (date TBA), and a private live performance (guitar + Monday) for you and any number of your friends at your home (limited to New York or Tokyo, date to be agreed upon).