8 posts tagged “benefit”
Cal Robbins has just celebrated his second birthday. For a kid with Type I Spinal Muscular Atrophy, that is a huge accomplishment. In honor of this milestone, a bunch of musicians are holding a series of auctions to benefit this son of Jawbox frontman J. Robbins.
I've joined the fray and will auction off a cello arrangement of the song of the winner's choice. The auction ends in four days, so hop to it!
Also, I have a show that is almost confirmed for Sunday, February 17, at The Lab in Alexandria, VA. Several other talented local cellists will join for this concert... more information soon.
Hey all, I will be performing some of the Jawbox cello tracks this Friday at Union Pool in Brookly, NY:
11/02/2007 08:30 PM - Union Pool
484 Union Ave
Brooklyn, New York 11211
US
$7.00
Union Pool, not to be confused with Union Hall, is quite the hipster joint in Williamsburg. The Jawbox Cello Ensemble (featuring Jonah Sacks, Isabel Castellvi, and Seth Woods) will be opening for longtime pal Rotary Club’s CD release party. Also joining Rotary Club on the bill will be Marcellus Hall (formerly of Railroad Jerk)
Copies of Jawbox on Cello: A Benefit for Cal Robbins, can now be ordered via Paypal by either going here:
http://www.myspace.com/threetoedmusic and clicking "Add to Cart" in the "About" section, or by going here:
http://trisloth.livejournal.com/profile and clicking the "Add to Cart" button in the middle of the page.
Please let me know if you have any problems with ordering. It should be configured so that you are required to enter a shipping address. You should also be able to order multiple copies in one transaction.
Thanks!
- Gordon
[For a chronicle of the last two benefit shows (and a link to Paul Roub's photos), see yesterday's post]
Much thanks go to Cathy Seeley for these photos:
Alex Nelson of Frenjen:
The Fantastic 5:
playing with Frenjen/F5:
This past weekend I played a second benefit show for Cal Robbins, and I just realized I never posted pictures from the first one.
The Funky Buddha Lounge in Boca Raton was gracious enough to host both shows, and both were a blast. The first show was held on June 16, and five acts played -- we raised over $500 to split between the SMA Foundation and Cal's fund. The CD's arrived the day before, and we sold a bunch -- however, there was a misprint -- a photo of Cal underneath the CD tray was partially obscured, so I haven't been selling the CD's except at the two shows. As soon as the sleeve reprints arrive (hopefully today!) I will put up a Paypal page for ordering copies.
Here is Paul Roub's photoset from June 16: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulroub/sets/72157600382862890/ (let me know if the guest pass expires). Paul came all the way down from Melbourne to play a set, and we ended up pulling off an impromptu version of Jawbox's "Cooling Card" after rehearsing it once before the show. I also joined Alex's band Frenjen for their entire set. Since three other cellists weren't readily available to instantly memorize parts to 8 Jawbox songs, I finished the night playing a set of tracks from the CD against a backing tape (with the "vocal" tracks removed). It ended up working a lot better than I expected. Alex went above and beyond the call of duty again at the end of the night, when we pulled out a surprise encore of Metallica's "One" -- the Apocalyptica version rearranged for cello and acoustic guitar. THERE WILL BE A VIDEO OF THIS posted soon, I promise!!!
The Funky Buddha asked me back for a second show, so last friday (July 6th) I played two solo sets of mostly classical music, with the Jawbox stuff at the end. It was strange playing two Bach suites, Hindemith, Cassado, and a Harold Meltzer piece at a bar, but it worked (sort of). People seemed to enjoy it -- at one point, a crazy, immaculately dressed Italian guy bought ten CD's and handed them out to random people, while demanding that I play The Godfather Theme. In between sets a friend downloaded a midi version of it to his phone, which I learned and played on the spot (to the guy's delight).
More pictures from both shows to come soon!
All of a sudden, in the space of a few weeks, the CD is done, and we have a benefit show set up for 8pm next Saturday at the Funky Buddha Lounge in Boca! Once the master was in hand, I scrambled to get it sent to DiscMakers, literally the next day -- just in time for them to promise delivery one day before the show. Hopefully there are no snags and the show will double as a CD-release party.
I updated the myspace page with four of the final mastered tracks, a couple of new pictures (thanks Cathy!!) and one video of me recording the bass track for "Reel."
Gotta run, but I will update again soon with more details about the show and album.
A quick update:
To anyone who was planning on attending the benefit show we had scheduled for May 5 at Uncle Sam's in Lauderhill -- the city has shut down live events at the venue, so we are currently in search of a new location. I'll post updates as soon as I know anything.
In the meantime, eight songs are completed for the benefit album, and with the help of Zach Barocas (Jawbox's drummer), I have located an excellent mastering studio who has agreed to master the final product. I'm hoping to wrap up recording by the end of March.
Gotta run... more soon.
This is the story of the making of a benefit album.
Like many indie musicians coming of age in the 90's, I fell in love with the DC band Jawbox. Their unique combination of intricate, sometimes haunting and often dissonant guitar melodies, poignant lyrics, and sheer visceral power spoke directly to my developing artistic sensibilities like few other bands. Their four albums (and amazing live shows) shaped my musical perspective permanently.
When faced with the task of an independent cello-related project for an Artist's Diploma at Brandeis University in 2000, I decided to arrange 11 Jawbox songs for cello quartet. I recorded the demos hastily in my Somerville bedroom, on a 4-track tape recorder, and the results delighted a small number of friends, the members of Jawbox, and the occasional random mp3-pirate who happened upon them via a file-sharing program.
Two months ago, I learned that Jawbox's former lead singer, J. Robbins, was dealing with some devastating news. It turns out that his and his wife Janet's 1-year-old son Callum was diagnosed with Type I Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a genetic disorder with no cure that is often fatal in infants. J. makes a modest living as a recording engineer, and it is unclear how much his single-payer insurance will cover for the substantial costs his young family is already starting to incur. Jawbox bandmates Kim Coletta and Bill Barbot have set up a donation page at the Desoto Records web site, and J and Janet have started a blog for Callum as well. So far there has been an outpouring of support from across the country -- several benefit shows have been held in various cities (including a recent well-publicized Ted Leo & The Pharmacists show in NYC), and many people have donated out of the goodness of their hearts, and out of a need to give back to musicians who have given so much.
I was planning on adding to the pool of donations myself, but something didn't sit quite right, so I held off. Then one day in early January as I was about to do something, I turned on iPod's shuffle function, and the first thing that came on was a Burning Airlines song (Burning Airlines was J's band after Jawbox). It was one of those rare but wonderful moments when everything crystallizes and you're able to see exactly what you have to do... I knew right then that the next few months would see me re-recording those Jawbox cello arrangements, but in a real studio this time, to ultimately release as a benefit album.
Logistics were an issue, but I knew in my gut that things would come together. I would put as much of my own money into recording as I could, but keeping in mind that any money I spent is money I could have donated directly to the Robbinses. I called up Alex Nelson, a musician, engineer, and partner at the Laboratory Recording Studio in Ft. Lauderdale. I had never met him or even seen the studio, but I had gotten a good vibe from our brief correspondence and from the fact that the Lab was a cooperative -- by musicians, for musicians.
It turned out to be a good hunch. Now it is the end of January, and I have two songs recorded, with another session booked for tomorrow night. Alex has been a godsend, and we are even talking about setting up a benefit show for Cal in South Florida for sometime in the near future. Meanwhile, Cal has just celebrated his first birthday, and the support from family, friends, and the music community has allowed him access to therapies and medical equipment he would not have known otherwise.
I have seen some criticism of the outpouring of support for Cal and his family -- it generally takes form of the typical philosophical question, "Why is this kid any more deserving than the countless others afflicted with this or any other disease?" The answer is, of course, that every child with SMA is just as deserving of help. But a recent post in the Space City Rock blog put it better than I could: "You can't help everybody, no, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to help at all." In my case, I could never put a monetary value on the influence Jawbox and Burning Airlines have had on my life and my approach to music. These songs are so hard-wired into my brain, with innumerable associations and memories forever linked in -- images of growing up in Central Pennsylvania, listening to music with lifelong friends, road trips, staying up late at night playing guitar, connecting with other music fans in college and beyond -- they are part of me. Of course I can't physically help everyone who has SMA or give all my money away to those who need it more than me, but I can do what I can for those to whom I feel connected. I'm not the world's greatest cellist, but I am probably the most qualified to arrange and record Jawbox songs -- and I think each of us has a similarly unique qualification or specialty that we can use to make the world a slightly better place. This project has a small focus, to be sure, but my hope is that beyond any beneficial impact it may have for Cal and his family, it could perhaps inspire similar gestures within the community of musicians or beyond. It may sound cliched, but we are all part of a larger family, and we should look after one another.
I will post regular updates here, and keep my eyes open for other mediums and channels to spread the word about Cal and SMA. Please feel free to leave a comment or send a message via the links on the right. I have created a public Google Calendar for tracking the progress of recording (see link below). There is a link on the right to subscribe to a feed of this blog. And if you have any ideas or know anyone who would be interested in helping with this project in any way, please do not hesitate to send a message.
Follow the album's progress via Google Calendar:
