About this project

I am very excited to share my new ArtistShare® Project with you: The Mass Line Big Band Project. For my second ArtistShare® project, I will be creating, rehearsing, and recording large-ensemble arrangements of some of my original compositions.

In 2013 I was awarded Research Status at Oberlin College, where I’ve been a professor for 17 years. This gave me a year away from teaching in order to fulfill a project that I proposed. I decided to do a big band recording of compositions that I composed and performed with the SF Jazz Collective and Dave Holland.

Although I have been writing original music for many years with specific small ensembles in mind, I have always imagined some of these compositions expanding into large-ensemble works. Now I am finally turning this dream into a reality.

I will be sharing my creative process with you every step of the way. As a participant, you will take part in this creative journey with me from start to finish as I conceptualize and create the arrangements, rehearse the big band, and record and produce the final result: a brand new CD featuring my original big band arrangements. You will get an insider's look into my unique approach to composition and improvisation through exclusive interviews, project updates, sketches of the music, online lessons, anecdotes, previews of the music from the album, and much more. I will document and share all of this with you through ArtistShare® via online streaming videos and audio shows, written project news updates, photo galleries, downloadable content, and more.

I look forward to taking this artistic journey together with you as I create this new music. Join me and the Mass Line Big Band today by selecting a Participation Offer which best suits you.