The 2010 Final Senior Class Portfolio Project starts now.
The Chuck Loeb and Lizzy Loeb Music Packaging Project.
This is it! Your very last project for me before you graduate.
This project will take approximately 1 month to complete. The remaining time will be used for preparation for final portfolio review and projects in progress.
OVERVIEW:
Chuck Loeb and Lizzy Loeb Music Project:
This semester you are immensely fortunate to be working with jazz great musician Chuck Loeb and his daughter, Lizzy Loeb on designs for their upcoming individual music CD’s.
Each artist has very different music genres and approaches to their music.
There will be conversations with Chuck and Lizzy and it is your responsibility to get to know their music and their history so that you can comprehensively produce a contemporary and modern eco-friendly “sustainable” design for their packaged CD.
http://www.sustainableisgood.com/blog/walmart/
http://blog.salazarpackaging.com/
CHUCK LOEB:
Chuck is currently working and touring with Fourplay (www.fourplayjazz.com) and will be in the studio shortly to produce an album of their new work. Shortly after this tour with Fourplay Chuck will begin working on a new solo album and this is where your assignment begins. His forthcoming solo album.
Previous Titles and information will be given to you in lieu of the new material still being written for his solo project. Record label, production, thanks and other text will be given to you. You should conceptualize the name of the album as well for Chuck Loeb. Title treatment and overall design along with eco-friendly materials is required.
Photography can be used from his website for this project. Original artwork is encouraged.
LIZZY LOEB:
Lizzy is currently celebrating her success with her new album “Drawing Lines” which was #1 for 2 weeks on cdbaby.com. She currently has not been signed to a music label although approached. As a modern singer songwriter, Lizzy has taken the approach of many new musicians in allowing their listeners and fans to purchase directly from the artist. Your assignment with her is to create a viable sustainable & eco-friendly CD for her second forthcoming album.
Song titles, producers and additional text information will be given to you to combine into the overall design for Lizzy Loeb. Music label and additional information will be furnished.
Photographs can be used with permission from her website. Original artwork is encouraged.
Two very Individual singers, songwriters and musicians celebrating their own personal music odyssey with very independent identity of sound and personality.
PRODUCTION:
You should conceptualize and create a CD packaging product that identifies and celebrates their place in music history as artist and musicians. These individual CD designs should represent who they are as musicians. Your packaging designs should be inspired by their music and produced in an eco-friendly way. Sustainability in design is important to each of them and your individual designs should demonstrate that attribute and commitment to our world.
Many musicians are leading the way in how their music is packaged and produced for public consumption.
Radiohead, Ben Folds Five and Indigo Girls are quite aggressive in their idea of how their music is packaged.
http://www.thedieline.com/blog/music/
http://www.underconsideration.com/fpo/archives/music-packaging/
http://www.fatcaddyplus.com/
http://www.underconsideration.com/speakup/archives/003920.html
What is sustainable design?
-How do you create sustainable design?
-What design elements can you create as a secondary promotion item for their CD’s?
Booklet, Discography, Fold out posters, buttons, promotional items, etc?
-How does the CD open? What is the cost associated with production for your design?
-New types of printing techniques?
BACKGROUND ON CHUCK LOEB: www.chuckloeb.com www.myspace.com/chuckloebofficial
Chuck Loeb: Check out his information below which comes from his website www.chuckloeb.com.
More than just a jazz guitar player, Chuck Loeb is the consummate musician. In a career that spans four decades, he has proven himself to be a versatile composer, arranger and producer in a wide range of musical styles and contexts. In addition to crafting a fine discography of his own and producing albums for a number of other high-profile artists, his resume also includes music for commercial jingles and a variety of television programs and motion pictures. Whatever your personal tastes in music, media, entertainment or popular culture, chances are good that you’ve had at least a passing acquaintance with the work of Chuck Loeb.
Loeb grew up in Nyack, NY, a suburb of New York City and the perfect environment for a young person with an interest in music. The area was home to many artists who worked in the city, as well as a center for many arts, music and performance education programs. It was there, at the young age of 11, that Loeb decided to make music his life’s work. Self taught for several years, he began working with local bands in the area when he was 13, playing dances at the local youth center and eventually throughout the metropolitan area.
This early teenage period marked Loeb’s first exposure to jazz, and he decided that in order to reach the level of technical skill he’d been striving for, he would need to study music formally. Along with local teachers Richie Hart and Hy White, he traveled as far as Philadelphia to study with jazz guru Dennis Sandole, who eventually recommended that he study with the great jazz guitarist Jim Hall in New York City.
After studying with Hall for the last two years of high school, he enrolled at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Two years of intense study at Berklee greatly strengthened his musicianship – not only as a guitarist but as a composer and arranger as well – but the lure of professional work led to his departure from Berklee in 1976. That same year, he left the suburbs and moved to New York City.
Throughout his early years in the Big Apple, Loeb began making a name for himself as a sideman with jazz luminaries such as drummer Chico Hamilton, Latin percussionist and bandleader Ray Barreto, flutist Hubert Laws and various others. He also continued his musical studies with a vengeance, often practicing up to eight hours a day.
In 1979, jazz luminary Stan Getz invited Loeb to join his band. The gig proved to be a pivotal experience for him, both musically and personally. As a member of Getz’s group, and the composer of much of the band’s repertoire, he had the chance to tour the globe and perform at many of the world’s major festivals, jazz clubs and concert halls. Eventually, Loeb became the musical director of the group with his compositions comprising a large portion of the nightly repertoire. It was also during this time that he met and married Carmen Cuesta, a vocalist and songwriter from Madrid, Spain. In the years since, Loeb has produced a number of Carmen’s solo recordings, and the two have collaborated on various musical projects.
After leaving the Getz ensemble, Loeb resettled in New York and began to pursue a career as a studio musician. He logged thousands of studio hours recording, composing and producing albums, soundtracks, television show themes and jingles. It was here that he developed his talents as a producer, which would become a major focus of his career in later years.
In 1985, Loeb joined the group Steps Ahead with Michael Brecker, Michael Mainieri, Peter Erskine and Victor Bailey. Returning to the festivals and stages of the jazz world rekindled his desire to focus on his own music. In 1988, after nearly ten years of intense studio work, he made the decision to develop his own recording career. His first offering as a solo artist was My Shining Hour, released on Jazz City, a Japanese label. A year later, he released Magic Fingers on DMP, an audiophile label that was one of the first in the world to release recordings on compact disc.
After four more releases on DMP, Loeb left to sign with the jazz and world music label Shanachie, where he released The Music Inside in 1996 (the album’s title song held the number 1 position on the contemporary jazz charts for six weeks).
Concurrent with his solo career, Loeb also recorded with Metro, a four-piece contemporary jazz combo that included keyboardist Mitch Forman, drummer Wolfgang Haffner and a succession of bassists: Anthony Jackson, Victor Bailey and Mel Brown. Metro cut four albums on the Lipstick and Hip Bop labels between 1994 and 2002. In addition, Loeb played with the Fantasy Band with bassist John Lee, drummer Lionel Cordew and several session players. The Fantasy Band recorded three albums on DMP and Shanachie between 1993 and 1997.
After nine years and seven solo albums, Loeb left Shanachie and joined Heads Up in late 2006. Presence, his Heads Up debut, is scheduled for worldwide release on January 24, 2007. The new album celebrates the importance of the human element in the creative process. “Nowadays, there’s a lot of music that gets created in a laboratory,” says Loeb. “We all have computers, and we do things long distance. But it never ceases to amaze me how, as soon as you put the live musicians into the equation, it’s their presence that brings the thing to life. That’s the idea behind the album title – the effect that an individual’s personality has on the music, both in the context of a recording and in a live setting.”
I am VERY proud to announce that a few weeks ago I received a call from some of my favorite musicians in the world: Bob James, Harvey Mason, and Nathan East who invited me to join the band Fourplay. As they were telling me on the conference call that I could take my time to think it over, I interrupted them to say "YES"!
Of course I want to mention that I will be taking over the guitar chair from one of my all-time favorite players, the great Larry Carlton, who has decided to focus more on his own projects for now. And as if those shoes alone weren't big enough to fill, he was of course preceded in the band by another of my favorite guitarists - Lee Ritenour.... whew! Wish me luck.
My first show with the band is scheduled for April 18th at The Seabreeze Jazz Festival in Destin Florida. After that we will head in to the studio to start work on the new CD!!!!
Further updates will be on my and Fourplay's websites as well as Facebook and MySpace.
I am of course honored and thrilled to be part of one of my favorite groups and look forward to creating some great music with some of the planet's finest musicians. YEAH BABY!!!!!!!!
Click here to see their official announcement:
Fourplay.com
BACKGROUND: LIZZY LOEB
www.myspace.com/lizzyloebmusic
www.facebook.com/lizzyloebmusic
www.twitter.com/LIzzy_Loeb
Lizzy Loeb’s new CD “Drawing Lines” is a knockout debut release. It’s rare that a songwriter of her youthful age comes along with such maturity and raw musical talent. Add to that Loeb’s tasteful guitar playing, and sincere and easily identifiable voice, and it becomes clear that Loeb is the real deal. From the opening track we hear voice and acoustic guitar take center stage. The addition of acoustic piano and Latin-tinged rhythms and chord changes seamlessly fuse Loeb’s jazzy but unmistakably pop sound. The sensitivity and breathiness of the vocal and melodic motifs invite comparison with songwriters John Mayer or Norah Jones but Loeb has developed her own originality as well. The word play in songs like “Living At All” provides thoughtful images: “It’s lonely here/the bookshelves are my company;” or “It’s hot out here/the sweat is sticking to my shirt/I’m getting reacquainted with the dirt.” The hook in “Living At All,” like many of her tunes, is infectious—the kind of tune you find yourself humming around the house—and when you recognize the tune immediately rush back to the CD to take another listen. The chromatic writing in the bridge section reveals a level of musical sophistication, heard throughout the CD, that grows on you. Of course having the musical pedigree helps. Loeb’s mother is the phenomenal vocal talent Carmen Cuesta, and her father, the guitarist Chuck Loeb, has been in the forefront of the jazz field for more than two decades. Chuck Loeb’s contributions to the production and guitar work only add to the overall success of the CD, which is full of musical gems. Songs like “The One” and “James,” really shine. The horn work and arrangement of David Mann on “James” particularly stands out and the bass playing of veteran Will Lee, among others, helps provide polished and solid rhythm tracks. “Later Or Sooner,” is one of the catchiest tracks on the CD. The opening groove recalls some of the best pop writing of Joe Jackson and Loeb continues to pen some clever lyrics: “I’m walking behind you/tripped over your shadow once or twice;” and the hook… “Sooner or later you’re gonna have to rescue me/Later or sooner you’re gonna see the worst of me/rather than sooner let’s make it later, shall we?” Other standouts are “A Matter of Pride,” “Victims of Sympathy,” “No Surprises Left,” the intimate “Who Are You,” which highlights just voice and guitar, and the title track “Drawing Lines,” with its soulful and yearning cello accompaniment. In fact, there really isn’t a weak track on the entire CD—quite an accomplishment! If this debut CD is any indication of what we can continue to expect from Lizzy Loeb, I’m looking forward to watching her blossom. Highly recommended!
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