Search and Restore

November 29, 2010; 6:00 AM • by Dean Christesen

pictured: Miles Okazaki and Dan Weiss perform at the Knitting Factory, by Greg Aiello.

Search and Restore founder Adam Schatz set out in 2007 to create a vibrant online community for jazz and new music happening in New York City. He got what he wanted, in a way, but he thinks he has a long way to go. The next tier in the S&R plan is something that will not only benefit NYC musicians and fans, but everyone around the world who’s interested in the latest of groundbreaking jazz.

Schatz launched a Kickstarter campaign with a goal of $75,000 to be able to film over 200 concerts in New York in the course of a year and house them on a new website, providing an access point for the curious just as well as the initiated. Artists whose videos are taken (S&R features musicians along the lines of Nels Cline Singers, Ben Wendel, Steve Lehman, and John Hollenbeck) will have their own pages on the site, as will up and coming musicians who will create their own pages. The surge in web traffic will allow the site more advertising revenue, thus propelling the organization into sustainability after the Kickstarter funds have been used on film equipment and manpower.

It gets better. Tonight at (Le) Poisson Rouge (in New York, of course), they’re hosting a night of round robin improvised duets. Schatz explains, “Following a random order, the first performer will perform 5 minutes solo, and then the next artist on the list joins them on stage to continue the improvisation. Then the first artist leaves after 5 minutes and the next artist on the list joins the stage for a new duo, and so on and so forth, creating a unique fluid improvisation under the influence of every improviser.” The line-up will make your head spin: Christian McBride (bass), Don Byron (clarinet), DJ Logic (turntables), Ben Allison (bass), Steve Bernstein (trumpet), Ralph Alessi (trumpet), Jason Lindner (keys), Tim Lefebvre (bass), Reid Anderson (bass), Dan Weiss (drums), Mark Guiliana (drums), Roswell Rudd (trombone), Matt Wilson (drums), Avishai Cohen (trumpet), Theo Bleckmann (voice), Henry Grimes (bass), Andrew D’Angelo (sax), Dave Binney (sax), Andy Milne (piano), and Hal Willner (turntables) are all scheduled to perform.

To prove that they’re not messing around and that this project is truly global despite its NYC core, Search and Restore is webcasting the concert live tonight at 10.

The concert is one way that Search & Restore is raising money toward their goal. Kickstarter is another, and they give a wide variety of incentives for pledges that show how willing musicians are to help out. For a $100 pledge, take a one-hour lesson from Darcy James Argue, Ben Wendel, John Hollenbeck, or Mile Okazaki (before they were snatched up). For $350, drummer Mark Guiliana will clean your kitchen rhythmically. For $1,000, The Bad Plus drummer Dave King will leave a drum improvisation or spoken word improvisation on your voice mail. If you just want show tickets or CDs, they’ve got that too.

These musicians clearly feel that there’s something in the $75k and the Search and Restore mission for them. No doubt great quality videos of them in live environments available to watch all over the world will widen their exposure and hopefully boost interest in new jazz. There’s something in it for us, advocates of new jazz and modern music throughout the world, too. With eyes on New York City, there will be greater awareness of our music no matter where it originates.

Chip in to Search and Restore’s project to “document and unite the new jazz scene” on Kickstarter. As of this writing, $39,511 of the $75,000 has been reached with seven days left to go. As with all Kickstarter campaigns, it’s all or nothing for the fund raiser.