April Newsletter: Saving New Orleans One Gig at a Time

Letter from the Executive Director

MFT's new gig booking tool has launched and has been greeted with success!

We have booked several gigs already and there are several more people with gigs in the works. What a great way to give back to New Orleans and throw a great party at the same time!

If you need jazz for any occasion, we are your jazz brokers. Business receptions? Birthday parties? We've got you covered.

Visit our website at www.musicfortomorrow.org and use our new gig booking system. The process couldn't be more easy - just give us a few details and tell us what you want to pay.

All commissions that we make from gigs that are booked are donated to social service causes that benefit the New Orleans creative economy.

New Orleans gave the world jazz. Now we are giving back. One gig at a time.

Keep swingin',

Brent

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Harlem Hootenanny Review



I had a wonderful time at the jazz event - the Harlem Salon on April 9th. The attention to detail from the host - Clayton Smith, venue, liquor sponsor, and band is what truly set this event apart. In my opinion nothing is better then sipping on some delicious adult punch and being immersed in the smooth jazz sounds that filled the evening air. The guests thoroughly enjoyed themselves, as evident with just a quick glance at the very crowded bar. If there was one problem with the night it would have to be that it had end! To make sure the party continues, I am thinking of booking a band through MFT's new website for my birthday. I look forward to more events and introducing Music for Tomorrow to whole new group of friends.

~Neal Chatrath, Attendee

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Better Get Right by Howard Fishman - CD Review



After launching six successful albums throughout his lucrative career, Howard Fishman, critically-acclaimed singer, guitarist, composer and bandleader, is unveiling three new albums this year - the result of a 10-month spat of creativity. Fishman uses entirely different musical and geographic inspiration for each of the three albums.

"Better Get Right," the first album to be released in his trilogy of recordings, captures the sounds of the Big Easy with the reminiscence of a pre-Katrina era. Set for release on May 13, 2010, "Better Get Right" brings us back to Fishman's adopted home of New Orleans, where he started out as a struggling street musician in the mid-90s.

With this album, Fishman develops a perfect relationship between a rhythm guitarist and a New Orleans-style brass band "The Biting Fish". Howard successfully merges his new take on traditional and gospel from the "street" repertoire of New Orleans.

Fishman explains, "I realized I needed to find a way to front my own brass band, to bring some of that music and chaos back up to New York. I wasn't sure how it would work - brass bands don't typically have a guy out front, singing and playing an acoustic guitar - but I wanted to try. I wrote a bunch of new tunes, added tuba and horns, put my memories from living down there to work, and this is the result."

The large brass band sound brings the listener back to the traditional New Orleans landscape. "I'm so Glad," commences the album with a mix of catchy tunes and a playful melody. Divulging deeper the album steps into the Cajun anthem "La Danse de Mardi Gras," funky beats of "Tee Na Na," and somber vocals in "We Shall Not be Moved."

Although Fishman recorded all three albums simultaneously in 2009, each album presents its own unique musical and geographical inspiration, exploring life in three musical locales and all the diversity this presents. Set for release dates later this year, the other two albums, "No Further Instructions" and "The World will be different" will showcase Fishman's musical connection with Romania and Brooklyn, NY, respectively.

~Shaina Kohanzadeh

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Salon Stars & Stripes



The fine citizens of Washington, DC don't get to vote, but if they did they'd vote our upcoming DC salon as "jazz night of the year." Spend a beautiful Friday evening with Music for Tomorrow and lively jazz music played by Raddy & the Cats. Enjoy hors d'oeuvres and cocktails while the music gets you dancing and tapping your toes.

When: May 7, 2010
Where: 2767 Woodley Place, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Time: 7:00-10:00pm
Tickets: $40

Purchase tickets by going to http://dcsalon.eventbrite.com.

Grammy nominee John "Raddy" Lowery has performed with such artists as Mose Allison, Jr. Walker & The All Stars, Aaron Neville, Ernie K-Doe (World Fair 1984), Jimmy Smith, and New Orleans legends such as Prof. Longhair, Deacon John, Gary Brown, Devell Crawford, Thomas Jefferson, Marva Wright, Germaine Basil, George French, among many other New Orleans musicians. Let him groove you into a wonderfully jazzy Washington DC weekend.

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Review of Salon with Jaz Sawyer - San Francisco

I knew that the MFT event was going to be enjoyable but I had no idea just how much fun it would be! To begin, The Jazz Heritage Center had a wonderful photography collection by the famous jazz photographer giant, Herman Leonard. Breathtaking pictures of my most beloved jazz musicians like Duke Ellington, Luis Armstrong, Miles Davis, and Billie Holliday, were proudly displayed everywhere. But better than that! Attendees couldn't stop dancing to the New Orleans style of Jaz Sawyer and the San Francisco Bourbon Kings. Friends were swing dancing the night away. I'm not sure who had more fun, the crowd dancing to the band or the band watching the crowd dance. Our energy was so contagious that party goers, from Yoshi's, were wanting to join in on all the fun. By the end of the evening, I was happily exhausted and saying good bye to all my new friends. Thank you too all that made that evening such a success.

~Mia Victoriazza, Attendee

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