Kickstarter fundraising campaign by Search & Restore (NY Jazz Organizers)!

Text by Adam Schatz (Search & Restore)

Search & Restore is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to the new jazz and improvised music scene, grown out of a love for improvisation and bringing audiences and artists together in new ways. Since founded in 2007 by Adam Schatz, it has grown into one of the most exciting new jazz organizations around.

With the $75,000 raised last year through Kickstarter, S&R created a welcoming, dynamic new home for the new jazz and improvised music scene with SearchAndRestore.com and presented the Winter Jazzfest, Undead Jazzfest, and the Spontaneous Construction series at the Blue Note. 

Now Search & Restore has huge plans for 2012. We hope to strengthen our infrastructure and presence as a non-profit, and take increased steps towards bringing this music to more people around the world. Rather than become reliant on large donors or grant funding, we are attempting to identify a participatory audience through our fundraising. If 8,000 people give $25, we’ll have our entire 2012 budget taken care of, supported by 8,000 fans of the music. It’s cheap! It supports a good cause! It connects a fan base for the music! It’s TAX DEDUCTIBLE! So if you are excited by what we’re doing, please donate $25. We believe in the power of word of mouth, so if you believe in us, send this on to 10 people. 
Now, of course, you are welcome to donate more than $25. We are incredibly grateful for all the support we’ve received so far, and feel a true commitment to everyone who gives to Search & Restore. We promise to give back with creative presentations of the new jazz and improvised music that is growing in New York and beyond.

To find out more about Search & Restore, and see many of the videos we’ve shot so far, head over to http://SearchAndRestore.com, and sign up for the email list to be kept in the loop.

Search & Restore’s 2012 Plan is below, where all the money we’re trying to raise will be going. Below that is a press release for the new website and fundraiser as well.

Thank you so much for your support! Without it, we would not be able to continue.

THE SEARCH AND RESTORE 2012 PLAN

Here To Stay: A Residency Project

Once a month, Search And Restore will present a 3-night run for different artist, either three of their different groups, or the same group for all the nights, giving artists who would never have a chance to showcase for more than one or two nights a chance to grow musically with an audience. Each night will have a different supporting group, exposing them to a larger audience as well.

House Concert Series

An improvised house concert series focusing on higher production value audio video, with three artists each performing a short solo set then a collaborative one. There will be a small audience present, but the focus will be on documenting the spontaneous experience with multiple camera angles and multi track audio. Funds raised will be used to pay the artists, record recording expenses, and use Search And Restore.com as a way to distribute the content to fans of improvised music around the world.

Search And Restore.comSearch & Restore will continue to document live shows throughout the city and building artist pages for the performing musicians within SearchAndRestore.com, constantly expanding the home base for the scene online.

FestivalsFunds raised for the Winter & Undead Jazzfests will allow us to have a basic budget to better compensate the artists, pursue more marketing approaches, and drive us to take exciting risks with programming and alternative performance spaces. We’ll also be developing relationships outside of New York and researching the best ways to bring these festivals to new cities and countries, such as San Francisco, Madison, Washington DC, Boston, and Portland.

Operating Costs

Search & Restore is a young organization, and we are in need of a proper office space as well as a few additional employees to ensure these new programs are carried out and promoted properly. We will also be hiring a full time publicist and grant writer, and develop a more cohesive marketing plan for the website so that we can reach new jazz fans who love the music but don’t have a way of accessing it on a frequent basis.

Podcast: Making It Up As We Go

A weekly podcast series interviewing artists from all ends of the spectrum about improvisation will move between dialogue and live performance. Through this we aim to create more content to engage fans of the music with the artists online, and to provide a new method for the general public to hear how these artists approach improvisation and the music as a whole.

Some amazing artists have contributed 25 second videos to encourage everyone to donate, you can check some of them out here:
Joshua Redman: http://vimeo.com/32796855
Medeski, Martin & Wood: http://vimeo.com/32557967
Chris Dingman: http://vimeo.com/32481605
Deerhoof: http://vimeo.com/32759407