The Helsinki-based jazz production organisation We Jazz is planning on releasing an exclusive documentary on the last December’s inaugural We Jazz festival. In actuality the venture is still uncertain, but We Jazz is confident that there are enough people who are – to borrow the organisation’s own slogan – “into jazz” to enable the project.
The one-week We Jazz 2013 festival will be documented by means of crowd-funding. The office for creative production, We Jazz, has launched a crowd-funding project in order to carry their idea. In exchange for their money, the funders are offered a package that includes a We Jazz 2013 documentary DVD film, a 3D concert recording CD, a 100-page photo magazine and a We Jazz 2014 advance poster. Anyone can contribute on Mesenaatti crowd-funding webpage starting from 12 June until 29 June. In case a sufficient number of funders is found, they will receive the We Jazz 2013 package in September. Otherwise the money will be returned.
The We Jazz documentary film is directed by Petri Luukkainen, famous for his internationally-noted hit documentary, Tavarataivas. The CD belonging to the package is a recording of the We Jazz Loft Sessions 3D Concert, organised at Kuudes Linja club on 10 December 2013. The performer is the We Jazz Loft Sessions trio, composed of Teppo Mäkynen, Aki Rissanen and Abdissa Assefa. The magazine will include Miikka Pirinen’s and Maarit Kytöharju’s photographs and M. A. Numminen’s jazz-themed hexameter poem, which the multitalented artist himself recited at Aleksanterin teatteri on 9 December 2013. Both the film and the photos have a special emphasis on the atmosphere of the festival and the situations off- and behind the stage. The interviews feature both artists and people behind the festival. For the present, the material will only be released if the crowd-funding proves to be successful.
“The inaugural We Jazz week in last December was a success, and we were lucky to have a great number of skilled people who wanted to get involved in recording it”, says Matti Nives, the managing director of We Jazz. “We have heaps of good material but compiling and releasing it asks not only for financing but also for a reason. This is why we wanted to give the audience the chance to decide. The purpose for recording the 2013 festival is not only offering a documentary experience but also providing ourselves with a reminder for the future of how it all was in 2013. We were experiencing a fair bit of festival hubris at the time so it would be interesting also to see what kind of response the documented material arouses now that the dust has settled.“
The project will be carried out if a minimum of 10 500 euros is raised. The expenses to be covered include printing, shipping, copyright fees and royalties. Possible profits will be spent on future We Jazz live music events. We Jazz festival 2014 is organised in Helsinki 8 – 13 December 2014. Sneak peeks at the festival programme and venues will be announced during the summer.
We Jazz 2013 documentary package will be available to order until 29 June on http://mesenaatti.me/we-jazz-2013/
In the meantime we might enjoy the teaser:
We Jazz 2013 -dokumenttipaketti
DVD: We Jazz 2013 documnet film, directed by Petri Luukkainen
CD: We Jazz Loft Sessions in 3D (recorded at Kuudes linja 10 December 2013)
Magazine: Miikka Pirinen's and Maarit Kytöharju's photographs, M.A. Numminen's jazz-themed hexameter poem
Poster: We Jazz 2014 advance poster (A2)
Prices:
DVD+CD+magazine+poster / pick-up in Helsinki 31,00 €
DVD+CD+magazine+poster / domestic shipping 35,00 €
DVD+CD+magazine+poster / international shipping 39,00 €
Documentary film+audio recording / digital format 12,00 €