Individual Artist Project Grant

I am a registered member of the Grand Portage Reservation. I live here and I am a jazz guitarist… not a typical Indian I am. It’s a small and intimate community. Most Native American artists and musicians here are unwilling to take their art and music beyond the reservation. I have been a source of inspiration to artists here wanting to do something considered to be “non-native.” My success gives strength to those who want to move beyond in performing arts and visual arts. I am also the son of another artist, George Morrison, who lived here in his later life and was an inspiration to native artists because he created art that pushed the boundaries of what was considered to be “Indian Art.” He showed others it was ok to move beyond their culture yet remain firmly rooted in who they were and even strengthen their roots. I feel I am following in my father’s footsteps by pushing the boundaries with jazz guitar. I am a jazz guitar player who happens to be Indian. It will be exciting to bring my CD beyond the rez to Duluth, the Twin Cities and the North Shore and when it is noted that I am Native and live on the reservation it will have quite an impact. I think it brings part of the reservation to them and perhaps sparks interest in Grand Portage and native culture. My goal is to further my career with an original CD which will serve as a prime example of my music using my own voice and being recognized as such. It will illustrate my style as a composer and player. This will present opportunities for larger venues, tours, CDs and other musical endeavors. Two aspects are to be evaluated: composition and record quality. Composition. I want to write songs that flow and tell a story using elements of music and performance. Songs that are to be expressive and lyrical. Conversational. I will use the basic jazz toolbox of harmony, rhythm and melody and the advanced guitar skills I’ve gained. Originality is key. I want people to know it’s me. Recording. The goal is to capture the tone of my guitar as I played it. The recording is to be warm not muddy, clear not tinny, punchy and not overbearing. The mix is to be well balanced and sound good on all types of systems. I have knowledge of jazz composition, skills in guitar and experience in recording tech together with equipment required to complete such a task. I have kept track of hours worked on projects so I know how much time I need to complete this task. Existing studio: •acoustically isolated sound booth •high-end mic preamp, compressor (Warm Audio wa-73, wa-76) •2 new mics (Sennheiser e906, MXL R144 Ribbon) •new recording software (Propellerhead Reason 10.5) This is extremely exciting because I can faithfully capture the sound of my guitar as I want it. And tone is EVERYTHING to a guitarist. I like a warm, rich and full sound for jazz. I use an Eastman AR905CE guitar through a Mamba 10” Wedge Amp. I have Polytone and Mesa amps, a Strat, Taylor and Ibanez JS-2450 for different styles and sounds. I recently completed three successful projects in my new studio: 1) 8 tracks for my new Musical Impressions (sample) 2) two music tracks for a radio show 3) promo CD for the band Rox ‘n Soul I will distribute a demo CD of the finished songs to be screened in its entirety. It’s a success when I have a professionally recorded CD of well written jazz tunes suitable to promote and distribute which will prompt interest and a warm response from peers, critics and listeners alike. Composition evaluation: I will ask peers to critique my writing asking about structure, harmony, originality, etc. and all the goals I stated in the previous section that I want to achieve. I will listen to their comments and make changes until satisfied. Recording evaluation: Peers and professionals will listen for the qualities stated above on different sound systems (home, tv, car, etc.). This indicates how it will sound across systems.