The following information lists the process we went through to make this record.  I'm supplying this info for anybody who wants to "go it alone" like we did.  The process seems daunting at first, but if you're willing to exercise patience and persistence (not necessarily my strong points) and market yourself, people will listen.  It's a very thin line in this industry, but there are still folks who believe in making music.

    History: From demo to album by way of the trenches.

    Clazz started out in 1994 under the auspices of creating a demo that would catch the ear of an independent jazz label eager for something a bit different.  If the project were picked up, the idea was to complete the album under the labels budget and sign on for at least one more project.  We thought this would get the name and music out there and possibly open up bigger deals down the road, the typical musicians dream.  Additionally, we were hoping one of these independents would appreciate the concept behind Razz, and open up their roster of musicians for us to include in our "pool" (see Razzody Music for a description of this "pool").

    Well, after one of the greatly repeated learning experiences in the musical world, (i.e. 'nobody will give you the time of day unless you know somebody or can make them big bucks right now!'), we decided to go it alone.  We spent the better part of a year writing letters, sending faxes and making calls to get the demo out.  Responses were far in between and mainly consisted of form letters stating "not accepting at this time", which usually means the letter was never even read by a human being.  Even after actually getting permission to send the tape, these form letters were the basic response.  We did receive a few very nice replies where the label stated they liked the work but it didn't fit their catalogue at the time.

    Being a bit frustrated...no, VERY frustrated, and still believing in our music, we decided to finish the project and figure out how to deal with it later.  This was mainly fueled by the desire to have a completed CD of our music and this great set of musicians if for no other reason than to have it archived.

    Due to time commitments with all the players, Clazz was put on pause for three years.  In late 1997, we went back in and finished recording, then spent a leisurely six months on the overdubs and mixing.  Running on our own allowed us to take the time when needed to concentrate on the music rather than the "delivery date" (this is the "big heavy" record labels demand from their artists.  They usually want one to two albums per year, so you can see why so many projects get rushed and end up sounding like it!).

    When the project was finished, we gave the label submissions one more try figuring a complete CD would be a bit more impressive.  Out of forty-two request letters we received replies back from ten!  Of the submissions to those ten, five sent it back saying "great project, however it doesn't fit our catalogue at this time" (heard that before!), or "we're cutting back our jazz catalogue due to poor sales" (this is a depressing fact with today's music industry).  The remaining five never replied.  Follow-up calls and letters received the same response.  I figured we'd spent enough time and money on this "dead end" so I started Razzody Music.

    Construction Process:  Some assembly required.

    The writing of the first four tunes; Oil and Vinegar, Bill the Cat, Dusk and Clazz was completed by 1994 and rehearsals began at my home studio.  We rehearsed the rhythm section; piano, bass, rhythm guitar and drums once a week for a month.  Next, we booked an all nighter at Mad Hatter studios in Los Angeles.  This was a twelve hour (7:00pm to 7:00am) session where we put down all the rhythm tracks, most of the keyboard overdubs and lead guitar .  The following week, we went in and did the remaining keyboard tracks and percussion.  One week after that, we headed to the mix room and produced the demo.

    After the three year waiting period mentioned above, we went back to Mad Hatter and recorded four more tunes; In The Groove, Intro, Medium Rare and Finale.  Again, in the twelve hour session we got the rhythm tracks, keyboard o/d's, lead guitar  and both bass tracks down (electric and acoustic).  After nine and a half months (time used to write Automation, Sometimes Everytime and Interlude) we went back, yet again, and recorded these last three tunes.  After this, we spent a couple of months (maybe one day every couple of weeks) finishing overdubs.  These o/d's were mainly synth pads and percussion tracks.

    Onward to the mixing.  Mixing the whole project (which included remixing the first four tunes) was an interesting learning curve for all involved.  I learned early on that once Gary was in his element, the best thing I could do as a producer was sit back and listen.  Gary learned that Razz has an interesting way of phrasing and layering that required a very clean and "unproduced" approach.  This worked well for him as he is a stickler for clean recording.  His silent obsession with getting the best possible signal to tape sold us on him as our engineer from the outset of this album.

    We would go in every other Saturday for about four months and take our time with each track.  Using this method, if you have the time, keeps you in the objective seat.  It would become pointless, after eight hours of work, to try to start a mix on a different tune.  As I've learned in the many project past (it's especially important that you stop the second you realize this when you're working under someone else's budget), there truly comes a time when your ears shut down and you can't make decisions.  Remembering this lesson kept us fresh and resulted in what we feel is a very clean mix.

    Next came mastering.  We took the project back to Los Angeles to Future Disc Systems for masteringSteve Hall, co-owner and senior engineer of the studio did the mastering.  Since these guys (mastering engineers) have the "golden ears", it was a real kick to receive the great compliments Steve gave us on the playing, recording, mixing and writing of Clazz.  We had the opportunity to master Clazz on a brand new set of speakers Steve designed.  As it turned out, the mixing was so clean, hardly any e.q.. or compression/limiting was necessary.  This cut down on the session time which directly related the cost ($300.00 per hour).  It pays to get the best recording and mix before you master.
 

    Artwork: Make me a pretty picture.

    Clazz was not the original title for the project and the artwork we ended up with was far from the original concept.  The original title was going to be "Don't Play With Your Food", and I won't go in to the artwork becuase I plan to use it later on.  While we were recording and mixing, Gary kept calling it Clazz.  By the end of the production phase I was so beat, I said "OK, Clazz it is, can I go home now?"

    Since this strayed so far from the original concept, I had no idea what to do with the artwork for the title Clazz.  After searching through several graphic artists, I found Shelly Montana.
  Shelly had never produced CD artwork before so the learning curve was extremely creative.  We tossed ideas around for a few days then she landed on a color scheme that worked.  We used a photo of Eric Stiller rehearsing in the studio on his acoustic bass we thought would look cool in silhouette.  Shelly took that idea and came up with the rest of the artwork in record time.  The work was done in Adobe Illustrator so transfering for the duplication process was a breeze.  Since no negatives were needed for the final lay-up, all I had to do was approve a match print (very much like a large photograph) and we were off to the races.
 

    Promotion:Get the tunes on line then, hit the radio and the radio will hit back.

    I'm now sitting in my studio with a little over a thousand discs in nice cardboard boxes.  For a brief moment I have this feeling of:  Well, that was fun.  I have my boxes now I can do something else!"  This is where the reality of trying to get these things out to ears without the aid of the relentlessly narrow minded music business comes into play.  Since we aren't going to let a record label take their cut, we have to handle promotion and distribution at the ground level, right here from the studio.  The solution?  Use the net!  With little searching, I discovered that Amazon.com will let you set up sales through their site using a program they've created called the Amazon Advantage.  They take a normal piece of the pie for their effort of setting up a page for your project and selling it.  The cool thing is you can set your own retail price.

    Another site we found for sales is Guitar9 Records.  Since this album is heavily guitar oriented, this seemed the natural thing to do.  Guitar9 handles all kinds of music and instrumentation but mainly deals with guitars.  They also let you set your own price.  Both Amazon and Guitar9 will put up sound clips for a small fee (I think the first few minutes of total music time in these clips is free.  Anything longer will kick in the fee.  So, if you're cheap, keep your clips short.).  Getting yourself set up with these companies will take a bit of time, especially with Amazon since they want you to have a UPC number (barcode).  This can get expensive, so search around for companies and/or sites who sell UPC numbers for small product runs.

    Now the feeling of:  Well, that was fun.  Not only do I have my boxes, I now have discs for sale on the net.  Now what?  The tunes need to get heard or nobody will know they exist.  Hello radio!

    Get online and hunt for radio station lists.  There are a few listed in our links page.  I highly recommend the list at MIT.  Once we decided which stations to hit, we sent a short email to each station requesting permission to submit our music.  About 95% of the stations replied in very short order and about 95% of those were more than happy to receive our project.  We made sure we hit stations that played similar music to ours.  A few of the stations dealt with formats other than jazz and they were a little less interested in our submission.  The stations that were interested gave their address and contact person (music director) in the return email.

    Next came the package itself.  We typed up a neat cover letter addressed personally to the music director, a brief musician bio, a one page containing quotes from reviewers (see next paragraph) and a business card.  These were stuffed into envelopes with the music directors name on the front and placed into a padded mailer with a copy of the disc.  Off it went and within a few weeks, we were up on the air on jazz and college stations all over the country!  Fun.

    At the same time we were sending discs out, we were using the same contact, submission and mailing procedure to get the album reviewed by online music sites.  Again, check out the links page for many of these sites.  We found out who the reviewer was at each site and made the cover letter speak directly to him/her.  Reviews help sales.  It probably would have been a better idea to get all the reviews we could before sending to radio stations since good review quotes help rev up the interest in the DJ, but we were a bit eager.  Each time we send to another station, we have more reviews to include so it's working fine.  In fact, here's a great review we received from The Phantom Toll Booth recently:
 

    Clazz
    Artist: Razz
    Label: Independent, {Razzody Music}
    Tracks: 11/ 55:05

Once upon a time in the dark and distant days of the late 70's a young and talented young guitarist named James Vincent is credited with starting a hybrid form of jazz called "Fusion." And it came to pass in a roundabout sort of way that James begat Paul Clark and Paul begat Koinonia, and in 1984 a band of jazz artists going under the name of Razz released their first album. Christian radio back then didn't have a clue what to do with a jazz release, they still don't as a matter of fact. That's why you don't hear of too many Christian music stations that have a jazz format. Now you need to understand that we're talking about real music here, not the kind of stuff that is recycled hymns that you hear waiting for your appointment in a dentist office or stuck between floors on an elevator. So in 1985 Razz parted ways due to their record company going belly up. Fast forward 16 years and like Carol Ann said in Poltergeist 2, "They're back"

Clazz rhymes with Razz and that means jazz, fusion that is. This new release is chock full of great riffs, solid playing and just a total sense of good hot music. The funky tunes make you want to get up and dance and the slower tunes are by no means boring but are thought provoking and wistful. Rather than a strict band, Razz seems to be a core group of steady players with a liberal dose of guest sidemen. To say that the playing credits of these guys is impressive is a vast understatement. They have played with the likes of Maynard Ferguson, Della Reese, Frank Zappa, Michael McDonald and Woody Herman just to name a few. I tend to enjoy fusion, but some of it can get to be repetitive and monotonous, that is not at all the case on this disc. It holds up as fresh and exciting with each new listening. This is the kind of recording that will stay in your cd player for quite a long while. You'll want to kidnap your friends for a car ride and say check this out. I'd have to say my favorite cuts are: "Intro", "Sometimes Everytime" & "Clazz." You can reach Razz at jazz@razzody.com.

Chris MacIntosh aka Grandfather Rock, or jazz as the case might be.
5 tocks
 

    Summation of progress to date: Be patient.

    Due to the jazz genre and the fact that we have only released to a couple of online companies, sales have been continuous but slow.  This is also due in part to the fact that only college and jazz stations dealing with fusion have been playing Clazz.  To date we've only hit the United States, Canada, Brazil and Germany.  The U.S. and Canada make up for about sixty stations while Germany and Brazil add another eight.  There's still a lot of jazz radio out there and we're still working the email with great success.