Help Orlando & John Gilbert Fund Their Album

Hi! My name is Orlando Gilbert. I’m a New Orleans saxophonist and composer, and recently, I graduated from Berklee College of Music. My father, John “Prince” Gilbert, is a genre defining saxophonist known for his seminal work in legendary bands like the Rebirth Brass Band, the Hot 8 Brass Band, and many more. Together, we decided it was time to put together a groundbreaking father-son album, but we need your help…

 

 

Our Story

 

John Gilbert is known as the genre defining saxophone player of New Orleans Brass Band music. He, alongside the outstanding members of the Rebirth Brass Band, set New Orleans music on a path that is still building off the music created within the Rebirth. In his life, he played on some of the most influential and important albums within the genre like the New Birth Brass Band, the Hot 8, and the Treme Brass Band, and my father’s contributions have help shaped the trajectory of New Orleans music for the last forty years. Growing up, musicians would say to me “I started playing saxophone because of your father” or “your dad informed not just what saxophone players would play, but what trumpet players and trombone players would play”. He lives as a legend in New Orleans, and he was, and remains, my biggest inspiration in my own musical development. You can imagine how much of a surprise it was to find that people were studying his compositions across the Atlantic in London. However, even though people had been studying his music, nobody knew my father’s name specifically, and I knew it was time that he had his own album with his own name on it!

 

Growing up, I was surrounded by my father’s music—we even had his old horns lying around the house as decoration. Despite that, I initially didn’t want to play music at all. However, that changed I had the privilege of studying with Kent Jordan, Alonzo Bowens, and Dwayne Paulin in middle school and they helped showed me how amazing music is. When I got into the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, I was hooked. I spent my high school years studying with the faculty at NOCCA and Donald Harrison Jr., and I got to play with my father and the Treme Brass Band every Tuesday night at the DBA bar on Frenchmen. Music brought me closer to my father, and for me, music is deeply personal because of its role in our relationship. After having spent years playing and studying with New Orleans’ master musicians, I got into Berklee College of Music on a full tuition scholarship, and there I studied with great musicians like Jason Palmer and George Garzone. I even had the amazing honor of being a part of Ralph Peterson’s GenNext Band for almost three years before his passing. During that time, I also got to tour with the great Delfeayo Marsalis. After graduating from Berklee, I hope to let the world that I am one of New Orleans’ rising stars.

 

 

Our Vision

 

Our vision is to record, release, and promote a full-length father-son album featuring our original compositions. We envision a project that highlights core essence of New Orleans music and culture: family, community, expansion on tradition, and the passing of the torch from one generation to the next. It is our vision that this album is dedicated to our love for each other and is about celebrating the music and culture that has brought us so close together.

 

We plan on recording this album with some of New Orleans’ best musicians over the course of 2021, and plan on releasing the album and merchandise in late 2021/early 2022.

 

 

Your Impact

 

This album will be made possible by your donations and generosity. You will have a chance to not only help us create an important album that gives my father the credit he deserves, but you’ll also be helping me to create an amazing first album as well. You’ll be able to play an essential part in the making of this album, and you’ll know that you made such a beautiful album possible. Here is a list of how your donations will be spent:

 

·      Recording costs

 

·      Payment of the album’s personnel

 

·      Album Art

 

·      Renting rehearsal spaces

 

·      Promotion

 

·      Manufacturing physical copies of the album

 

·      Marketing

 

·      Photography/Videography

 

·      Other general business expenses (registering copyrights, etc.)

 

 

 

Other Ways to Help

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! Every donation is greatly appreciated, and those who donate $100 and above will receive a signed copy of our album. Those who donate $500 and above will receive a special thank you in the liner notes as thanks! If you don’t have the funds, but would like to help, here are some ways to help us:

 

·      Please share this GoFundMe link if you can to social media!

 

·      Please follow my social media for updates on the album (Facebook: Orlando Gilbert Instagram: @lando_g_ Twitter @lando_g_

 

·      Tell your friends about the project!

 

Thank you so much!!