ONOFFON

[liamkelly]

Keep on keeping on, Von

[onoffon]

Thanks for your support, as always, Liam... I have yet another investment firm interested. One of these days, I'll get a call that says, "Okay, let's do this."On another interesting note, one of my dearest friends on these boards suggested I try to contact Denny Tedesco, the son of guitarist Tommy Tedesco, who just produced, directed, and released a documentary called, "The Wrecking Crew", a story about a group of studio musicians that backed everyone from the Beach Boys to Wayne Newton to The Monkees (and hundreds more) back in the 60's. He and his brother are receiving international acclaim for this wonderful documentary.Trying to do something like this is only possible if there is a path available. I've tried to contact people like Clint Eastwood and Jeff Goldblum, both known for their love of jazz, only to hit road blocks along the way. Interestingly enough, Denny's brother, Damon, happens to be in the same Musician's Union local I am a member of and it was easy to give him a call. He was amazed at my father's story, much like his father's story only a couple of decades earlier, and immediately gave me Denny's number. I had a great conversation with Denny and we're due to talk more next week. He was blown away by the whole idea.Just to share his experiences with me will be invaluable in my quest to make Harry's film...

[onoffon]

I have to say, it doesn't happen very often these days, but there's nothing better than having someone buy one of our CDs.A few days ago, a gentleman in Great Britain decided to buy our latest CD, Bridge to Presage, from our CD Baby page. He just found it on the site and bought it. How very cool...Then, today, I get another email from CD Baby. Apparently, this gentleman enjoyed it so much that he returned to buy copies of our first two CDs also, Surrender Now and Your Mind.How cool is that?!?!??!!!??Success is measured in many different ways. In our own little way, today was a wonderful success...

[kg]

That's the best feeling. One CD purchased by someone from the other side of the world who found you all on their own. So cool! Glad to see everything's going well for you.K

[onoffon]

Thanks Kelly! While I was going to announce that ONOFFON's song, "Mardi Gras", was number 1 over on the new music site, Audio Village, it seems as though Dave Kershaw has already kicked us to second. Que sera sera...What do you expect from an instrumental jazz tune? Even at the heighth of Mp3.com, we only managed to get to #15 on their overall charts, next to Madonna and Faith Hill and Linkin Park. Though we did hold the #1 Jazz tune for a week and the #1 Latin Jazz tune for an accumulated total of 73 days...But, Mp3.com has gone away and all those impressive totals and chart numbers have long disappeared...That's what happens when you've been online with music for eleven and a half years...

[onoffon]

I'm not sure how this came about but I stumbled on a website that has a review of our first CD, Surrender Now. Judging by the copyright at the bottom of the page I'd say it's been posted for a few years but I've never seen it until now. It's cool enough to post here -Recordmaster.comhttp://recordmaster.com/thereview.cfm?id=844"California based trio ONOFFON debut cd seams to offer something for all. Describing there self as a 'Progressive Jazz' group, in the sense the music is a progressive sound, and there are a lot of jazz influence. Mixing instrumental and vocal tracks, The first track, and title track is a more bluesy number, with a strong jazz back line running though it. Please Baby Please, is a very upbeat downtown bluesy/jazz number. The contrasts in musical styles, work well, keeping you on your feet. Taking in the, almost free jazz instrumental tune of Weekend in Montreal with some excellent sax soloing, to the powerhouse tune of Your Reality the tracks move from one to the next giving the listener a musical treat. The cd finishes of with two 11 mins+ tracks, and are the more constructed of the "progressive" tracks , with If a Thief Were I, an excellent acoustic number, and Remember Only the last track, for me been the best track on the cd, a harder edged tune with long instrumental passages. All vocal tracks are extremely strong with the vocals of Don Lake, along with Dave Goode on drums, and Von Babasin pumping bass and keys, the other two band members. If you are prepared to try something that might test your musical taste, then give this one ago, due to the changing styles of the tracks, there is plenty here to keep you listening for a long time."Interestingly, he doesn't actually mention the title of the album, Surrender Now. He makes reference to the "first track, and title track" but doesn't mention its name either.Other than that, it's very cool - thanks Recordmaster for your kind words...

[onoffon]

Oct 14, 2008, 9:33pm, onoffon wrote:A few days ago, a gentleman in Great Britain decided to buy our latest CD, Bridge to Presage, from our CD Baby page. He just found it on the site and bought it. How very cool...Then, today, I get another email from CD Baby. Apparently, this gentleman enjoyed it so much that he returned to buy copies of our first two CDs also, Surrender Now and Your Mind.As you all know, CD Baby sends you the contact information for those who have bought your CDs and suggests you email them. So, I did. I received a response this morning -"hi von. just looked up your dad harry. you are a very lucky young man to have such father with a tallent. and to hand it down to you. so you could make such great music. i must admit that out of your 3 albums. bridge to presage is a master peace. i've told everyone that know who loves truly great music to buy this and surrender now. your mind. im sure by now everyone in london knows your band. please keep the great stuff coming von/don/dave.....marcus/glen/ron/bob...what a bunch of masters. joe"What a great email!!!! It was so cool to be called a "young man" - I hate to tell him how old I am... of course, age is relative and I don't know how old he is... Whatever - he's A-1 in my book and I thank him for his purchases and his kind words...

[onoffon]

I've been working for a few months with a gentleman, Rich Brennan, who is serving as consulting producer on the documentary. He just left a recommendation on my LinkedIn page and I wanted to share it with you -Dear Von, I've written this recommendation of your work to share with other LinkedIn users. "Von Babasin is a class act all the way with the passion and the creativity and the talent of a true professional. We are working together to make a dream come true and his level of commitment is extraordinary."I continue to align myself with those who see the singular vision and understand the importance of this story's addition to the annals of jazz history.I dearly thank Rich for his kind words...

[davekershaw]

Excellent Von!

[squids]

Von,I've been catching up on your ongoing endeavors (got behind recently!). So PROUD of you. While you struggle to get your father the recognition he deserves, you're finding yourself in that effort as well.It reminds me of a recent story here in our local paper. An African American WWII soldier had earned a Purple Heart, Bronze Star, etc but had never received those medals. His family campaigned for 50 years (longer, actually) but they finally got them. Big ceremony, big turnout, big validation. It's a shame they had to work so hard for so long for something that was clearly deserved in the beginning.Anyway, you know I'm a big fan! Keep it up! Also, drooling about Stanley Clarke. Cripes, how great izzat?