Jeeni's Pick of the Week - Colectiva

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Jeeni's Pick of the Week - Colectiva

Colectiva Global Bandstand Weekender Southsea Portsmouth presented by The People's Lounge

Colectiva is a nine-piece ensemble exploring the spaces between Afro-Latin music and jazz while reflecting on themes of sisterhood and female empowerment. Exploring the boundaries between Afro-Latin music and Jazz, Colectiva are a unique voice on the UK scene. Representing the meeting of two musical worlds they believe belong together. Founded as a creative experiment by trombonist Viva Msimang. The group makes space for female and non-binary identifying musicians to collaborate in a new dynamic. An alternative to traditional hierarchical structures, away from the Male Gaze. In addition to exploring notions of sisterhood through their shared creative practice, empowering themselves and their audiences alike.

Exciting projects like Colectiva are the type of talent that Jeeni supports on our platform. By creating showcases, and promoting them to an audience on jeeni.com

Rooted in the sounds of Africa, Latin America and the diaspora, Colectiva's thoughtful and punchy arrangements are affectionately dubbed ‘jazz tropicaliente’ (hot-tropical-jazz). Released in collaboration with jazz pianist Maria Grapsa, the group’s debut single ‘Under The’ on Movimientos captures the essence of their shared creative practice. And has received support from the likes of Huey Morgan and Jamz Supernova on BBC Radio 6 Music. As well as Jazz FM’s Chris Philips and Tim Garcia, and Toshiro Matsuura and Papaoul on Worldwide FM.

‘Under The’ came to life when jazz Maria Grapsa brought an early arrangement of the tune to the collective. Working together over a series of collaborative sessions typical of their creative process, they crafted the song you hear today. Consisting of tormented melodies, jagged horn hits, and a rhythm section bristling with energy open the song, evoking sounds of struggle.

Furthermore, the group won ‘Best Alternative Act 2019' at the UK Latin Awards. The exceptional Colectiva is set to step into their power in 2021, with two more singles with visuals planned, infused with the spirit of feminist activism.

JEENI is a multi-channel platform for original entertainment on demand. We’re a direct service between creatives and the global audience.

Firstly we give creatives, independent artists and performers a showcase for their talent and services.
Secondly we empower our audience and reward them every step of the way.
Thirdly we promise to treat our members ethically, fairly, honestly and with respect.
Lastly and most importantly they keep 100% of everything they make.

Check out Colectiva's showcase here on Jeeni: Colectiva | Showcase | JEENI Along with other showcases to add to your playlist.

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08
Jul

Zed, The Dreamer – ‘I died too’ Single Review

Charming, layered and dreamy, the latest single from this starry-eyed balladeer might be his most impactful yet. With a rich roster of influential artists like Bon Iver, Michael Kiwanuka and Matt Corby, Zed, The Dreamer has a wide and varied well from which he draws inspiration and these influences reveal themselves quite clearly across Zed's young, bright discography. The style of the previously mentioned muses can essentially be reduced to an initial representation of the broad genre of folk music, however, they all individually decide to expand beyond that folk core by enriching it with their own individual styles, experiences and personalities. This is a skill that Zed has adopted in full-effect. A notable element of Zed’s style is his subtle embrace of lo-fi aesthetics. Before, this has materalised as some unfiltered-out background fuzz in tracks like ‘Comfort (Not Love)’, but Zed's latest track takes this raw, casual sentiment to a further level as he uses it to almost reinforce the heart aching messages that he displays in ‘i died too’. The track whirs to life like a tape machine accelerating to the right speed, instantly giving off a warm, analogue tone to the track. The sudden click to silence after just a second of guitar also contributes to a feeling that this is an impromptu recording, straight from the heart, to the microphone. As more elements are introduced, this nonchalant façade crumbles and Zed’s ballad blossoms into a polished and astonishing chorus of love. Intricate and symbolic lyrics aren't needed for the confessional “Baby, I love you” chorus, because the verse has already provided poetic details into the relationship. Interestingly, after the first chorus, Zed doesn’t use its natural momentum to maintain the energy, but instead, he brings the composition back down to where we began with an interlude of radio-effect conversational samples and background ambience that replaces the full, lush textures that we just heard over the chorus. Once back down to the ground, Zed’s forlorn vocals begin to slowly levitate the piece once more with the next verse. The second verse consists of simple guitar-tapped percussion, rumbling bass and shimmering chords, all ornamenting Zed’s gentle acoustic guitar and crooning vocals which creates the folk centre of the piece. The second verse much more seamlessly feeds into the second chorus which now professes the title of the piece, “I died too” in replace of “I love you”. This heartbreaking variation to the chorus is such a clever story-telling device. It’s not often that a chorus is altered to reveal an entirely different side to an emotive narrative, it adds a stunning amount of weight behind an already compelling single. The piece winds down one final time as a more distant and mournful "Baby, I love you" is heard underneath auto-tuned vocalisations and a self-comforting "It's alright, now" repetition. This extended ending at almost a minute long is a beautiful finish to an already unorthodox song structure. A final, pensive guitar chord rings out to finish the piece with one last poignant resignation. Zed, The Dreamer will be performing at Victorious festival this August (26th-28th) so be sure to check him out if you have tickets!

12
Mar

Jeeni - 'Coming Into Focus'

Friday 22 January saw the first of a month long project for Jeeni, as they work to connect directly with their members. 'Coming Into Focus' is a collection of Zoom meetings, set up for Friday afternoons at 2pm, giving performers, artists, writers and fans the chance to relay their user experiences and chat directly to the directors of the business. With music platforms under increasing scrutiny from government committees, as well as their users, now seems the perfect time to meet the feedback face to face. Jeeni's ethos of 'Ethical, Honest, Fair' means they aren't afraid to hear what many are choosing to ignore. The directors' believe their platform can offer a better way for the music industry to operate and have been striving for this for the past 3 years. From an online 'open' invite, the whole of social media was invited to register for the meeting and for a first outing, the take up was good. There was also a quick questionnaire to complete, to give an outline of usage of the platform. Once into the Zoom arena, guests were personally greeted by CEO Shena Mitchell, who gave a short briefing on the company, the reasons for starting the focus group project and it's plans going forward. The attendees were then given the 'floor' to discuss their experiences. 'Coming Into Focus' - Jeeni meeting The group was an international mix of musicians, songwriters and music fans, with their feedback being extremely positive. All were amazed musicians, artists and performers were going to be earning 100% of the income generated by their postings, merchandise and tickets. This was seen as a huge positive against other platform competitors. There were some great ideas coming from the group, which Jeeni is interested in developing further. One of the attendants, a recent graduate of The Songwriting Academy was keen to understand the process of uploading his work, and generating an income from this. Another participant, recently arrived from the Southern Hemisphere to the UK, wants to use the site and the Jeeni network to connect with fellow musicians and music fans. Shena was also told, fans want easy access to new and diverse music, rather than the constant stream of similar tracks which follow your previous choices on other platforms. The next 'Coming Into Focus' meeting is scheduled for Friday 29 January at 2pm. To receive your invite, follow the link and register your details, http://focusgroupjeeni.eventbrite.co.uk/. There is even a rumour Roger Watson, an industry legend and Jeeni ambassador, who has sold over 500-million albums in his incredible career, may join the call! www.jeeni.com

10
Aug

Jeeni reaches 50% of funding target in just a few hours.

Within hours of going public on Crowdcube Jeeni hit 50% of its overall £150K target. We launched our public raise at 10am this morning and we have already reached £75K. As you can imagine here at Jeeni HQ we are celebrating. After all our extremely hard work we are delighted that so many investors share our vision. Join them and help us reach our target. Check out our pitch here. https://bit.ly/3BhEeia Jeeni is a fast-growing entertainment company that rewards independent musicians and performers ethically and safely. Our achievements include: Over 4,000 active independent musicians and performersOver 2,300 brilliant artist showcasesOver 2.6million audience outreachOver 10,000 views in less than one hourManagement from senior roles at Apple, Chrysalis Records, Arista Records and EMI MusicGRAMMY-Award Winning ambassadors and supportersCurrent membership and audience growth rate of 4% per monthOver £350,000 raised in previous rounds for less than 10% equity, with a current company valuation of £4.5million We invite you to help us accelerate our success and scale up for the best benefit of our members and investors. Join our fast-growing family of 22 lead investors and over 400 smaller investors, and we look forward to answering any questions you may have. Please check out our pitch here: https://bit.ly/3BhEeia #Jeeni #invest #ethical #alternative #musicians #performers #crowdcube #crowdfunding

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