Joe Fonda Turns to Kickstarter to Finance 20th Anniversary Recording

Middletown-born bassist and jazz composer Joe Flood, has been playing with the Fonda/Stevens Group for two decades. He's probably best known for his jazz and improvisor festivals at the Buttonwood Tree.

To help Fonda's group pay for the cost of the production, manufacturing and promotion of its 20th anniversary CD, band members have turned to Kickstarter, the crowd-funding platform many creatives have used to raise cash for projects they couldn't pull off otherwise.

With 11 days to go, $1,075, or 19 percent of goal, has been raised. 

This international working modern jazz ensemble (four of the five original members are still in the group) is hoping its Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign will allow them to complete their most recent "Live from Dornbirn" recording on Playscape Recordings. 

The last concert of the group's November 2012 European Tour was recorded live in the Vorarlberg town of Dornbirn in Austria.

Depending upon the size of their gift, donors can earn perks, including a digital download of the new Fonda/Stevens Group 20th Anniversary CD for $10 or for $1,000, a 13-CD Collection of the entire group catalog, a DVD, T-shirt, two free concert passes, a candlelight dinner for two at Fonda's New York City home and a copy of his BeBop Rice Recipe.

The minimum pledge is $1.