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Maria Schneider's new album is a marvel of detailed, in-depth contemporary composition -- say, new music fans, what do you make of her writing? -- featuring imaginative and committed solos from an impressive crew that is fully committed to her work. Almost as amazing is Schneider's success with the artist-directed, diy business model she realizes through ArtistShare, which helped her last production, Concert In The Garden, become the first non-label cd to win a Grammy.

"Sky Blue is a fan-funded release," Schneider says, "that from the time of the project launch until now (thee weeks after the release) has brought in enough income to cover the entire 'projected' budget of the record. The only snafu is that I went way over budget! Ooops... but sales are coming in and I'm well on my way."

Schneider details: " I've brought in $106,000 since launch. My original budget was $100,000... and I ended up spending $170,000. But still, considering I just put it out, I'm in pretty good shape. Wish I hadn't gone over-budget, because by now it would all be gravy!"

More on Schneider in my article Not For Wimps, here in slightly different form than its original publication in Down Beat, July 2007.