[Dixielandjazz] What OKOM band is playing for a FreshPet Select ad?

[Rick Campbell]

Relative to the Fresh Pet Select commercial, I'm an ex-ad man.

You have to understand how ad agencies and jingle houses think.

1. They want complete control.
2. They want it their way.
3. They want it now.

So the agency creative director works with the agency music director  
to decide what feeling and flavor they want for the music. Then they  
go to their favorite music production house (jingle shop) and say we  
need this next week. One of their guys writes an original composition,  
and probably plays keys/guitar/bass/drums on the recording. He writes  
a little horn arrangement. They call in a few of their favorite or  
regular contracted horn players-- all monsters, reliable and  
immediately available, who can play in any style and any key. They  
record the rest live, or maybe lay down tracks with headphones. For  
example, today it is not uncommon for one sax player to bring three  
horns and lay down all the tracks for a five-sax section. The creative  
director and client are there in the studio and/or at the mix and  
approve (or more likely) suggest changes. They fix it as needed, no  
debates. It is possible the various players on this commercial never  
met face-to-face.

Wham! It is done, maybe in one day. This is high pressure music,  
carefully and quickly edited electronically. The various performers  
are paid royalties depending on the size and frequency of the  
commercial buy. They smile, pack up their horns, and wait for the  
checks.

There is no time to gather up an established band, contract with them,  
get them comfortable in the studio, teach them the song, rehearse it,  
wait for stragglers, deal with clams or egos. Unless there is a big  
budget, writing an original is preferable to paying royalties to a  
copyrighted song.

I could be very wrong about this specific commercial, but that is how  
sausage is made. We could contact the ad agency and find out for sure.  
When it's all done, it sounds just like OKOM.

BTW, that is why first-call players like Plas Johnson, Bud Shank, and  
Buddy Collette seldom went on the road with jazz groups. They couldn't  
afford to leave Los Angeles for a day.

Rick Campbell
Milneburg Social Aid and Pleasure Society Jazz Band
Portland, Oregon USA
503-701-7356
ricksax at comcast.net