Help Caleb Willitz! (Fire)

On July 24th, Caleb Willitz returned home to find the building that was his home and recording studio engulfed in flames. Not only did the fire destroy his home, but also his business. Lacking the adequate insurance coverage necessary to replace his equipment, he is left in a very difficult position as he begins to rebuild from the ground up.


Caleb's dedication and hard work in the musical community has been relentless. There's so much music that never would have happened without him. Over the years, Caleb has spent tens of thousands of dollars maintaining, improving, and upgrading his studio. Like most studio owners, he has financed his gear upgrades, and he'll now have to manage debt on equipment he can no longer use. And as a result of the fire, he has lost his essential tools for serving numerous musicians throughout Chicago including, but not limited to, Tatsu Aoki, Fred Longberg-Holm, Hamid Drake, Mars Williams, Ernie Adams, Joshua Abrams, Frank Rosaly, Corey Wilkes, Harrison Bankhead, Ed Wilkerson, Fred Anderson, Jeff Parker, Nicole Mitchell, Paul Wertico, Steve Rodby, Ari Brown, Jim Baker, Marquis Hill, Dana Hall, Kent Kessler, Douglas Erwert, Avreeayl Ra, Caroline Davis, Greg Spero, Paal Nilson-Love, Axel Doerner, Michael Zerang, Ståle Solberg, etc…


Though he has lost his physical space and equipment, Caleb was able to recover hard drives from his studio, which contain over 8 years of work by countless musicians. He's currently in the process of restoring these drives, but some of them may need professional fire and water restoration. These hard drives are a valuable archive of what's been happening in the Chicago jazz community over the last decade. With our support, Caleb will be able to cover the cost of the hard drive restoration, which sometimes costs more than $500 per hard drive.


So, what's next for Caleb? While rebuilding his original studio may not be his immediate objective, Caleb is committed to continuing his service to the arts and music community in Chicago. His current priority is completing his ongoing studio projects previously in motion. Then, he plans to get to work on mixing, mastering, and releasing selections from the thousands of sessions he has in his archive - a way to revisit the work he's done so far and give more music back to the community.

Your contribution will help Caleb build a new foundation for his art, work, and life. It will also make it possible for a handful of respected Chicago musicians to realize the completion of their work. Funds will be used to cover costs such as:

-Restoration of hard drives
-New computer
-Recording interface
-Studio Monitors
-Microphones
-Cables

We are setting our goal at raising $7,500 to enable Caleb to equip himself on a very basic level. All donors contributing $50 or more will receive a copy of the vinyl record of the Gaps and Spaces album "Synoptic Opticks" which was produced by Caleb Willitz and Greg Ward and released in 2015. This studio release features some of Chicago's most renowned improvisers including Jeff Parker, Dominic Johnson, Dave Miller, Makaya McCraven, and Fred Longberg-Holm.

These records were rescued from the building after the fire. Some of the sleeves were a little wet, but Caleb is very grateful for their survival and would like more than ever, to share it with you.

Thanks again for your support!