Story Stop Smiling August 2008 Link Inside its worn blue cover, the book Hollywood: All About Motion Pictures is a priceless bit of studio-era propaganda. Published in 1940, the pocket-sized book talks about “the materials for making a picture,” ranging from the grand studio lots to the need for a prop boy (the person who […]
Story Stop Smiling August 2008 Link Jazz history is filled with examples of Europeans embracing underappreciated American artists. But the circumstances surrounding BYG/Actuel, a short-lived French label dedicated to the late Sixties avant-garde, set it apart. The label’s seminal releases — from trumpeter Don Cherry’s contemplative duets to saxophonist Archie Shepp’s sultry Blasé to sessions […]
Interview Stop Smiling April 9, 2007 Link As a high school student in California, Chris Manak wrote an essay about starting a record label. It’s difficult to imagine that Manak, who would later emerge as Peanut Butter Wolf, had a clear vision even then of how his quixotic label, Stones Throw, would operate. One thing […]
Review Stop Smiling November 2006 Link If you were booking jazz shows in Chicago in the late ’50s, a press release with the following exhortation might have crossed your desk: “Be good to your mind’s mind/eye Earthlings… Give is a chance to do what all Earthlings must do before they cross the River Styx… be […]
Interview Stop Smiling February 2006 Link Hefty Records owner John Hughes III has always been a tinkerer. Even as a 10-year-old he sat creating primitive tape loops on a boombox. He’s been obsessed with the minutae of music ever since. This mindset has helped make Hefty, now celebrating its 10th anniversary, a small but successful […]