Michael Cuscuna, steps away
Michael Cuscuna and most of humanity are within 6 degrees of each other. This matrix combines the small-world principle behind this seemingly magical fact with inter-artist recommendations-in-series in order to make all artists potential curators and discoverable within a handful (or two) of steps from everywhere on the planet. It works like this:
I RECOMMEND people (do you?)Michael Cuscuna & degrees of proximity
Why again is Michael Cuscuna mere steps away from other artists in here, and by extension, most everybody on the planet?
WHO CURATES "I RECOMMEND" ABOVE?
- Vertex/Edges Out by: The Matrix via ↴
Artist & Where
- Name: Michael Cuscuna
- City/Place: Stamford, Connecticut
- Country: United States
Life & Work
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Bio:
The Mosaic Story
"Although Mosaic Records' first release came out in July of 1983, the seeds for the business were planted in 1970. As a journalist, radio show host and record producer, I began coming into contact with many musicians who had been major players in Blue Note's repertory company. Since Blue Note had always been my favorite label for its consistent quality, conversations would ultimately drift to those great days of the label.
Increasingly, I would hear about tantalizing unissued sessions. Soon I began writing down sketchy information from musicians about these unknown treasures in a notebook. The staggering amount of unissued material soon became evident, and I tried constantly to get into the vaults. But George Butler, who had been put in charge after Frank Wolff's death, was oblivious to serious jazz and took the label into a very commercial direction. He stalled me for years.
Finally, Charlie Lourie, a former jazz and classical musician and executive at CBS Records, accepted the job as head of marketing for Blue Note in late 1974. We met in Los Angeles in the Spring of 1975. I showed him my notebook, which by this time had grown to sizable proportions. He was so excited that the next morning a contract was drawn up and by afternoon, I was at last in the Blue Note vaults..."
"The nicest part of having this dream come true was the response of the musicians. I remember when I first starting producing Andrew Hill for Freedom Records. He sat in my living room and from memory gave me the complete personnel of 12 unissued Blue Note sessions, hoping I could get them out. Once walking down Broadway, I heard my name shouted form a cab. It was Howard Johnson asking me if I had found the Hank Mobley date that he told me about and if it was coming out. People like Elvin Jones and Hank Mobley would come up to me in clubs and hug my and thank me for getting albums issued. The approval and the enthusiasm of the artists who made the music was very important to me..."
"As serious collectors and lovers of the music, Charlie and I hope to assemble packages that all collectors and serious students of jazz will find valuable. That is one reason why we strive to make every set complete within its own scope. This not only brings unissued material to light, but eliminates the need the have music stretched over scattered albums of varying quality in an incoherent form that makes intelligent listening difficult. The Mulligan set is a classic example. In order to have the 49 issued from our set, one would have to own 10 different albums, most of them very rare and many having duplication of tunes
Our first year was filled with both problems and rewards. But we wouldn't have had it any other way. As for the future, in true jazz tradition, we're just going straight ahead.
(Charlie Lourie passed away in 2000 but his passion and respect for jazz will always be a part of all that Mosaic offers.)
-- Michael Cuscuna
Contact Information
- Email: info@mosaicrecords.com
- Telephone: +1 203-327-7111
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Address:
Mosaic Records
425 Fairfield Avenue
Suite 421
Stamford, CT USA 06902
Tel: 203.327.7111 (9-5 EST Mon-Fri)
Fax: 203.323.3526
Media & Markets
- ▶ Twitter: MosaicRecords
- ▶ Instagram: mosaic_images
- ▶ Website: http://www.mosaicrecords.com
- ▶ Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/2KJ0Xgfw8l7vPZwMjGCEyO
- ▶ Article: http://jerryjazzmusician.com/2019/06/interview-with-mosaic-records-co-founder-michael-cuscuna/
ABOUT THE MATRIX
This matrix is dedicated to creative artists and non-algorithmic discovery.
It was described (to some degree) and can be accessed via this article in British journal The Guardian (which named our radio of matrixed artists as one of ten best in the world):
www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/apr/17/10-best-music-radio-station-around-world
While the Brazilian musicians I work with now you may not know, I formerly worked (chasing unpaid royalties!) on behalf of Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Led Zeppelin, Jim Hall, Mongo Santamaria, Gilberto Gil, Astrud Gilberto, Wah Wah Watson (Melvin Ragin), Philip Glass, The Cadillacs (Earl Carroll), The Flamingos (Zeke and Jake Carey), and others, including Oscar-winning world-class great-guy Robb Royer. I was interviewed by David Dye for broadcast on U.S. National Public Radio several years ago ... about the Brazilians:
- Randy "Pardal/Sparrow" Roberts
All is more connected than we know.
w/ David Dye for U.S. National Public Radio
The matrix was inspired in (the kabbalah-inspired fiction of) Borges' El Aleph, that in the pillar in Cairo's Mosque of Amr, where the universe in its entirety throughout all time is perceivable as an infinite hum from deep within the stone...
Our logo, per the "spirit" above, is a cortador de cana, a cane cutter. It was designed by Walter Mariano, professor of design at the Federal University of Bahia to reflect the origins of the music the shop specialized in. The Brazilian "aleph" doesn't hum... it dances and sings.
