Henry Jacobs
Henry Sandy Jacobs (October 9, 1924 – September 25, 2015) was an American sound artist and humorist.[1]
Early life and education
Jacobs was born in
Graduate school and early sound recordings
In 1952, Jacobs returned to Chicago and began experimenting with
Career as sound artist
Most important among these new social contacts were the friendships he struck up with
In 1957, working with artist
Jacobs' album, The Wide Weird World of Shorty Petterstein consisted largely of encounters between hipsters and unknowing squares. One interviewer asks about art to be told, "Art? He's been with the band about six months. Blows good piano." When the interviewer protests that pianos aren't blown, but played with the hands, Shorty returns the opaque reply, "Blow is like an instrument." Shorty also stars in a 1961 cartoon short, The Interview, directed by Ernest Pintoff.[7]
Collaborations with filmmakers
Jacobs collaborated with filmmaker Jordan Belson on the soundtrack for an 8-minute, 16 mm film titled Allures, completed in 1961.[8] In 1963, Jacobs released an album titled The Laughing String. With the backing of the American Cancer Society, Jacobs, in collaboration with John Korty, put together an animated short film about quitting smoking, Breaking the Habit, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1964. This brought Jacobs far enough into the limelight to get remunerative work as a sound consultant. In the late sixties he created radio advertisements for Japan Airlines and supplied audio/visual ideas to Bank of America's marketing division. Jacobs's approach to sound manipulation greatly interested Walter Murch and George Lucas, and he was tapped to provide some improvised soundtrack material and background dialogue for Lucas's film THX 1138. Jacobs was godfather to sound designer Ren Klyce.
In 1972, Jacobs collaborated with Bob McClay and Chris Koch on a series of half-hour television programs for San Francisco public television station KQED. "The Fine Art of Goofing Off" was a sort of philosophical Sesame Street; each program would develop an open-ended theme, like "time" or "work" in an unpredictable collage of brief episodes in a variety of different styles of animation. Alan Watts, improv troop The Committee, artist Victor Moscoso, musicians Mark Unobsky and Pete Sears, Woody Leafer, and Jordan Belson all contributed to the series. The CD/DVD set by this name has been described as " a kaleidescopic array of sound bites that are alternately funny, charmingly nostalgic, bizarre, psychedelic or inexplicable."[9]
Jacobs was joined by David Grieve on a 1973 film, Essential Alan Watts: Man in Nature, Work as Play, which also described Watts' connections to the Beat movement.[10] Some of Jacobs' work is back in print through Locust Music and Important Records. The bulk of his master tapes were destroyed by fire in 1995, though 63 reel-to-reel tapes were rediscovered by Jack Dangers who released a portion of the material in collaboration with Jacobs in 2005.
Henry Jacobs co-stars, together with architect Daniel B-H Liebermann, in Frederik Carbon's documentary feature Sunnyside (2017).
Personal life
Jacobs resided to the north of San Francisco, where he could avoid "electricity and cars."
Discography
The following is a partial discography:
- Interview with Dr. Sholem Stein on the Origins of Calypso, KPFA
- Shorty Petterstein Interview, KPFA
- Radio Programme No 1 Audio Collage: Henry Jacobs’ Music and Folklore (Folkways, 1955)[12]
- Two Interviews (Fantasy, 1955)
- Interviews of Our Times (Fantasy, 1955)
- "Sonata For Loudspeakers (Tape Loops Demo)" (1953-4). On album: "Sounds of New Music" (Folkways, 1957)
- The Weird Wide World of Shorty Petterstein (World Pacific, 1957)[13][14]
- Highlights of Vortex (Folkways, 1959)
- Sounds of New Music (Folkways, 1962)
- The Laughing String (MEA, 1963)
- The Wide Weird World of Henry Jacobs/The Fine Art of Goofing Off (Important Records, 2005)[15][16]
- Around the World with Henry Jacobs (Important)[17]
References
- ^ "Program Information - Radio News: This Week in Radio News: Henry Jacobs for Oct. 3-10, 2015". A-Infos Radio Project. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
- ^ "Pigs Ate my Tapes - The Aleatory World of Henry Jacobs". My KPFA - A Historical Footnote. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
- ^ a b Holmgren, Meredith (2013). "Henry Jacobs: An Interview". Smithsonian Folkways Magazine - Artist Interviews. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
- ^ Rose, Joel (2007). "One Man Goofing: A visit with legendary Zen humorist Henry Jacobs". Arthur Magazine. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
- ^ Rose, Joel (2015-10-03). "Remembering Henry Jacobs, The 'Goof-Off' Who Pioneereed Surround Sound". NPR.org. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
- ^ "Odds & Ends (1959)". National Film Preservation Foundation. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
- ^ "The Sound of Shorty". Frederator Studios Blogs - Channel Frederator Blog. October 13, 2008. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
- ^ "Head Trips: Films for the Inner Eye at the Barbican 1-6 Oct". Front Row Reviews. September 28, 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
- ^ Dean, Jonathan. "Henry Jacobs, "The Wide Weird World of Henry Jacobs/The Fine Art of Goofing Off"". Brainwashed - Reviews. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
- ^ Carney, Ray (1996). "The Beat Movement on Film: A Comprehensive Screening List". Moffitt Library, UC Berkeley. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
- ^ Rose, Joel (August 23, 2005). "Henry Jacobs' 'Wide Weird World'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
- ^ "Dusted Reviews: Henry Jacobs - Radio Programme no.1". Dusted Magazine. April 10, 2003. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
- ^ "The Wide Weird World Of Henry Jacobs CD/DVD". Important Records. 2010-07-25. Archived from the original on July 25, 2010. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
- ^ "Wide Weird World of Shorty Petterstein (Henry Jacob MP3s)". WFMU's Beware of the Blog. October 25, 2006. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
- ^ "The Fine Art of Goofing Off and Other Wide Weirdness from Henry Jacobs". dublab. December 14, 2010. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
- ^ "HENRY JACOBS : The Wide Weird World Of Henry Jacobs - CD/DVD". IMPORTANT RECORDS - Forced Exposure. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
- ^ Brown, Kevin Macneil (June 25, 2010). "Dusted Reviews: Henry Jacobs - Around the World with Henry Jacobs". Dusted Magazine. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
External links
- The Wide Weird World of Henry Jacobs Official web site
- A Conversation with Harry Jacobs, KPFA, 1994
- Rose, Joel (2007). "One Man Goofing: A visit with legendary Zen humorist Henry Jacobs". Arthur Magazine. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
- Henry Jacobs at IMDb
- Henry Jacobs discography at Discogs
- Henry Jacob's 'Wide Weird World' npr.org interview
- Henry Jacobs on Last FM
- Henry Jacobs in Sunnyside (2017) Official web site