Always in Trouble: An Oral History of ESP-Disk', the Most Outrageous Record Label in America (Music/Interview)
“Weiss wonderfully describes the role of ESP in the birth of the free jazz movement and points to the necessity of record label owners (such as Stollman) who translate their passion for music into new musical forms. An absorbing account that will interest any music fan.”—Dave Szatmary, Library Journal“Bernard Stollman captured the 60s zeitgeist before it’d even hit. His now-legendary label, ESP-Disk’, provided the means for a wealth of free jazz firewalkers (Albert Ayler, Sun Ra, Frank Wright, Giuseppi Logan) and polemical folk provocateurs (The Fugs and The Holy Modal Rounders) to get their far-out sounds to a wider audience. But this tale has a less savoury side, borne out in this book’s series of interviews with Stollman…and some of those artists with a connection to the imprint.”—Spencer Grady, Record Collector“It’s an important book, not just in documenting a unique cultural moment and a unique achievement, but in exploring the contradictions inherent in any creative enterprise, and whether these forces can ever be reconciled.”—Steve Danziger, Open Letters Monthly“The mother lode for devotees of the jazz avant-garde and outré music in general, Jason Weiss’ Always in Trouble is a collection of incisive Q&As; with the principals and players behind the game-changing company founded by Bernard Stollman in 1964. …(the) best material comes from Stollman himself… Like the music he purveyed, Stollman’s stories are full of strangeness as well as lyricism.”—Evan Haga, JazzTimes