When Important Records originally released Henry Jacobs'THE WIDE WEIRD WORLD OF HENRY JACOBS / THE FINE ART OF GOOFING OFF it was met with instant acclaim and a lengthy, nationally broadcast feature on NPR. We are happy to announce the reissue of this out-of-print CD/DVD set.
Over forty years ago, Henry Jacobs left a large collection of his recordings underneath his house in Mill Valley, CA only to have it discovered in the past decade. Restored, sequenced and mastered by producer Jack Dangers, The Wide Weird World of Henry Jacobs is a tribute that seamlessly blends Jacobs' early loop experiments, goof interviews, rare 45s from his MEA imprint, sound effects, musique concrête, and much more. This is as fine an introduction to the Jacobean as anyone is likely to get.

The companion DVD, The Fine Art of Goofing Off, contains three half-hour programs that artist Bob McClay and Henry Jacobs collaborated on in the early 1970s. Combining stop-action, collage, animation, and superdoodles, The Fine Art of Goofing Off harkens back to the early days of public television when experimentation was encouraged even celebrated. Contributors include artist Victor Moscoso, filmmaker Jordan Belson, theologian Alan Watts, and writer George Leonard. Bob McClay saved these films from the dustbin and the world is richer for it.

THE WIDE WEIRD WORLD OF HENRY JACOBS

Henry Jacobs is a sound artist and improviser par excellence. His influential recordings as well as collaborative projects resonate with an irreverent sense of humor and a love for musics of the world. From the early 1950s into the 1970s, Jacobs experimented with tape music, staged the early surround sound and visual spectacle Vortex (with artist Jordan Belson), and developed an array of absurd characters that would pop up as crank callers, relaxation coaches, or upside-down smiling instructors. A contemporary of Ken Nordine and Lenny Bruce, Jacobs honed an individual style that was droll and laid-back but winked at you at the same time. On his recordings for Folkways, World Pacific, and Fantasy, as well as on his private label MEA, the world of Jacobs is an audio collage that embraces many cultures and sensibilities. This CD/DVD collection pays homage to Jacobs? creative play, presenting recovered and restored audio as well as rare animated films that will give you a taste of this man?s special talents.