Josh Kun
Josh Kun is a professor in the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at USC and editor of a new book on Los Angeles’ aural history. (Christina House / For the Times)
Josh Kun on Los Angeles: “Its songs and cover designs were the musical mirrors and musical engines of a city on the rise.†(Christina House / For the Times)
Josh Kun calls his team’s discovery “audio versions of orange crate art,†referring to the idealized tableaux of Southern California flora that decorated fruit boxes exported to the East. (Christina House / For the Times)
“You had Southern California Music Company on Broadway, the Bartlett Music Company on Broadway, the Platt Music Company,†Kun says. “All of these music companies who sold pianos, sold sheet music, were hubs for musicians to come and gather, all mixed in with the theater district.†(Robert Lachman / Los Angeles Times)
Advertisement
In late March, Kun sat down at a piano with composer and arranger Parks to see what they had. Recalls Kun: “He just put sheet music up on the piano and started playing. He’d say, ‘Ah, that’s no good,’ or, ‘Why would they choose a D instead of an E? That makes no sense -- that must be wrong!’†(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
