One afternoon this past spring, David Crosby found himself facing two unlikely scenarios: He was in New York’s grimy East Village, on the other side of the country from his California home, and the notoriously assertive musician was being given orders. “Turn off your cell phone, Croz,” says Michael League, the bearded, Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist and leader of the multi-genre band Snarky Puppy, sitting in the control room of a funky studio above a bodega. Singer, guitarist and songwriter Becca Stevens then dashes into the booth where Crosby is about to lay down vocal parts and makes him hand over his chiming phone. Finally, Crosby starts adding his voice to the track, but his delivery is a bit grainy and he needs time to warm up. League periodically cuts him off, telling him not to fall off his syllables so hard. “I’ll learn it,” Crosby says over the mic from inside the booth. “It takes me a while, guys. This will happen to you when … [Read more...] about How David Crosby Found a New Harmony
How young can you die from old age
The Fugees: Leaders of the New Cool
“Oh, my goodness, Roy Rogers is gone!” So exclaims Lauryn Hill as she swerves around a familiar corner near her suburban New Jersey neighborhood. It’s a sultry night in July, and the Fugees’ singer is driving me back from Sony Music Studios, in midtown Manhattan, in her mom’s wheels, a brand-new sport utility vehicle with all the add-ons. The recent disappearance of a local landmark like the boarded-up fast-food emporium is yet one more reminder that life for Hill has been moving ahead at warp speed. “We used to be No. 10, now we permanent 1,” boasts Hill’s band mate Wyclef Jean in a singsong, Bob Marley-style lilt at the start of “Fu-Gee-La,” the Fugees’ theme song, cri de coeur and call to arms all wrapped in one. With its tough-talking raps, slack island beat and serpentine melodic refrain (“Ooh-la-la-la…”), “Fu-Gee-La” is as perfect an unofficial anthem for hip-hop’s future as … [Read more...] about The Fugees: Leaders of the New Cool
How Reese Witherspoon Took Charge of Her Career and Changed Hollywood
Tired of dreadful scripts and degrading magazine spreads, the Oscar-winning actress, producer, entrepreneur and activist built an empire on her own taste and work ethic. Now she plots projects all over Hollywood and responds to critics of her paychecks: "Does it bother people when Kobe Bryant or LeBron James make their contract?" "You ready for your eyes to roll back in your head?" The warning comes an hour or so into lunch at L.A.'s members-only San Vicente Bungalows, once Reese Witherspoon has fished her phone from the depths of her designer purse and slid it across the table. There, on her screen, is an illustration that ran four years ago in Time magazine, accompanying a trend piece headlined "Hollywood's New Domestic Divas." The Oscar-winning actress, who at the time had just launched her retail company, Draper James, is in the center, outfitted preposterously with a vacuum, an apron and an evening gown. She's flanked by Gwyneth Paltrow, holding a strawberry shortcake her … [Read more...] about How Reese Witherspoon Took Charge of Her Career and Changed Hollywood
How Emma Stone Got Her Hollywood Ending
Emma Stone’s favorite place for sushi in Los Angeles is a no-frills spot in a Sunset Boulevard strip mall, tucked alongside a laser hair-removal clinic and a FedEx store. It’s here, having barely taken a seat, that she starts telling me about her hiatal hernia. “I can’t have spicy foods,” Stone says. The issue, it turns out, is that part of her stomach protrudes “into my esophagus,” which sounds gnarly but is actually pretty manageable, increased chances of acid reflux notwithstanding. “I was born with it,” Stone notes cheerfully. She snaps apart her chopsticks. “I was like a little old man as a young lady.” I first met Stone approximately 11 minutes ago, but it feels like I’m hanging with an old buddy. She huddles over the table mock-conspiratorially; drops callbacks to small talk we only just made like she’s citing long-cherished in-jokes; tilts her head back and asks me to examine her nostrils because … [Read more...] about How Emma Stone Got Her Hollywood Ending
Joni Mitchell Defends Herself
Several days before beginning these interviews, I overheard two teenagers looking for a good party album in a record store. “How about this,” said one, holding up Joni Mitchell‘s Miles of Aisles. “Naaaaaah,” said the other. “It’s got good songs on it, but it’s kind of like jazz.” They bought a Cheap Trick album. When I told this story to Joni Mitchell later, I could see the disappointment flicker across her face for an instant. Then she laughed and took a long drag from her cigarette. “Here’s the thing,” she said forcefully. “You have two options. You can stay the same and protect the formula that gave you your initial success. They’re going to crucify you for staying the same. If you change, they’re going to crucify you for changing. But staying the same is boring. And change is interesting. So of the two options,” she concluded cheerfully, “I’d rather be crucified for … [Read more...] about Joni Mitchell Defends Herself