DENVER: Popular opinion holds that there are two sides to Tom Waits’ career and character — namely, the early and late periods. True, a tidy line can be drawn between the American singer-songwriter’s first decade and everything that followed the auditory revolt of 1983’s “Swordfishtrombones,” his seventh studio album.
However, there were always numerous angles to this most monochrome chameleon. There was Waits the jazz-piano tinkler, misty-eyed balladeer and industrial/experimental noise-maker; then there was Waits the twisted bluesman, beatnik, stand-up, poet, huckster and raconteur. All of these aspects are framed in the poised panache of his best-loved role — the hat-topped hobo — and delivered in the grizzled, gruff garble of that zillion-cigarette croon.
This month heralds the finale in a series of reissues celebrating his first seven, seminal albums, which were recorded for David Geffen’s Asylum Records between 1973 and 1980. The centerpiece is the majestic “Small Change,” his fourth LP. By the time it was released, in 1976, Waits had been swallowed up by his own outlandish persona.
Cribbed from Australian folk song “Waltzing Matilda,” Waits’ signature singalong “Tom Traubert’s Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen)” came bathed in schmaltzy cinematic orchestration.
Less subtle was Waits’ freewheeling, improvised rap “Step Right Up,” a dizzying dash of outlandish advertising claims and marketing jargon spewed out over a thumping double bass riff. Assisted only by a bluesy saxophone wail, the five-minute “Small Change (Got Rained on with His Own .38)” forensically details a mob-land killing.
Like most of the record, it is a conceit that sounds silly on paper, and should be laughable on the ear, but there is something about Waits’ distant delivery that compels you to hang onto every word.
Small change, big impact: Tom Waits is a one of a kind
Small change, big impact: Tom Waits is a one of a kind
- The centerpiece is the majestic “Small Change,” his fourth LP.
Producer Zainab Azizi hopes ‘Send Help’ will be a conversation starter
DUBAI: Afghan American film producer Zainab Azizi cannot wait for audiences to experience Sam Raimi’s new horror comedy “Send Help.”
In an interview with Arab News, the president at Raimi Productions kept returning throughout her interview to one central theme: the communal thrill of horror.
“I started watching horror from the age of six years old. So, it’s kind of ingrained in my brain to love it so much,” she said, before describing the formative ritual that still shapes her work: “What I loved about that was the experience of it, us cousins watching it with the lights off, holding hands, and just having a great time. And you know, as an adult, we experience that in the theater as well.”
Asked why she loves producing, Azizi was candid about the mix of creativity and competition that drives her. “I’m very competitive. So, my favorite part is getting the film sold,” she said. “I love developing stories and characters, and script, and my creative side gets really excited about that part, but what I get most excited about is when I bring it out to the marketplace, and then it becomes a bidding war, and that, to me, is when I know I’ve hit a home run.”
Azizi traced the origins of “Send Help” to a 2019 meeting with its writers. “In 2019 I met with the writers, Mark and Damien. I was a fan of their works. I’ve read many of their scripts and watched their films, and we hit it off, and we knew we wanted to make a movie together,” she said.
From their collaboration emerged a pitch built around “the story of Linda Little,” which they developed into “a full feature length pitch,” and then brought to Raimi. “We brought it to Sam Raimi to produce, and he loved it so much that he attached to direct it.”
On working with Raimi, Azizi praised his influence and the dynamic they share. “He is such a creative genius. So, it’s been an incredible mentorship. I learned so much from him,” she said, adding that their collaboration felt balanced: “We balance each other really well, because I have a lot of experience in packaging films and finding filmmakers, so I have a lot of freedom in the types of projects that I get to make.”
When asked what she hopes audiences will take from “Send Help,” Azizi returned to the communal aftermath that first drew her to horror: “I love the experience, the theatrical experience. I think when people watch the film, they take away so many different things. ... what I love from my experience on this film is, especially during test screenings, is after the film ... people are still thinking about it. Everybody has different opinions and outlooks on it. And I love that conversation piece of the film.”
