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☆ Michael Cuscuna, Who Unearthed Hidden Jazz Gems, Dies at 75
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Giovanni Russonello | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Michael Cuscuna, who brought an artist’s level of devotion and a scientist’s attention to detail to the work of exhuming and producing archival jazz recordings — work that vastly expanded access to the buried treasures of American music’s past — died on Saturday at his home in Stamford, Conn. The singer and songwriter Billy Vera, a friend of more than 60 years, said the cause was complications of esophageal cancer. Mr. Cuscuna may have been the most prolific archival record producer in history. The Mosaic label, which he founded with the music-business veteran Charlie Lourie 41 years ago, has become the gold standard of archival jazz releases. Its first issue was an exhaustive boxed set of old material that Mr. Cuscuna had found in the vaults of the famed Blue Note label.

Persons: Michael Cuscuna, —, Billy Vera, Cuscuna, Charlie Lourie Locations: Stamford, Conn

☆ Ample Hills Founders Are Out of the Business Again
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Julia Moskin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Despite what the Hallmark Channel tells us at this time of year, fairy-tale endings don’t always stick. Brian Smith and Jackie Cuscuna, the Brooklyn couple who founded Ample Hills Creamery, have been fired by the same investors who came to the rescue of the popular ice cream brand in June. Mr. Smith said in an interview that he and Ms. Cuscuna had lost everything. But Mr. Brodsky said the terms of the couple’s departure have yet to be negotiated. “That talent does not extend to running a business.”

Persons: Brian Smith, Jackie Cuscuna, Norm Brodsky, Brodsky, Smith, Cuscuna, “, ” Organizations: Hallmark, Brooklyn, Inc

The husband-and-wife duo started with an ice cream push cart before opening their first Ample Hills shop in Brooklyn, New York, in 2011. At its height, Ample Hills was valued at $40 million, with 13 scoop shops and an online store that shipped ice cream nationwide. But a year later, they opened a new Brooklyn ice cream shop called The Social. Here's how Smith and Cuscuna built a $40 million ice cream company, slowly lost it all and quickly started rebuilding again. 'The real impetus was just that joy'Opening an ice cream shop was risky.

Persons: Brian Smith, Jackie Cuscuna, Smith, Cuscuna, Zachary Green, Brian, Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Bob Iger, —, They've, Lisa Teach Organizations: Schmitt Industries, CNBC, Syfy, Disney, Walt Disney Locations: Brooklyn , New York, Brooklyn, Orlando , Florida, New York, California, Florida

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWe lost a $40M ice cream business—how we're rebuildingBrian Smith and Jackie Cuscuna's ice cream company, Ample Hills Creamery, was a runaway success. A few years after they launched in Brooklyn, New York, they were endorsed by Oprah Winfrey and opened a shop at Walt Disney World. Then, in 2020, the company declared bankruptcy. Six months later, Smith and Cuscuna filed for personal bankruptcy. Now they're trying again — with new investors and a bevy of lessons learned from failure.

Persons: Brian Smith, Jackie Cuscuna's, Oprah Winfrey, Smith, Cuscuna, they're Organizations: Walt Disney Locations: Brooklyn , New York

☆ After an Epic Meltdown, Ample Hills Creamery Aims to Rise Again
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Julia Moskin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It was a sad day in Brooklyn when Ample Hills Creamery closed its doors. Just before last Christmas, the beloved ice cream parlor in Prospect Heights — and all 12 of its remaining scoop shops across the country — shut down after a decade-long roller-coaster ride of brand-building, bankruptcies and heartbreak. “We made every mistake it is possible to make,” said Brian Smith, who founded Ample Hills with his wife, Jackie Cuscuna, in 2011. To their own great surprise, they will reopen that original store on Wednesday, followed over the summer by three others in New York City. Schmitt put the company in receivership and sold off its assets, including a factory in Red Hook that cost nearly $7 million to build.

Persons: “, ”, Brian Smith, Jackie Cuscuna, Schmitt Organizations: Vanderbilt, Industries Locations: Brooklyn, Prospect Heights —, New York City, Oregon, Red Hook

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