The Phillips Music Company/ Boyle Heights ...Brooklyn Music

From the 1930s to the 1980s, The Phillips Music Company--run by the late Bill Phillips-- was more than a music store or a record shop; it was a space for democracy where diverse urban communities gathered to explore cultural traditions and invent contemporary musical languages. As a home to Mexican-Americans, Jewish-Americans, and Asian-Americans, Boyle Heights--which was named after its early Irish immigrant land owner-- has historically been one of the great models of the mash-up that is Los Angeles identity, a neighborhood of new immigrants long celebrated for its heterogeneity that for many decades thrived precisely because of its populations were negotiating their often strained relationships to the democratic promises of the city of LA and the state of California.




http://phillipsmusiccompany.tumblr.com











A look back at the Boyle Heights melting pot
For Bruce Phillips, it wasn't white flight that tore apart the neighborhood. It was economics.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/09/local/la-me-tobar-20111209


Grand Performances brought together artists, musicians and Boyle Heights' locals recently to celebrate the colorful history of the Phillips Music Store.
The Boyle Heights store, founded in the 1930s, was a special meeting place. Here, Jewish, Japanese and Mexican cultures came together as people exchanged ideas and inspiration. It was a place where musicians and non-musicians alike gathered, exploring cultural traditions and inventing musical languages. The Phillips Store played a unique and important role in the history of Boyle Heights. This legacy is reflected in music played today by local bands such as Ollin, East L.A. Taiko, and La Santa Cecilia.
Boyle Heights Beat Reporters Cinthia Gonzalez and Alejandro Rojas, along with Staff Photographers Rosa Solache and Jonathan Olivares, reported on events at the concert, which paid homage to a special time and place.