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Commentary

Music Perspective: The Context of Wadada Leo Smith’s 12 String Quartets

Wadada Leo Smith is among the most prolific composers of string quartets in the modern era, the only Black composer to have written so many, and one of the most adventurous writers of quartets in terms of his notation system and the distinctiveness of his musical language.

By: Steve Elman Filed Under: Classical Music, Commentary, Featured, Music Tagged: Ankhrasmation, RedKoral, RedKoral Quartet, Steve Elman, String Quartets, String Quartets Nos.1-12, TUM, Tum Records, Wadada Leo Smith

Book Review: Two Powerful Books from Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa — A Liberal Citizen of the World

Engagingly written by a limpid stylist, The Call of the Tribe marshals a corps of sparkling intellectuals who have in common first-hand experience of dictatorship, a commitment to individual freedom, a belief in reasonably regulated free-market economies, and a rejection of the political zealotry of religion or the doctrinaire left and right.

By: David Meghan Filed Under: Books, Commentary, Featured, Review Tagged: Conversation in Princeton, David Mehegan, Mario Vargas Llosa, The Call of the Tribe

Arts Remembrance: David Crosby — One More Link to Rock ’n’ Roll’s Golden Era Lost

When I glorify or romanticize an artist like David Crosby it is because the performer has a gift for alchemizing songs into something huge, powerful, spiritual, and communal.

By: Scott McLennan Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Rock Tagged: David Crosby, Scott McLennan

Arts Commentary: We Will Have to Eat Our Spinach — And Like It

Given that the Climate Emergency will grow more challenging over time, we (including literary novelists) shouldn’t be so cavalier about not eating our spinach.

By: Bill Marx Filed Under: Books, Commentary, Featured Tagged: climate change literature, climate crisis and art, Joan Frank

Theater Commentary: George Takei’s “Allegiance” — Taking Yanks to Task

George Takei’s musical, Allegiance, projects American democracy as it might have become.

By: Thomas Underwood Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Theater Tagged: Allegiance, George Takei, Lea Salonga, musical, Telly Leung, Thomas Underwood

The 17th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Poll — My Poll Without Me

This most recent poll also proves the worth of the poll itself — that it doesn’t so much confirm consensus as create it.

By: Francis Davis Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Jazz, Music Tagged: Francis Davis, Jazz Poll, Jazz Poll 2022, Mary Halvorson, Tyshawn Sorey

Looking Back at the Francis Davis Jazz Poll: Winners 2006-2022 and Memoirs of a Pollwatcher

There exists a worldwide community of journalists and critics who depend on each other to keep tabs on the ever-expanding universe of jazz and it’s more-or-less-affiliated fringes and fusions, and this poll is one of our most effective — and most anticipated — resources.

By: Tom Hull Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Jazz, Music Tagged: Jazz Poll, The 17th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Poll, Tom Hull

Film Commentary: The Gratuitous Comic Cruelty of “The Banshees of Inishiren”

The island scenery is stunning and the acting is fine, but at is core Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inishiren is bitter and mean-spirited

By: Ed Meek Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Film Tagged: Brendan Gleeson, Colin Farrell, Ed Meek, Martin McDonough, The Banshees of Inishiren

Jazz Commentary: Billy Cobham, Then and Now — An Awesome Jazz Drummer

Billy Cobham plays right on top of the beat, and his grooves are impeccable. Maybe he’s not the first drummer you’d call for a loose New Orleans shuffle, but if you could hire the Terminator to be your percussionist, Cobham is your man.

By: Allen Michie Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Jazz, Music, Review Tagged: Allen Michie, Billy Cobham, Drum ‘n’ Voice Vol. 5, Spectrum

Book Review: A Beautiful Brick in the Wall — Asian Americans and Whites in Pursuit of the American Dream in Suburban Schools

This is an indispensable study for anyone — including scholars, policy makers, and educators — who yearns to better understand how race and culture play out in a rarefied suburban milieu.

By: Justin Grosslight Filed Under: Books, Commentary, Review Tagged: Asian Americans and Whites in Pursuit of the American Dream in Suburban Schools, Justin Grosslight, Natasha Warikoo, Race at the Top

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