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.
Commentary
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.
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.
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.
Theater Commentary: George Takei’s “Allegiance” — Taking Yanks to Task
George Takei’s musical, Allegiance, projects American democracy as it might have become.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.