Commentary

Arts Commentary: Meditations on Separation

September 20, 2020
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This is what I feel can add: the perspective of a native-born son of the Rochester metro; and a view from the bridge through jazz-colored glasses.

Arts Remembrance: Soul Iconoclast Roy C

September 17, 2020
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Roy C may not have lived to see the current regime toppled or his litigation over past royalties resolved to his satisfaction, but he died knowing that he was — without a doubt — a Black American original.

Visual Arts Commentary: Digital Media — Public Art Is a Bridge to Our New Normal

September 17, 2020
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In a time when everyday seems like Wednesday, creative use of new media is a visual and experiential bridge to our new and hopefully innovative normal.

Arts Remembrance: Fred “Toots” Hibbert — Resiliency in the Face of Struggle

September 14, 2020
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As anyone who is familiar with “Toots” Hibbert’s near sixty-year career could testify, he was an artist who wrote songs that were guaranteed to transcend the contexts of their particular place and moment.

Police Violence Commentary: Another NYPD Murder — Two Decades Ago

September 11, 2020
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To be killed — as in murdered — by police you don’t necessarily have to be a person of color.

Jazz Commentary: Charlie Parker — The Eternal Radical at 100

August 30, 2020
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I’m still not sure I heard what’s revolutionary about Charlie Parker’s recordings — they’re very old news by now. But I warm to the expressions of unique genius, a beauty that in itself is radical.

Arts Commentary: Family-Friendly Pandemic Entertainment?

August 29, 2020
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Will attendees of Jurassic Quest “have a dino-mite time!”? Who knows? But the event will look mighty attractive to parents who havee been stuck in the house with kids who are driving them to distraction.

Book Feature: Children of the Revolution — An Interview with Lawrence Roberts about Mayday 1971

August 26, 2020
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“One lesson is that when a country feels like it’s really gone off on the wrong track, a social movement that finds a way to express that dissent in the streets can really make a difference.”

Theater Commentary: Notes Toward a Definition of Theater, Part One — “Be Bold and Wild”

August 25, 2020
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As we grapple with building the brave new world of live theater in a Covid and post-Covid world, a few stray thoughts.

Music Commentary: The Summer of Doja Cat — Never the Same Thing Twice

August 25, 2020
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Doja Cat offers a glaring example of why the music industry’s new (albeit Big Brother-inspired) way of doing digital business is here to stay.

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