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.
Commentary
Arts Remembrance: Fred “Toots” Hibbert — Resiliency in the Face of Struggle
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
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
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?
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
“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”
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
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.
Music Commentary: The Catechism of Jazz Critical Cliches
A cautionary list of cliches, accumulated during a lifetime’s observation, for the next generation of jazz critics — and readers of same.
Book Review: A Troubling yet Timely Screed — America’s Debilitating “Meritocracy Trap”
Though its prose veers into academic rough patches, the volume does what it sets out to do, brilliantly portraying how the delusive demon of meritocracy has led America into its current socioeconomic quagmire.