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Jazz CD Review: Pianist Fred Hersch’s “Floating” – A Constant Delight

July 25, 2014
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Pianist Fred Hersch’s ballad playing is one of the special treats in contemporary jazz.

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Movie Review: “And So It Goes” — A Synthetic Slice of Boomer Banality

July 25, 2014
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This kind of faux-inspirational drivel has Hollywood privilege written all over it.

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Book Review: Know When to Fold ’em — Colson Whitehead Explores “The Noble Hustle”

July 24, 2014
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The Noble Hustle gives talented novelist Colson Whitehead an opportunity to spelunk in some of the gnarlier corners of the American dream, in this case the Tropicana in Atlantic City.

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Theater Review: “The Granite State” — Good, Not Great, Entertainment for a Summer’s Eve in New Hampshire

July 24, 2014
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Charles Morey’s new comedy focuses on the trials and tribulations of aging writers. Most of its humor revolves around the past, while its plot hinges on the present and future.

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Music Feature: At the Lowell Folk Festival — “Da Butt” is no joke for EU

July 24, 2014
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Sugar Bear and his legendary go-go band are coming to the Lowell Folk Festival.

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Book Review: “The Shelf”‘s Splendid Ambition — to Burst Open the Literary Canon

July 23, 2014
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Like me, Phyllis Rose frets about the zillion fine books out there that nobody bothers with. Why their neglect? She reasons that it’s because no one pedigreed has championed them.

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Music Interview: “I Can’t Admit Defeat” — Wussy Carries On

July 23, 2014
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“Music is kind of like a religion in a way, and your heroes become your patron saints.”

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Visual Arts Review: “Turner & the Sea” at the Peabody Essex Museum — A Grand Performance

July 23, 2014
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Some of J.M.W. Turner’s most personal, experimental, and enigmatic works have been selected for this show. They are also among the most fragile and least often shown.

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Theater Review: Richard Snee and Paula Plum Make for a Rewarding “Auld Lang Syne”

July 22, 2014
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Local playwright Jack Neary always captures the frisson of nostalgia and resentment familiar to Catholic school graduates of a certain era, teasing gently without ever offending.

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Film Review: Selections from the 19th Annual Boston French Film Festival — “Apaches” and “Age of Panic”

July 22, 2014
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Two significant feature debuts at the MFA’s French Film Festival — Age of Panic goes where few movies have gone before, while Apaches trains a calm, dispassionate gaze on disaffected youth.

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