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Book Appreciation: Novelist and Short Story Writer John Cheever At 100 — America’s Chekhov?

June 4, 2012
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May 27th marked what would have been the one-hundredth anniversary of writer John Cheever’s birth. (He was born in Quincy, MA.) June 18th marks the thirtieth anniversary of his death.

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Book Review: Memoir as Love Letter — “Into the Garden with Charles”

June 4, 2012
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Into the Garden with Charles reads like a great love letter: beautifully written, full of feeling, a document of an intimate connection that never lost its wonder for the author.

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Jazz Review: “Bending Bridges” – Mary Halvorson Changes the Musical Conversation

June 3, 2012
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If you have a taste for something different that also has some depth and heft, then guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson’s new album may be just what you’re looking for.

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Concert Review: Boston Choral Ensemble — A Must for Anglophiles and Choral Groupies

June 3, 2012
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An astonishing amount of thinking and creativity has shaped the Boston Choral Ensemble concert.

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Theater Review: Hershey Felder in “George Gershwin Alone”

June 1, 2012
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What “George Gershwin Alone” provides is a light, pleasant evening of familiar music, with playwright, pianist, and actor Hershey Felder performing excerpts from a dozen or so of Gershwin’s best-known works.

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Coming Attractions in Jazz: Early Summer Festivals 2012

May 31, 2012
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Heading north this weekend? Whether you’re traveling all the way to Burlington, VT, or just to the left bank of the Charles, summer 2012’s jazz festival season is off to a fine start. Then, the action mid-month shifts south to New Haven.

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Coming Attractions in Underground Music: June 2012

May 31, 2012
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June has a couple shows that venture into the far reaches of sound. Make sure to go to the Baczkowski, Nace, Corsano, Kelley show at Spectacle in Jamaica Plain, MA.

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Coming Attractions in Film: June 2012

May 31, 2012
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‘Tis is the season for film festivals in the Boston and Massachusetts area. From Provincetown and Nantucket to the Berkshires and Roxbury, it’s a cornucopia of international, documentary, and narrative film.

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Arts Commentary: What Makes a Critic Tick? Harvard Business School Hasn’t a Clue

May 30, 2012
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I have read the Harvard Business School study about critics and it is clueless on so many levels about the craft and mechanics of reviewing that it is astonishing that major newspapers and magazines have taken it seriously.

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Jazz Preview / Commentary: The Alla Elana Cohen – Ran Blake Project

May 29, 2012
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It’s a worthy effort –- and, as a listener, how many times will you have the chance for real adventure inside a concert hall?

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