Review

Book Review: #ClassicalMusicSoWhite? — How It Got That Way and What to Do About It

January 3, 2022
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Joseph Horowitz’s short, punchy, well-sourced, and compulsively readable book argues for bringing back the forgotten works of important Black composers.

Jazz Album Review: “2 Blues for Cecil” — Beautifully Out of the Box

January 1, 2022
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The trio shares Cecil Taylor’s love of rational freedom and adventure, but it doesn’t try to reproduce the pianist’s rip-roaring intensity.

Film Review: “Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time” — Satiric Fury, with a Dry Midwestern Chuckle

January 1, 2022
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The documentary supplies plenty of deserved admiration for its haggard but gentle subject, but it doesn’t tell us enough about the enduring value of Kurt Vonnegut’s writing.

Film Review: Tracking the Snow Leopard — “The Velvet Queen”

December 31, 2021
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The Velvet Queen, elegantly directed by Marie Amiguet and Vincent Munier, is a vivid chronicle of an arduous journey, old-fashioned but visually high-tech.

Album Review: Arca — Getting Her KICKS

December 31, 2021
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The Kick album cycle drives home the essence of Arca’s musical vision: constant, relentless transformation.

Theater Review: “The Christmas Revels 2021” — As Usual, Rising in Song

December 31, 2021
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Once again,under challenging circumstances, the Revels cast and crew has pulled off a rousing good show.

Children’s Book Review: “The Hanukkah Magic of Nate Gadol” — Superficial Scorcery

December 28, 2021
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Is it at all remotely important to know how gift-giving became a Hanukkah tradition in America?

Film Review: “Nightmare Alley” — The Greatest Con on Earth

December 26, 2021
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With Nightmare Alley, Guillermo del Toro once again proves to be an unparalleled cinematic visionary whose commitment to craftsmanship continues to amaze.

Arts Feature: Best Music Documentaries of 2021 — and Some Disappointments

December 26, 2021
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This list consists of recent music documentaries that I streamed over the past year — a couple of duds as well as the standouts.

Arts Feature: Music That Sustained Us Through (Another) Year of the Pandemic

December 26, 2021
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Canadian singer/songwriter Allison Russell’s Outside Child made two lists. And so did Little Simz’s Sometime I Might Be Introvert.

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