Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, television, film, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.
Allen Michie
November Short Fuses — Materia Critica
Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, television, film, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.
Jazz Album Reviews: Two From Guitarist Albare — One Sedately Traditional, the Other More Satisfyingly Adventurous
Albare Plays Jobim: A Tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim is a traditional Brazilian offering, content to offer soothing Bossa Nova rhythms; Freedom is more unconventional, merging Brazilian beats with jazzier improvisations.
Film Commentary: “Everything Everywhere All at Once” — The Most Serene Movie in Years
This movie reminds us that — if there is any meaning to life at all — it’s what you bring to it, not what it brings to you.
Jazz Album Review: Guitarist John Scofield — A Solo Album, Finally
Now that he’s 70, it’s only right that guitarist John Scofield takes a victory lap with his first solo album.
Film Review: “Vinyl Nation” — A Visit to Vinyl Heaven
“Every record can have its own unique sound, depending on who has owned it, who’s touched it, where it’s been. That’s really important to me.” This movie makes you realize that these things should be important to you, too.
April Short Fuses – Materia Critica
Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.
March Short Fuses – Materia Critica
Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.
Jazz Album Review: Corina Bartra’s “Amber Light” — Unlistenable? Or Genius?
Others may hear a painfully flawed Latin jazz album, but what I heard was a brilliant postmodern ironic jam session in the mode of Ornette Coleman. I’m probably wrong, but I don’t care, because this album is a blast.
Book Review: “About Time” — Clocks That Made History
David Rooney’s thesis in About Time is provocatively ironic: clocks, through their ever-increasing precision and regularity, are the instruments of constant change.