David Adler
Critical Improv Intensive
My piece about the “Improvisation, Community and Social Practice” initiative, a pioneering seven-year study funded by the Canadian government, is now online at NewMusicBox.org.
On Sonny Fortune
My review of Sonny Fortune’s Saturday gig at Chris’s Jazz Cafe, in today’s Inquirer.
Year in Review 2007
It’s a rough estimate but I’ve listened to some 700 CDs this year. I’ve attended nearly 200 live performances. Again I’ll point you toward my top-ten list at the JJA website (other members’ lists here), and my cumulative Six Picks for the year. But I’m taking this opportunity to add additional titles, list my top shows and throw in other
On Tigran Hamasyan
My review of pianist Tigran Hamasyan at the Sunside club, in Paris, is now up at JazzTimes.com.
The Kiriakou file
The ABC News interview with former CIA interrogator John Kirikaou (transcript here and here) seems to sidestep what was reported two days ago in the NY Times: that Abu Zubaydah was giving vital information to the FBI before being tortured by the CIA. Kiriakou’s view, that waterboarding is wrong but it works, also obscures the fact that it isn’t just
Blind Boys/Dirty Dozen
My review of the Blind Boys of Alabama and Dirty Dozen Brass Band, a Sunday night double bill at the Kimmel Center, in today’s Inquirer.
Greater Surbiton
Marko Attila Hoare, a Balkan specialist whose views I greatly respect, recently launched a blog called Greater Surbiton. From his bio: I have been variously accused of being a neoconservative, Trotskyite and Croat nationalist and a supporter of Islamism and Western imperialism. Depending on how you define these terms, some or all of this may be accurate. I’m honored to
The week on disc (9)
In case you missed the last one… Carla Bley, The Lost Chords Find Paolo Fresu (Watt/ECM) Asaf Sirkis & the Inner Noise, The Song Within (SAM)Loren Stillman, Blind Date (Pirouet) Dena DeRose, Live at Jazz Standard, Volume One (MaxJazz) Tardo Hammer, Look Stop & Listen: The Music of Tadd Dameron (Sharp Nine)Alan Pasqua, The Antisocial Club (Cryptogramophone)