David Adler
Deceit and denial
It’s been interesting to watch both the Bush administration and the Burmese regime twist and flail after the revelation of grievous misdeeds. Burmese diplomats, borrowing a page from Robert Mugabe, are making noise about “neocolonialism” and insisting that everyone in the world but them is guilty of “confrontation.” But again, we have footage of their goons murdering a Japanese journalist
Six Picks: October 2007
My monthly list of recommended CDs, as published in All About Jazz-New York, October 2007: The Claudia Quintet, For (Cuneiform) Erik Deutsch, Fingerprint (Sterling Circle) Amir ElSaffar, Two Rivers (Pi)Bill McHenry, Roses (Sunnyside)Sacks/Opsvik/Maneri/Motian, Two Miles a Day (Loyal Label/Yeah Yeah) Maria Schneider, Sky Blue (ArtistShare)
On Andy Milne
My feature on pianist Andy Milne, in this week’s Philadelphia Weekly. Milne plays the Painted Bride this Saturday, Oct. 6.
Maher on Mahmoud
I like Bill Maher, I really do. But toward the end of this clip about Ahmadinejad’s visit to Columbia, he remarks on the Iranian president’s Holocaust denial and belligerence toward Israel. Terrible stuff, Maher says: But those are things he says to get elected. There are Jews in the Iranian parliament. He can’t be that anti-Semitic. Actually he said those
Jazzing Iraq
My guest column on the first-ever Summer Performing Arts Academy in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, appears in the October issue of Jazz Times. Downloadable pdf is here.
On John McLaughlin
My review of John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension at Philly’s Keswick Theatre, in today’s Inquirer.
Burma again
I am sorry about the image on the left, of a Buddhist monk, I believe showing signs of torture, floating dead in a river. But these are desperate circumstances. The Burmese junta is going to great lengths to prevent this information from getting to us. Kenji Nagai, the Japanese journalist killed last week, was not caught in any crossfire. He
Burma continued
As you’ve read, I am just back from a jazz journalism symposium that featured panelists representing some 16 countries. I’ll be offering reactions in the next issue of Jazz Notes and perhaps elsewhere. On a sunny day at Columbia University, while we talked about this business of airing ideas and sharing opinions, Burmese monks and civilian protesters were still being