David Adler
Slow posting
Suicides at Guantanamo, heinous coordinated bombings in Kirkuk (extremely close to Kurdistan), continued meltdown in Israel/Palestine — and I happen to be mired in other work. Two major jazz festivals are going on simultaneously in New York; some of my coverage will appear here. And I’ve got a jazz education piece pending for Jazz Times. But watch this space —
Suffer the children
An Israeli missile goes awry in Gaza: The Ghaliya family, husband Ali, wife Raisa, and three children, ages 1, 3 and 10, were having a picnic on the northern Gazan beach on a hot afternoon when they were all killed in the shelling. Israel has killed 14 Palestinians in Gaza in the last 24 hours. Assassins’ bullets fly in Ingushetia:
“Brother-fighter”
“With hearts full of faith, Hamas commends brother-fighter Abu Musab … who was martyred at the hands of the savage crusade campaign which targets the Arab homeland, starting in Iraq.” — official Hamas statement on the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi **Update: Commenter Pat points out, correctly, that the above statement has been denied by the Hamas leadership. My bad.
Baroness Tonge’s world
There’s been some derision (justified, in my view) aimed at Baroness Jenny Tonge of the House of Lords for her June 8 letter to The Independent — in which she argues that Israel’s separation wall is forcing Palestinian militants to “export themselves” to wage jihad in Iraq. The letter also makes reference to “the USA and its military base in
Hilton Ruiz succumbs
The pianist, grievously injured in New Orleans, has died. The cause of his injuries is still under investigation. Ruiz will be viewed on Monday, June 12 at the Barrett Funeral Home at 424 West 51st Street & Ninth Avenue. 212.265.0335 Update: Viewing is Sunday June 11th and Monday June 12th, 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm – 9:00
“Rough Crossings”
My review of “Rough Crossings,” with pianist Jason Moran, soprano Alicia Hall Moran and historian Simon Schama, is now online at the Jazz Times site.
Evil: when no other word will do
It pains me to post this right after an item about CDs. But this is reportage from Iraq that I want to preserve before it goes behind the NYT archival wall. Regarding the calculated slaughter of commuters traveling from Baghdad to Baquba on June 4: The roadside executions took place on a road north of Baghdad, near a village called
CDs on parade
I receive anywhere from 10-20 CDs per week in the mail. I can’t listen to them all, so they tend to collect in neat stacks around my apartment. I’d like to think I’m becoming more efficient, but keeping up with all this music is a constant struggle (one that I’m happy and honored to undertake, of course). Anyway, I finally