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My monthly list of recommended CDs, as published in All About Jazz-New York, February 2009: Lotte Anker/Craig Taborn/Gerald Cleaver, Live at the Loft (ILK) Ravi Coltrane, Blending Times (Savoy) The Flatlands Collective, Maatjes (Clean Feed) Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition, Apti (Innova) Jen Shyu, Jade Tongue (ind.) Tar Baby (Imani)

Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey has lashed out at Israel’s Shimon Peres on a panel at Davos. During his tirade, Erdogan cited the supposedly authoritative views of Gilad Atzmon, a UK-based jazz saxophonist and political loudmouth, whose foul antisemitic writings I’ve noted on this blog many times. And to think that Turkey was jealously guarding its role as a possible

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My preview of Joel Harrion’s Merkin Hall show tonight (Thursday, Jan. 29), in the current Time Out New York.

After several months’ pause, Philadelphia Weekly has reopened its doors to music freelancers. I mark my return with a preview of Thurston Moore and Mats Gustafsson at International House, Saturday, Jan. 31.

We already knew that there’s a place of honor in the contemporary Catholic Church for serial child molesters. Now, by reinstating Richard Williamson as a bishop, Pope Benedict XVI has made clear that Holocaust denial is also welcome. According to the NY Times, Williamson just last week “said he did not believe that six million Jews died in the Nazi

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President Obama’s Executive Order on detention and interrogation “prohibits reliance on any Department of Justice or other legal advice concerning interrogation that was issued between September 11, 2001 and January 20, 2009.” Yes, this is really happening.

My review of Jen Shyu’s Jade Tongue, in the current Time Out New York.

From Star Trek, “Errand of Mercy,” 1967: Capt. Kirk [immediately following a Klingon surprise attack]: “Well, there it is. War. We didn’t want it, but we’ve got it.” Mr. Spock: “Curious how often you humans manage to obtain that which you do not want.”