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The week on disc (31)
In case you missed the last one… Mario Pavone Double Tenor Quintet, Ancestors (Playscape) Lionel Loueke, Gilfema + 2 (ObliqSound) Norbert Stein, Direct Speech (Pata Music) Peter Delano, For Dewey (Sunnyside) Javon Jackson, Once Upon a Melody (Palmetto) Harry Whitaker, One Who Sees All Things (Smalls)
Reacting
~ It’s important to have a hard-nosed look at the emerging Obama administration. What no one should accept is Ralph Nader, a 74-year-old white man, suggesting that Obama might turn out to be “Uncle Tom for the giant corporations.” [Update: I should have noted that Nader’s ancestry is Lebanese.] It’s not the first time Nader has lobbed racial rhetoric at
Sprucing up
New president, new blog layout. Like all blogs, a work in progress. Thanks for reading Lerterland during the Bush years and, now, the Obama years.
Hail To The Chief
We have prevailed in our task. God Bless America Land that I love Stand beside her And guide her Through the night With a light from above From the mountains To the prairies To the oceans White with foam God Bless America My home sweet home God Bless America My home sweet home — Israel Isidore Beilin (Irving Berlin), 1917
Six Picks: November 2008
My monthly list of recommended CDs, as published in All About Jazz-New York, November 2008: Adam Birnbaum, Travels (Smalls) Bill Cantrall, Axiom (Upswing) Todd Coolman, Perfect Strangers (ArtistShare) Rob Mosher’s Storytime, The Tortoise (ind.) Paul Motian Trio 2000 + Two, Live at the Village Vanguard Vol. II (Winter & Winter) Bebo Valdés & Javier Colina, Live at the Village Vanguard
The state of our union
While canvassing for Obama Saturday in Northeast Philadelphia — the 55th Ward I believe — my partner and I stopped for a bathroom break at a tavern on Verree Road near Griffith Street. The place was choked with cigarette fumes, despite Philadelphia’s smoking ban. Middle-aged white men in ball caps were drinking and puffing away at 11:30 am. You knew
Creative Music Studio in perspective
My review of last Friday’s Creative Music Studio celebration at Symphony Space, now online at Jazz Times.
Defending Khalidi
John McCain has compared Rashid Khalidi, the Palestinian scholar, Columbia University professor and Obama acquaintance, to a neo-Nazi. A new low, even in this, one of the lowest campaigns in presidential history. In the aftermath of 9/11 Khalidi appeared as one of a number of guests on Newshour to discuss the origins of al-Qaeda. McCain should denounce Jim Lehrer for