dev
The week on disc (14)
In case you missed the last one… Bobby Few, Lights and Shadows (Boxholder) Nick Vayenas, Synesthesia (World Culture) NYNDK, Nordic Disruption (Jazzheads) Greg Burk, Berlin Bright (Soul Note) Toumani Diabate, The Mandé Variations (World Circuit/Nonesuch) Danilo Perez, Panama Suite (ArtistShare, EP)
RIP Dennis Irwin
The wonderful bassist Dennis Irwin has been felled by his illness. Appreciations by Darcy and Ethan. I treasure my CDs of the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra (now the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra) playing Thad Jones, with trusty Dennis in the rhythm section. I met him once at O’Hare, coming back from a gig at Urbana-Champaign, where I ran into the members
“Hussein”
Things are falling to pieces in Albany, the capital of my home state, as we witness one of the most spectacular political downfalls in recent history. But I’m posting a quick comment on a different scandal — far less important, but worth noting. I’m speaking of Congressman Steve King’s convoluted remarks on the middle name of Barack Obama. King plays
“The Wire” in Philly
My report on the screening of HBO’s “The Wire” series finale at City Hall in Philadelphia, currently online at Philadelphia Weekly. Pics by yours truly!
On John Zorn
My review of John Zorn’s Philly extravaganza, in today’s Inquirer.
Six Picks: March 2008
My monthly list of recommended CDs, as published in All About Jazz-New York, March 2008: Jane Ira Bloom, Mental Weather (Outline) Gerald Cleaver, Gerald Cleaver’s Detroit (Fresh Sound New Talent) Drew Gress, The Irrational Numbers (Premonition) Russ Nolan, With You in Mind (ind.) Spring Heel Jack, Songs and Themes (Thirsty Ear) Tony Wilson/Peggy Lee/Jon Bentley, Escondido Dreams (Drip Audio)
Cohen on Beijing 2008
Nick Cohen gets the Olympics right: The only justification for the Beijing games is that they will allow connoisseurs of the grotesque to inspect this ghoulish hybrid of the worst of capitalism and the worst of socialism close up. The march of China’s bloodstained allies round the stadium will merely be the beginning. The International Olympic Committee and all the
Clinton on Medvedev
Yes, it was embarrassing.