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On Edmar Castaneda
My feature on Edmar Castaneda, virtuoso of the jazz Colombian harp, in the current Philadephia Weekly. Edmar plays the Museum of Art on Friday.
On Fred Hersch
My review of Fred Hersch’s Saturday show at the Painted Bride, in today’s Inquirer. P.S. – Dig the linked ads for Amex wedding rewards on the word “Bride,” and for Intel Centrino processors on the word “music.” Welcome to sponsored arts criticism, 2007. I don’t know who’s responsible, this odd middleman entity philly.com or the Inquirer itself. At least they
“But that’s okay”
Amira Hass has an interview in Haaretz with writer/activist Arundhati Roy, whose hard-left politics I’ve critiqued a number of times on this blog. What can I say … For someone so famously tough-minded, given to speaking out on the need for critical, hard-hitting journalism, Hass sure can throw softballs when she wants to. Reporting on Roy’s recent appearance in Italy,
Lady Suu’s moves
That Aung San Suu Kyi has expressed a desire to “cooperate” with the Burmese generals should not be viewed as surprising. Amitav Ghosh’s 1996 New Yorker piece “At Large in Burma” (collected in a book I reviewed here) remains one of the best, and rarest, in-depth glimpses of Suu Kyi’s mind at work. Ghosh interviewed her shortly after Burma had
The week on disc (7)
In case you missed the last one… Bennie Maupin, The Jewel in the Lotus (ECM): You could get a contact high from this thing. Pure Mwandishi-era magic, easily one of the top reissues of 2007. Sam Newsome, Monk Abstractions (self-released): Solo soprano sax musings, in the tradition of the late Steve Lacy. Sam has an illuminating essay about the project
Those crazy Leonharts
Went to hear my dear friend Jamie Leonhart at Joe’s Pub last month; happy to learn that there’s video of “Satisfy Your Soul,” my second-favorite tune from her forthcoming Sunnyside debut, The Truth About Suffering. And here’s something really cracked from the mind of husband Michael Leonhart, the man at the piano who wrote Jamie’s marvelous arrangements.
The writers’ strike
Darcy has some apt comments…
Goings on
Forgive the light posting — wife and I took a little road trip to Columbus, Ohio to visit some friends and we’re prepping for a week in Paris later this month. I’m busy editing copy for the winter edition of Jazz Notes, writing a story on this initiative for NewMusicBox.org and juggling assorted other duties. World events haven’t let up,