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The trouble with Turkey
I haven’t had time to get my head fully around the Turkey controversy. I suppose a case could be made that congressional resolutions on such things as the Armenian genocide are pretty darn pointless anyway, so why stir the pot. But the notion that the world needs to keep tiptoeing around Turkey’s irrationalism on this issue is just as ludicrous.
Burma: crisis not over
The nightmare in Burma has passed from the headlines but it is not over. Now that they’ve had time to study footage of the recent pro-democracy protests, the government thugs are worsening their terror, rounding up those who took part. They take anyone they can identify from their videos. People who clapped, who offered water to the monks, who knelt
Torture postscript
I’d meant to comment on White House spokesperson Dana Perino telling the press corps something to the effect that ‘thank goodness we live in a country where these interrogation procedures are being debated openly,’ blah blah. This from an administration that has done everything in its power to keep that debate from happening openly.
Torture TV
There is a CBS crime show called “Without a Trace,” which focuses exclusively on the crime of kidnapping. A recent episode trailer showed someone, apparently a suspected kidnapper or accomplice, bound to a chair. A very nasty-looking knife is held up to the camera. “How far would you go to get the story?” the voiceover demands. Torture as a dramatic
Ratliff on Coltrane
My review of Ben Ratliff’s new book, Coltrane: The Story of a Sound, in today’s Inquirer.
The week on disc (4)
In case you missed the last one…Sean Wayland, Expensive Habit (Seed): The pianist/keyboardist makes beautiful music out of the nearly unplayable. Guitarist James Muller is someone I hadn’t heard before, and I hope to hear much more. Charles Evans, Ballads (self-released): Beautiful originals and classics too from the baritone saxist, with weird harmonic twists and two lovely appearances by another
Deceit and denial
It’s been interesting to watch both the Bush administration and the Burmese regime twist and flail after the revelation of grievous misdeeds. Burmese diplomats, borrowing a page from Robert Mugabe, are making noise about “neocolonialism” and insisting that everyone in the world but them is guilty of “confrontation.” But again, we have footage of their goons murdering a Japanese journalist
Six Picks: October 2007
My monthly list of recommended CDs, as published in All About Jazz-New York, October 2007: The Claudia Quintet, For (Cuneiform) Erik Deutsch, Fingerprint (Sterling Circle) Amir ElSaffar, Two Rivers (Pi)Bill McHenry, Roses (Sunnyside)Sacks/Opsvik/Maneri/Motian, Two Miles a Day (Loyal Label/Yeah Yeah) Maria Schneider, Sky Blue (ArtistShare)