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Talking points
Important words here from Marc Cooper on the rhetorical battle in Congress over the Iraq war. Seems the Democrats are set to squander an un-squanderable political advantage, by legitimating the GOP’s “defunding the troops” claptrap and allowing the Bushies to own the terms of debate. Marc’s argument: The Dems should frame this in terms of refusing to provide “future funding
And another…
I promise not to turn this blog into a litany of gloom and doom, but I’d be remiss not to acknowledge the passing of Queva Lutz, owner and proprietor of the 55 Bar. Queva not only ran one of the best jazz establishments in New York, but raised it to a new level of excellence during her tenure. She was
Leroy Jenkins R.I.P.
The violinist Leroy Jenkins, a leading figure of the ’60s avant-garde, has passed away at age 74. I had the pleasure of seeing him perform solo at Dewey Redman’s memorial a few weeks ago, when I was just beginning research on an Anthony Braxton feature for the May ’07 Jazz Times. Jenkins, a Braxton colleague from way back, walked right
Remembering Brecker
Last night’s Town Hall tribute to the great Michael Brecker was as moving as expected, but the musical portions were simply out of this world. Widow Susan Brecker requested that there be no saxophones. So trumpeter/brother Randy Brecker played quartet with Joey Calderazzo, James Genus and Tain Watts; Dave Liebman played a mournful solo on wood flute; Pat Metheny played
Atrocity of the day II
A follow-up to my Feb. 12 post. This is from Marc Santora’s latest NY Times roundup on the carnage in Iraq. I honestly thought I was having a bad day until I read it: A family of 13 was killed on the road leading to Falluja, about 12 miles northwest of Baghdad, because its members were from a tribe known
Turkey update
It’s been nearly a year since I traveled to Istanbul, Turkish Kurdistan and Iraqi Kurdistan. I try to keep up with Turkish politics as much as I can. The biggest recent story, of course, is the disgraceful murder of the Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, shot in broad daylight by a teenage ultranationalist thug. Dink was under constant threat of death,
Obama a jazz hound?
Timothy Noah has the goods on “Barry” Obama as a jazz-loving teen…
Atrocity of the day
I have not been able to comment on the mind-numbing slaughter taking place regularly in Iraq, but I thought this bit was worth preserving: In Diyala Province, where American and Iraqi troops have been fighting Sunni insurgents for control, gunmen publicly beheaded seven people, the police said. One group of suspected insurgents shot six people in the head in a