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Happy New Year
Best wishes for 2007. I’m happy to point you toward my debut piece for the Philadelphia Inquirer, a review of drummer Ari Hoenig and his trio.
Fascinatin’ rhythm…
…from Lasse Gjertsen, who cannot play drums (or piano). Enjoy. I don’t anticipate posting much before the New Year. Have a very happy holiday season, and thank you for reading in 2006. On to the next…
Gene Martin R.I.P.
Photographer extraordinaire Gene Martin has died, way before his time (age 55). Early reports suggest it may have been an aneurysm. [Update: Cause of death was a ruptured aorta.] I considered him a friend. He’d send me blurbs for the JJA newsletter — always long, bursting with information on his current exploits. The last time I saw him was on
On “insubordination”
Michael Crowley of The New Republic frets over a remark by Pres. Bush during today’s press conference, in response to a question on whether ordering a troop “surge” in Baghdad may go against the wishes of top military brass. Bush called this “a dangerous hypothetical.” Crowley wonders: “When was the last time even the whiff of military insubordination was in
Jottings on antisemitism
— David T of Harry’s reports that Gilad Atzmon — the UK-based saxophonist and anti-Jewish hatemonger that I’ve dealt with many times before [pdf] — has published a piece emphatically denying that he’s a racist. He’s harmed his case, however, by publishing it on a far-right website called The Truth Seeker, where, among other things, you’ll find the prolific crackpot
“Comrade Mengistu”
Since we’re on the topic of bloody dictators, an Ethiopian court has found the Stalinist mass murderer Mengistu Haile Mariam guilty (in absentia) of genocide. Where is Mengistu? In Zimbabwe, being sheltered by Robert Mugabe. A member of Mugabe’s government ruled out extraditing Mengistu to face justice. Paul Mangwana, Zimbabwe’s acting information minister, told AFP: “Comrade Mengistu asked for asylum
Pinochet PS
Thanks to Darcy in the comments for linking to this odious Wash. Post editorial: Like it or not, Mr. Pinochet had something to do with [Chile’s] success. To the dismay of every economic minister in Latin America, he introduced the free-market policies that produced the Chilean economic miracle — and that not even Allende’s socialist successors have dared reverse. He
Iraq’s “ancient hatreds”
As Mideast scholar Fred Halliday teaches, the term “ancient hatreds” should always be viewed with suspicion. Making the case for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, Oregon GOP Senator Gordon Smith told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: You know, this is a fight, when you get right down to the root of it, between Sunnis and Shias — it goes back a millennia