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On Tim Berne
In the new Philadelphia Weekly: Tim Berne’s Los Totopos Thu., June 24, 8pm. $12. Philadelphia Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th St. 215.545.4302 www.arsnovaworkshop.org For the last 30 years, alto saxophonist Tim Berne has developed a singularly challenging body of work for a host of different lineups (Bloodcount, Caos Totale, Big Satan, more). He recently struck up a creative rapport with
Oliver Stone’s Chávez
Oliver Stone has made a documentary called “South of the Border,” about the new left-wing populist wave in South America, and in particular about Hugo Chávez, a man Stone much admires. On “Real Time with Bill Maher” the other week, Stone praised Sean Penn’s earlier appearance on the same program. Penn, Stone said, had done “a great job” defending Hugo
Obama’s spill speech fallout
The right is blasting Obama’s Oval Office speech for pushing too hard on costly clean energy initiatives. Wait a minute, the left is blasting Obama’s speech for not pushing nearly hard enough on clean energy initiatives. What is going on here? To me it looks like a de facto left-right alliance to tear down this president halfway into his term.
Farewell, Bill Dixon
Trumpeter Bill Dixon has died at age 84. I’m extremely grateful to have seen him several times in New York in recent years. And to have written about his final* release, Tapestries for Small Orchestra. (*My colleague Hank Shteamer notes that Dixon’s final release is the double LP Weight/Counterweight. Apologies.) One performance I heard was with a quartet at the
In the new Philadelphia Weekly
Tom Spiker’s Mobile Pleasure Lounge Wed., June 16, 9:30pm. $5. With Rafiq Bhatia Collective, Test Kitchen. Tritone, 1508 South St. 215.545.0475 www.tritonebar.com Guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Tom Spiker is a Wilmington native and Philly resident since 2000, a close associate of experimental groove-jazz stalwarts (and Ornette Coleman alums) Jamaaladeen Tacuma and G. Calvin Weston. His Mobile Pleasure Lounge, an adventure in
JJA Jazz Awards winners
Great event on Monday! The results are in, and photos, more photos and dispatches are up at JJA News. More coverage and commentary in the days to come. Patrick of A Blog Supreme has some reflections here.
A quick word on “Jazz Nerds International”
Now that he’s issued a truly interesting follow-up, I’ll take the bait and weigh in on Jason Marsalis’s recent rant against “Jazz Nerds International” — i.e., young musicians so obsessed with being cutting-edge and complex that they ignore the history of the music and, perhaps more important, the need to connect with an audience beyond their fellow JNI peers. Like many
The week on disc (73)
In case you missed the last one… Judith Berkson, Oylam (ECM) John Fedchock NY Sextet, Live at the Red Sea Jazz Festival (Capri) Steve Cardenas, West of Middle (Sunnyside) Miguel Frasconi & Denman Maroney, Gleam (Porter) Billy Childs Ensemble, Autumn: In Moving Pictures (ArtistShare) Orlando Le Fleming, From Brooklyn With Love: Live at Freddy’s (19/8)