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About that Parenti piece
Yeah, this Parenti piece, because it needs to be said. Parenti writes: The real purpose of these 300,000 [sic] soldiers is to make Obama look tough as he heads toward the next US presidential election. […] There is nothing else to Obama’s Afghan strategy. Actually, there is nothing else to Parenti’s analysis of Obama’s Afghan strategy. And the careless error
Up with liberalism
Suzi Gablik titles this post “Why I’m not a liberal anymore,” and while I wholly share her contempt for this piece of anti-Obama tripe by Christian Parenti, I would point out to Gablik that Parenti is a leftist. Barack Obama is a liberal. And leftists have long regarded liberals as their worst enemies. So stick around, Ms. Gablik. You’re exactly
Blanchard and West
You’ll note that Terence Blanchard’s Choices is not on my 2009 year-end list, although Blanchard’s group is one of my favorites. The music on Choices is very strong and would almost certainly have made my list, but for the catastrophic decision to include running commentary by Cornel West throughout the program. Don’t get me wrong: I’ve learned a lot from
The week on disc (59)
In case you missed the last one… Eric Alexander, Revival of the Fittest (HighNote) Simon Fisk Trio, Unless (Plunge) Dana Hall, Into the Light (Origin) Komeda Project, Requiem (WM) Phoenix Ensemble with Mark Lieb, Clarinet Quintets: Morton Feldman, Milton Babbitt (Innova) In the Country, Whiteout (Rune Grammofon)
Top shows 2009
This list is somewhat skewed, given the degree to which new fatherhood slowed my gig attendance in 2009. Nonetheless, I managed to attend roughly 120 shows. Here are my top 30. 1. David Sanchez with Lage Lund, Orlando Le Fleming, Henry Cole Village Vanguard, March 20 2. Peter Bernstein solo guitar Smalls, July 15 3. John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble Painted
The fire this time
NYT: LAHORE, Pakistan — Militants set off two bombs on Monday night in one of the busiest markets of this eastern Pakistani city, then sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing at least 30 and wounding more than 100 others, Pakistani authorities said. It was the latest in a litany of militant attacks against Pakistani civilians.
Top 25 of 2009, plus
My list of faves for 2009, now up at the Jazz Journalists Association website. I realize there are overlaps in the supplemental categories (a debut disc might also be a large ensemble disc and vice versa, for instance). But listing them this way seemed to make the most sense. Also bear in mind that I have about 100 more CDs
Cringe of the day
From Claire Cain Miller and Miguel Helft’s NYT story on iPhones as musical instruments: “And a big-band jazz group called Large Ensemble used smartphones as instruments during a recent performance in New York.” Um, that’d be John Hollenbeck’s Large Ensemble, which I previewed here.