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Philadelphia haps
All in the current Philadelphia Weekly (with minor modifications): AlasNoAxis Wed., June 24, 8pm. $12. Philadelphia Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th St. 215.545.4302 www.arsnovaworkshop.com Jim Black, a pillar of New York’s avant-jazz scene for some 15 years, has developed one of the most identifiable drumset approaches in all of music, his dry thuds and thwacks stirring up a riot of
Clarinets
I’ll make a point of going to hear Israeli clarinet whiz Anat Cohen during her ambitious two-week stand at the Vanguard, June 23-28 and then June 30-July 5. The 3 Cohens band is really nice but I’ll have to prioritize and hear Anat next week with Benny Green on piano (saw him with Blakey at Sweet Basil’s in the mid-’80s),
Amir ElSaffar-Hafez Modirzadeh
With Iranian culture and diaspora much in the news, it was a good time to hear Bay Area tenor saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh (right) in a collaboration with New York-based Iraqi-American trumpeter Amir ElSaffar (left), last Friday at Alwan for the Arts. (Note: photo is from an earlier gig, elsewhere.) The two have developed an extraordinary language that draws on Iraqi
The week on disc (45)
In case you missed the last one… Bobby Broom, Plays for Monk (Origin) Avram Fefer, Ritual (Clean Feed) Carl Maguire’s Floriculture, Sided Silver Solid (Firehouse 12) Joe Locke-David Hazeltine Quartet, Mutual Admiration Society 2 (Sharp Nine) Arthur Kell Quartet, Victoria: Live in Germany (BJURecords) Profound Sound Trio (Andrew Cyrille/Paul Dunmall/Henry Grimes), Opus De Life (Porter)
Irregularities
Some days ago, before the bloodshed, Flynt and Hillary Mann Leverett penned a piece headlined “Ahmadinejad Won. Get Over It.” They wanted to assure us that a 62.6% victory for Ahmadinejad really wasn’t at all far-fetched. Well, now Iran’s own election authorities have conceded that there were widespread voting irregularities in 50 cities. Mind you, this is what the officials
People Make The World Go Round
A classic bit of Philadelphia soul by the Stylistics. Just the thing on a Sunday, as the world awaits more news from Tehran. (Tibbsy’s commentary on the song, on the sidebar of the YouTube clip itself, is worth a read.) [Update: I can’t help but marvel at the song’s construction, mostly revolving around an E minor 9-A minor 7 cadence.
Courage
People are being murdered in the streets and chaos is breaking out all over Iran. Andrew Sullivan has continuous updates and video, some of it extremely disturbing, some of it equally inspiring. There’s one clip of protesters managing to relieve the the riot police of their batons. Victory to these brave souls. [Also visit The Lede, Nico Pitney.]