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PMP magazine
I have a jazz survey piece, somewhat out of date, in the annual Philadelphia Music Project magazine. Go here for “Jazz Horizons: A Diverse Lineage in Context.” If you access the entire magazine via pdf and scroll to page 38, you can also find my report on Philly book lectures by Ben Ratliff and Alex Ross.
On the Sun Ra Arkestra
In the current Philadelphia Weekly: Sun Ra ArkestraSun., May 24, 8pm. $10. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave. 215.739.9684 www.johnnybrendas.com Pianist, bandleader and self-proclaimed extraterrestrial Sun Ra (Herman Poole Blount) died in 1993, but he remains an “Afrofuturist” black culture icon whose influence always extended beyond avant-garde jazz. His example looms particularly large in Philadelphia, where he lived from 1968
On Adam Rudolph
My preview of Adam Rudolph’s Go: Organic Orchestra (Roulette, May 25), in the current Time Out New York.
Sci Fi Philly Turns 1
This coming Sunday marks the first anniversary of Sci Fi Philly, the creative music series I wrote about here [pdf]. It’s going strong and celebrating with an all-day blowout on May 24. Click on the image to enlarge and peruse the amazing lineup.
The week on disc (43)
In case you missed the last one… Frank Wess Nonet, Once Is Not Enough (Labeth) Rob Mazurek Quintet, Sound Is (Delmark) Jimmy Greene, Mission Statement (RazDaz) Ralph Alessi and Modular Theatre, Open Season (RKM) Chico Hamilton, Twelve Tones of Love (Joyous Shout!) Reut Regev, This Is R*Time (Ropeadope)
On Rafael Toral
In the current Philadelphia Weekly: Rafael ToralMon., May 18, 8pm. Free. With Alex Nagle/Joe Lentini, Dave Smolen. The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St. www.bowerbird.org “Let your body move to the music,” Madonna once sang, and Lisbon-born Rafael Toral responds to that directive in some of the most radical ways you’ll see — producing real-time sound with “glove-controlled computer sinewaves,” for instance.
Some thaw
About two weeks ago I commented on a strange story in the NYT about a supposed political thaw in Burma. Frank Smithuis of Doctors Without Borders described the regime’s human rights record as “shaky” — a grotesque understatement — but said with a sneer that “it’s politically nice to beat up Burma.” Well, now the regime is putting Aung San Suu
Torture’s supporters cont.
Because congressional hearings on the torture memos are now underway, and because Cheneyites like Frank Gaffney are all over the airwaves spreading lies and propaganda about the wonderfulness of the Bush administration’s torture program, and because TV hosts like MSNBC’s David Shuster are proving utterly incompetent in their framing of this incredibly high-stakes issue, Andrew Sullivan’s latest anti-torture post —