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Turkey and NATO
From the NYT’s report on the potential appointment of Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as NATO Secretary General: NATO works by consensus, and the European-favored candidacy of Mr. Rasmussen was publicly opposed by Turkey, NATO’s only Muslim country. Turkish officials said that Mr. Rasmussen was too insensitive to Muslim concerns during the scandal over the Danish newspapers publication in 2005
Gergiev/Putin
Arthur Lubow’s NYT Magazine piece of March 15 dealt with conductor Valery Gergiev and his close ties to Vladimir Putin. In last week’s magazine, Les Dreyer, retired violinist with the Met, has a letter which concludes: Because of his political power and loyalties, Maestro Gergiev has been unjustly judged by his detractors, many of whom are still fighting the Cold
On Claudia Acuña
This review appears in the April 2009 issue of All About Jazz-New York. — Claudia AcuñaEn Este Momento (Marsalis Music) David R. Adler It’s been roughly five years since Chilean vocalist Claudia Acuña gave us Luna (MaxJazz), a brilliantly conceived meeting of minds with pianist/co-producer/co-composer Jason Lindner, her strong ally coming up in the Smalls scene of the 1990s. In
On Branford Marsalis/Blue Note 7
Philadelphia Weekly is still figuring out why the live music previews aren’t appearing online, so I’ll continue to post mine here… Branford Marsalis QuartetSun., Apr. 5, 7pm. $20-$55. Zellerbach Theater, 3680 Walnut St. 215.898.3900 www.pennpresents.org No doubt, the long-ago Sting sideman, former Tonight Show bandleader and guest food-taster on Top Chef is a celebrity. But undiluted jazz is the saxophonist’s
Six Picks: April 2009
My monthly list of recommended CDs, as published in All About Jazz-New York, April 2009: Michael Blake & Kresten Osgood, Control This (Clean Feed) Seamus Blake Quartet, Live in Italy (Jazz eyes) Fareed Haque & The Flat Earth Ensemble, Flat Planet (Owl Studios) Ayn Inserto Jazz Orchestra, Muse (Creative Nation) Ben Wendel, Simple Song (Sunnyside) Michael Wolff, Joe’s Strut (Wrong)
Jules at 21
The first time I heard guitarist Julian Lage, he was playing a duet with his mentor, the great Gary Burton, at the 2004 Newport Jazz Festival. Pretty good for 16. I assumed he was some European prodigy. Only later did I learn that this was the kid from “Jules at Eight,” a 1996 documentary that focused on Julian’s music studies
On Jamie Baum & Tomasz Stanko
My preview of the Jamie Baum/Tomasz Stanko double bill (Merkin Hall, Sat. April 4), in the current Time Out New York.
Jazz and Protest: A Reappraisal
My essay on jazz and protest is now online at Z Word.