Music and protest
A fair question
Darcy James Argue, quite unwittingly, has tied together my two previous posts in an interesting and morally serious way: He asks why Dudamel is getting heat from some for not forcefully opposing Chávez, while Gergiev (whose work I just happened to praise unreservedly) gets a free pass on his close ties to, and explicit political support for, the odious Vladimir
Rage against the death penalty
Zach De La Rocha, lead singer of the reunited Rage Against the Machine, made waves during a recent concert by accusing the Bush administration of war crimes and saying, quite incoherently, “They should be hung and tried and shot.” Fox News pundit Sean Hannity interpreted this as an assassination threat and seemed to call for Secret Service intervention, prompting De
Tonic’s closing represents wider cultural crisis
Received this from a New York-based musician and thought I’d post it here. The news of Tonic’s closing astounds me, but it shouldn’t. I never thought I’d see the words “Luxury Condos” and “Avenue B” next to each other, but indeed I did last time I walked through Alphabet City. (Tonic lies just south of there, but same deal.) Just
The Dixie Chicks
Just taking a moment to congratulate the Dixie Chicks for their “Song of the Year” Grammy win with “Not Ready to Make Nice.” I second the judges’ decision. Readers of Lerterland know that I will not hesitate to air harsh criticism of leftwingers when I find it necessary. But the Dixie Chicks aren’t remotely the kind of ideologues I hold
The Ritscher suicide
Malachi Ritscher, a denizen of Chicago’s avant-garde jazz scene, committed suicide by self-immolation on November 3. In this suicide note he explained that his intention was to protest the Iraq war. Peter Margasak’s Nov. 7 blog report is worth reading; so is this lengthier comment by Nitsuh Abebe of Pitchfork Media. Many of the comments that follow Margasak’s post take
World Can’t Wait and all that jazz
Word is getting out about an October 5 benefit concert for the protest group The World Can’t Wait (WCW), to take place at the reconstituted Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem. Free-jazz luminaries such as William Parker will perform. I’ve remarked on WCW on this blog in the past. To recap, it is a front for the Revolutionary Communist Party, a Maoist