Uncategorized
The “liquidation” letter returns
The Nation has published “A Letter from 18 Writers” on the Israel/Palestine conflict — the signatures were far fewer when I first mentioned this document, some weeks ago. The initial signers were Noam Chomsky, Arundhati Roy, Howard Zinn and a few others, who declared that Israel’s “political aim is nothing less than the liquidation of the Palestinian nation.” The Nation
Tom Terrell
My fellow music journalist Tom Terrell, a delightful presence on the New York scene, has been diagnosed with cancer. There is a benefit concert planned for September 11 (handbill attached). We’re pulling for you, Tom.
Mideast mystification
In the letters section of this week’s NY Times Magazine, Carol Haskill of San Francisco writes of the Middle East as …a strange, timeless place where nothing has changed for thousands of years, where fierce hatreds are as ancient as the deserts and cannot be tamed or reasoned with in Western terms. We will never understand it. She’s right about
Jill Carroll, continued
As I noted last week, the Christian Science Monitor is running Jill Carroll’s part-by-part narrative of her kidnapping ordeal in Baghdad. She’s up to Part 6 (as of Sunday night). It’s clear from Carroll’s account thus far that her captors were (and are) hate-filled sociopaths, not the “freedom fighters” of extreme-left imagination. This piece by Dan Murphy bounces off Carroll’s
Sounds to cherish 4
Another in an occasional series… Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), Orchestral Works (ECM New Series)Dennis Russell Davies conducts the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester. Lesser-known (at least to me) works recorded in 2002, including “Danses Concertantes” for chamber orchestra (1942), the ballet “Apollon Musagète” (1927) and three Igor-orchestrated madrigals by Gesualdo (1960). Scott Reeves, Congressional Roll Call (Creative Jazz Records)Homemade packaging, but the music sizzles.
Spike Lee and Katrina
In this week’s Village Voice, my friend and colleague Larry Blumenfeld writes about “When the Levees Broke,” Spike Lee’s HBO film on Hurricane Katrina and the fate of New Orleans. This passage is ripe for further comment: One potentially controversial element of the story—persistent suspicion that levees were intentionally exploded in some sections to flood the poorer black sections of
Because it’s there
Go here to watch a robot play John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” solo. (Hat tip: Doug Ramsey) It’s often said that Coltrane played with no vibrato. (I’ve said it myself.) Wrong. He played with very little vibrato. This robot plays with no vibrato. And it sounds terrible.
How to help
The Head Heeb pledges to match reader donations (up to a point) toward reconstruction and/or humanitarian aid for Lebanon and northern Israel. Here’s the portal he recommends for aid-giving tips.