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Book review — addendum
Space didn’t permit me to mention, in this book review, an arresting statement from author and UK-based jazz critic Stuart Nicholson. In his introduction he conveys “grateful thanks” to, among many others, “Saxophonist Gilad Atzmon for our conversations about the issue of identity in jazz….” Atzmon’s views on identity are interesting indeed, and I’ve discussed them on numerous occasions. A
South Dakota’s abortion ban
Good segment about this on last night’s Newshour, transcript here. The most revealing exchange was this one, in which Fred De Sam Lazaro (I’ve always loved his name) puts a question to state senator Bill Napoli: FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Napoli says most abortions are performed for what he calls “convenience.” He insists that exceptions can be made for rape
The untold story
Bill Weinberg writes about what’s being called the “Iraqi civil resistance” — nonviolent, pro-feminist, anti-jihadist, anti-occupation — at WW4 Report. The flagship organization is the Iraqi Freedom Congress, and it’s being supported by Japan’s Movement for Democratic Socialism, to the apparent chagrin of the totalitarians of ANSWER (U.S.) and Stop the War (UK). Money quote from the IFC’s Samir Adil:
Rare vinyl
There’s a worthwhile analysis of Andrew Hill’s rare solo piano LP, From California With Love, at the great new webzine Point of Departure. I recently found the LP on eBay, and after a long wait, it arrived from Holland, cracked. Got a refund, located another copy stateside — this one including the original booklet, an even rarer find. I’m happy
Article links
Click through for PDFs of my most recent feature stories for Jazz Times magazine. The Chris Potter piece appeared in the March 2006 issue; the Andrew Hill piece is hot off the presses for April.
CDs to celebrate
A Chet Baker title called Love For Sale, from Justin Time’s historical “Just a Memory” catalog, sat on my shelf for far too long. I finally gave it a spin and was astonished. Captured live in Montreal on March 7, 1978 (a day after my 10th birthday), Chet sounds old but in terrific form, backed by a young Phil Markowitz
The latest from Gilad Atzmon
Gilad Atzmon is a Brit-based saxophonist and “loudmouthed antisemitic demagogue” (per Oliver Kamm) that I’ve touched upon here and here. Now Kamm points us toward this rant, in which Atzmon praises Holocaust deniers such as David Irving for “establishing a rational, dynamic, lucid empirically grounded narrative based on forensic evidence.” And via Judeosphere, a link to Atzmon’s encomium to Hamas.
Now that’s blasphemy
A dark day for Shiite Muslims, and for humanity in general. Here are “before” and “after” photos of the grand Shia mosque in Samarra, Iraq. It was destroyed today by the so-called Iraqi resistance. More offensive than any cartoon, I’d say.