“He was a versatile, virtuoso pianist and a distinctive, mellow-voiced vocalist who rarely toured because he was so busy producing, writing and arranging music at his New Orleans studio. Meanwhile, his songs were performed by a who’s who of New Orleans singers (Lee Dorsey, Irma Thomas, Ernie K-Doe) and international rock artists (Jerry Garcia, The Doors, Yardbirds, Bo Diddley, Robert Palmer, Little Feat, Elvis Costello). In 1998, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Is This Netflix’s Version Of ‘Serial’?
“Netflix appears to be the latest player to see the genre’s value: It announced Monday that it will be releasing a documentary series called Making a Murderer in December. The 10 episodes will follow the story of Steven Avery, a man who was convicted of rape and later exonerated by DNA evidence after serving 18 years in prison. The kicker: After his release, he was sentenced to life for murdering another woman in 2005.”
Netflix Makes $50 Million Bet On A Korean Action Flick
“The streaming service will reportedly spend $50 million on the budget of Bong Joon-ho’s latest film Okja, the follow-up to the Korean director’s international hit Snowpiercer. If that seems like a lot, it is – but it’s part of a larger international gamble that could help the company grow outside the U.S.”
Bernard-Henri Lévy Is Not As Ridiculous As He Sometimes Seems
For all that he can be a figure of fun in the U.S. and even in France, “Lévy ‘has made a positive impact on French policy and French thinking. Saying terrible things are terrible in a loud and convincing way is more than a lot of people do,’ says Steven Erlanger, who was The New York Times‘ Paris bureau chief from 2008 to 2013, ‘and he deserves a lot of credit for that.'”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 11.10.15
“The Artist’s Muse”: $170.4-Million Modigliani Doesn’t Float All Boats at Christie’s
While the rest of the scribe tribe has moved on to parsing tonight’s contemporary auction at Christie’s, here’s my recap of the same auction house’s attempt last night to repeat the breakout success of … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2015-11-10
A Great Lulu
When the Metropolitan Opera rises to its own standard, no opera house in the world presents more engaging, exciting, or satisfying performances. On November 5 the new production of Alban Berg’s Lulu fulfilled every aspect of the… … read more
AJBlog: OperaSleuth Published 2015-11-10
Johnny Costa
The recent Rifftides review of pianist Sullivan Fortner’s new album mentions Johnny Costa as an influence. The influence came early. Like millions of other American children, Fortner grew up watching Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-11-09
Not a One-Trick Pony
San Francisco, 1969. So says Jed Birmingham in #23: The Dead Star, the first of his picks for “The Top 23 Most Interesting Burroughs Collectibles.” The Burroughs Nova Broadcast pamphlet, which I published in 1969 and … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2015-11-10
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The Many Lives Of Rasputin’s Daughter
Peasant child, St. Petersburg society girl, White Russian fugitive, itinerant exile, cabaret dancer, animal trainer, Rosie-the-Riveter-style machinist in California. “From the beginning of her life in rural Siberia to its end in sunny Los Angeles, nothing about Maria’s life would ever be simple or easy.”
Modigliani Fetches Second-Highest Price Ever Paid At Auction
In a bidding session that lasted nine minutes, the artist’s Nu couché sold for $170.4 million to an unnamed Chinese buyer. The work is only the tenth ever to sell for a nine-figure price.
Short-Story Vending Machines Will Soon Be A Thing
Grenoble, France “will soon be home to a handful of devices that dispense short stories rather than sugary snacks or soft drinks. The machines will offer a choice of stories one, three, or five minutes long, and their bank of 600 short stories, determined by the publisher Short Édition’s thousands of subscribers and writers, is free of charge.”
Lebanese Comics Magazine Tries Crowdfunding To Survive After Prosecutions
“A Lebanese satirical comic last week threw what may prove to be either its final launch party – or the first of its resurrection. The event marked Samandal magazine’s attempt to crowdfund its way out of oblivion after three of its editors were convicted of crimes against religion and fined for their work, nearly putting the experimental comics collective out of business.”
Is This Yellowface? Successful Chinese Artist Reveals That He’s Actually A Frenchman
No, it’s not only poets who do it. “Tao Hongjing was the fictional creation of French artist Alexandre Ouairy, born in Nantes, who assumed the pseudonym a decade ago to sell more art as an unknown foreign name in China. … The ‘Tao Hongjing’ idea was based on a suggestion by his gallerist in Shanghai a decade ago, when the country’s contemporary art market was soaring but the Frenchman’s early exhibitions proved flops.” And it worked.