Philip Clark, author of a forthcoming book on Brubeck, the American jazz legend, has for the first time gained access to 1959 recordings that had lain forgotten in a Californian archive until now. He was taken aback to hear a completely different rhythmic groove and Brubeck’s quartet struggling to make sense of it. “It sounds like a bad student jazz band,” he said. – The Guardian
Blog
Why Would Trump Attack Modernist Buildings?
Michael Kimmelman: “It almost seems conceived to provoke supporters of both modern architecture and architectural diversity. It’s a shiny object, Twitter bait. The populists versus the elites. Outrage enraptures President Trump’s base. It’s a win-win for him.” – The New York Times
Tom Lutz, Man Of Writing
He founded the LA Review of Books. He argues for LA as the center of the book publishing industry. Now he’s written a novel as he follows the Kerouac school of writing. – Los Angeles Times
Amazon Has Been Banning Objectionable Books (Think Neo-Nazi) From Its Platform. Is That A Problem?
While few may lament the disappearance of these hate-filled books, the increasing number of banished titles has set off concern among some of the third-party booksellers who stock Amazon’s vast virtual shelves. Amazon, they said, seems to operate under vague or nonexistent rules. – The New York Times
Protests Over Plans To Kill New Zealand’s Only Classical Radio Station
The station draws about 170,000 listeners a week in New Zealand, heavily skewed towards those aged 65 and older, according to the broadcaster. But fans mobilised last week when Radio New Zealand proposed to throw out its classical arm’s FM station in May, replacing it with a youth radio channel in August. Some 18 jobs would be eliminated, with new roles created at the youth station, RNZ said. – The Guardian
A Black, Gay Writer Takes On The Traditional Campus Narrative
Brandon Taylor always felt that he had to choose between science and writing. “Throughout his undergraduate years at Auburn University at Montgomery and graduate school in Wisconsin … science often won. But when he received an acceptance letter from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he decided that, this time, writing would win. ‘I could survive not having science, but I couldn’t survive not having writing,’ he said.” – The New York Times
Anonymous Used To Be A Woman, But Now Is A Secret Identity For Spill-All Political Writers
It’s not just politicians, of course, in our age of surveillance and social media. “Here is someone who – by concealing their identity – can reveal the complete and shocking truth. Many anonymous authors say this is precisely why they’ve chosen to remain hidden. The Secret Barrister, whose anonymous exposé of the [British] criminal justice system was published in 2018, explains from behind the barrier of email: ‘Anonymity means I can criticise institutions, organisations and players in the justice system without feeling that I have to modify my commentary with a nervous eye on my real-life practice.'” – The Guardian (UK)
How Did Margot Robbie Change The (Sexist Hollywood) Narrative About Her?
When journalists tried to pigeonhole her as a “new hot blonde” on the scene, well, Margot Robbie took control. “Robbie has refigured the terms of her agreement with the media. She’s done it gradually, without flash or announcement. … She’s simply refocused the public’s attention away from her body, and the image prefabricated for her in her breakout role in Wolf of Wall Street, and toward her talent and her work, which is shaped by the three goals she and her production team discuss at regular check-ins every month: quality, variety, longevity.” – Buzzfeed News
Parasite Has Won So Much More Than Best Picture
The thing about Parasite is that even before it became the first non-English language film to win a Best Picture statue, it “had already earned all the accomplishments that really matter; it didn’t need an Oscar.” Or maybe it did, or the Oscars needed Parasite. “In taking home the Best International Film trophy and also claiming the biggest honor of the night, Bong’s movie made the Oscars slightly less local.” – The Atlantic
Irish Writer Anne Enright And The Building Of Ambience In A Novel
Then there’s the part about taking a “curly-wurly” book and turning it into direct chronology. But she also says, “There are various threads that are out there that if I was a sociologist or an historian, I would be able to say, this is actually something. … But I’m just picking up the atmosphere, the ambience, and using it.” – The Irish Times