Midweek Extra: Howard McGhee With A Classic Ballad
McGhee, one of the essential bop trumpeters, plays “Lover Man,” accompanied by Richard Davis, bass; Ted Dunbar, guitar; and Roy Haynes, drums; at Jack Kleinsinger’s “Highlights In Jazz” tribute to Charlie Parker … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-03-15
Contextualize First
The tendency to imagine that community engagement demands all kinds of new work, new approaches, and new venues makes the consideration of engagement nearly impossible for some. … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2017-03-14
At the Top of the Met, Salaries Rose During Buyouts & Layoffs
Consider the top two-thirds of this posts as akin to a re-tweet, because I have not confirmed the numbers. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-03-14
Speaking of Gender . . .
Richard Move and MoveOpolis! performs at New York Live Arts. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2017-03-14
It’s A Rave: The Matisse/Diebenkorn Exhibition
San Francisco beckoned me because of the Matisse/Diebenkorn exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Both artists are nothing if not seductive and, … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-03-14
The Pleasures of Taylor
Paul Taylor American Modern Dance at Lincoln Center, March 7 through 26. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2017-03-13
Monday Recommendation: Bob Porter’s Soul Jazz
Bob Porter, Soul Jazz: Jazz In The Black Community, 1945-1975, Xlibris
Sometimes it’s good to get back to the basics. Bob Porter’s new book guides you there. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-03-13
Last call
I first saw the Gary Burton Quartet on TV when I was in high school. In those days I was finding my way around the illimitably vast world of jazz, searching for a style that … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2017-03-13
Beckett’s Letters: ‘Dull, Dull, Dull,’ But —
Serious readers of Samuel Beckett have been treated to four massive volumes of his letters. … read more
(includes audio clip of music by frequent ArtsJournal commenter William Osborne)
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2017-03-13
Female Power (from Medusa to Merkel)
I love reading Mary Beard. She may be a professor, the highest of high-brow professors, but she writes — and speaks (albeit with a British accent) — like an actual human. Enjoy. … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2017-03-09
Imagining a bright future
Suppose in 10 years all problems that orchestras have will be solved! Suppose that orchestras have a vibrant young audience, that people all over the country are talking about what orchestras do. Suppose … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2017-03-08
Essential Gradualism
An occasionally expressed concern about community engagement is that current stakeholders will be driven away by imagined precipitous changes to the organization and/or its offerings. There are a couple of responses to this that … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2017-03-07
Ten Suggestions for Tom Campbell’s Successor at the Met
In December 2008, anticipating the imminent eminence of Thomas Campbell as new head of the country’s premier art museum, I presumptuously posted a to-do list for the director-designate. … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-03-07
Other Matters: Losing Robert Osborne
The news of Robert Osborne’s passing was a bad way to start the day. We were friends from the day that our Delta Upsilon fraternity at the University of Washington assigned him … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-03-07
Cello and Kora Epiphany: Sissoko and Segal
The West African kora is iconic all over the continent, so much so that Africa’s international equivalent of the Grammys, held annually in South Africa, is called the Kora Awards. It has taken a while for this remarkable harp to find a way to an appreciative audience in the west, but … read more
AJBlog: OtherWorldly Published 2017-03-07
A Small Company with Big Ideas
The New York Theatre Ballet performs in Saint Mark’s Church, March 1 through 4. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2017-03-06
Monday Recommendation: Joachim Kühn Trio
Joachim Kühn New Trio, Beauty & Truth, ACT … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-03-06
Pauses that refreshed
TV commercials rank high among the clearest and most vivid memories of my boyhood. … On occasion, the music for a commercial was so well-written and well-executed that it lodged forever after in my consciousness. … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2017-03-06<
Funny or die
What makes a comedy? Perspective. Ask Shakespeare’s Malvolia, Titania, or Andrew Aguecheek if they’re living in a comedy and they’ll gaze at you with tear-stained incredulity. Publicly shamed, sexually humiliated, drugged and tricked into … read more
AJBlog: Performance MonkeyPublished 2017-03-05
SRJO With Carmen Bradford: Ella At 100
In Ella Fitzgerald’s centennial year, the great singer is being honored around the world. The Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra began the celebration with a pair of tribute concerts ahead of The First … read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2017-03-05
More on Met Directorship: My Takes on Puzzling Punditry by Cotter, Gibson, Dobrzynski, Oliver
I got an early jump on the culture pundits who are rushing to analyze Tom Campbell‘s planned departure from the directorship of the Metropolitan Museum. Commentary is now pouring in from people whose strong opinions … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrlPublished 2017-03-03
Getting good in the nick of time
In today’s Wall Street Journal I review the Broadway transfer of Joshua Harmon’s Significant Other. Here’s an excerpt. * * * Time was when all gay plays were Problem Plays. They couldn’t very well have … read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2017-03-03
Replay: John Gielgud on Claude Rains
John Gielgud talks about the acting of Claude Rains in a TCM tribute: (This is the latest in a series of arts-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) … read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2017-03-03
The Met, What Happens Next, Part Two
As I indicated in yesterday’s post, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is in for a bit of a rough patch – but let’s not overdo it (as some people have). … But the Met has gone wrong in not playing to its strengths. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-03-02
The Met: What Happens Next, Part One
Tom Campbell’s forced resignation from the top post at the Metropolitan Museum of Art yesterday was both expected and shocking at the same time. Given the museum’s financial woes – most of which Campbell is responsible for – and internal morale, … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-03-01
