Category: AJBlogs

In Philadelphia: Revolutionary Art
In today’s New York Times, I wrote about the conservation and erection of George Washington’s surviving field headquarters tent – a fragile thing, as you may well imagine. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-01-30

The Composition Program of My Dreams
When I was an undergraduate student, I won a prize that got me a reading session with the school orchestra. I showed up for the session and discovered that one of the professors had decided … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2017-01-30

Snapshots from the Culture Crash: 1
Longtime music journalist Steve Mirkin has been, like a lot of us in the creative class, though a series ups and downs since the Internet remade journalism and the recession undercut the middle class. … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2017-01-29

Chuck Stewart And Ed Berger, RIP
Two non-musicians prominent in the US jazz community have died in the past week. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-01-29

Monday Recommendation: A Film About Rhaasan Roland Kirk
Rahsaan Roland Kirk, The Case Of The Three Sided Dream (Arthaus Musik/Monoduo Films) … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-01-30

Glittering Athletes
AJBlog: DancebeatPublished 2017-01-28

Cause for Cautious Optimism? NEA’s Statement on Continued Federal Funding Widespread reports that President Trump has decided to ax the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities may (or may not) be premature. The only hard information on this that I’ve seen is Alexander Bolton‘s … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-01-26

What our new audience wants Over and over I’ve said that our classical music world doesn’t feel like the world outside, the world most people live in. Including our hoped-for new audience! Not that I’m the only one saying this. … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2017-01-26

Picturing the President Insect brain, cold-blooded eye, bared teeth of a human predator.Twitter Fingers looks in the mirror.The total obscenity of the American Dream Comes to fruition in Donald John Trump …— Heathcote Williams, from a poem in … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2017-01-26

Getting from stage to screen In this week’s Wall Street Journal “Sightings” column, I write about Fences and Manchester by the Sea, and what those two films teach us about the differences between writing for the stage … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2017-01-26

Days of tension, anger and (thank God) New York Polyphony
Post-inauguration Saturday wasn’t the easiest time to be in New York City. Whatever side you were on politically, the streets in much of mid-town were closed off. Police were everywhere. Cars seemed not to know … read more
AJBlog: Condemned to Music Published 2017-01-24

What Goes With Gouthière?
Why Marivaux, n’est-ce pas? A year ago, many of us had never heard of, or heard much about, Pierre Gouthière, the master gilder many of whose works are now on display at the Frick … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-01-24

Privilege/Encumbrance: Part II
This post is the second of a three-part series that is not strictly about community engagement. However, to engage with communities with which one is not familiar it is essential to understand the dynamics of … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2017-01-24

Recent Listening: New Old Brubeck
Dave Brubeck Quartet With Paul Desmond At The Sunset Center 1955 (Solar) … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-01-24

Trump’s biggest first threat to the arts: Ending net neutrality
Terrible as it will be for the Trump administration to kill the National Endowments of the Arts and Humanities, gutting net neutrality seems to me an even more damaging attack on the arts, independent and upstart media and America’s commons. … read more
AJBlog: Jazz Beyond Jazz Published 2017-01-23

Never-Ending Battle: Mobilizing (once again) to Save the National Endowments for the Arts & Humanities
With President Trump‘s transition team’s having reportedly recommended elimination of federal funding for the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities (as well as for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting), a petition opposing possible NEA and NEH cuts has appeared on the White House’s website, … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-01-23

At A Time Like This, You Want to Talk “Still Life”? Yes.
At times like these, when not only the United States but also the world is a-twitter – no, forget the pun, much more than a-twitter – seriously concerned about the political direction of so many countries, it may seem trivial to spend time on issues of art. Or even looking at art. Not really. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-01-23

Monday Recommendation: Outset
Dan Meinhardt, Outset (ears&eyes records) … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-01-23

Who’s responsible for The Donald? The Founding Fathers.
My cousin Jonathan’s witty Protest Banner Last Friday Donald Trump was inaugurated as President of the United States. Across the world this weekend millions, mostly women, have marched to protest the event. It is already … read more
AJBlog: Plain English Published 2017-01-22

Killing NEA, NEH And PBS Is Just Collateral Damage In The Commodification Of American Values
So it begins. … Zeroing out the culture budgets isn’t about money; together, the NEA, NEH and PBS account for barely 0.02 percent of the federal budget. Neither is it about art the Trumpsters think is offensive or artists they don’t like. … read more
AJBlog: diacritical | Douglas McLennan Published 2017-01-20

What to stand for
I haven’t been able to assemble many words since November, so I’m grateful for those who have. On the one hand, thoughtful rhetoric and reasoned language seem increasingly discounted and disdained as core values. On the other, … read more
AJBlog: The Artful Manager Published 2017-01-19

Stumped by Trump: MoMA’s Lowry Walks “Fine Line” Between “Asserting Values” & Being Partisan
I opened up a can of worms at the Museum of Modern Art’s press breakfast yesterday, when I asked the first question after the director’s and curators’ presentation about upcoming exhibitions: … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-01-19

Context: Hollywood’s Political Bias? It’s Money
Unquestionably, a majority of the people who work in Hollywood lean politically left. More than lean, in many cases. But how much of their politics makes it onto the big screen? … read more
AJBlog: diacritical | Douglas McLennan Published 2017-01-17

Privilege/Encumbrance: Part I
For any person of color or member of another group discussed here, there is nothing surprising, nothing new in what follows. The same is true of a good number of whites who have given the topic some thought. … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2017-01-17

A New One on Me: What To Call Art
Branding is important, and language matters. Let’s start from that point. … Apparently, some people today don’t want to buy “Old” Masters. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-01-18

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters
One of my favorite writers in any genre is the USC humanities professor Leo Braudy, justly celebrated for his Frenzy of Renown, a history of fame going back to Alexander the Great. … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2017-01-18

Is NYC (still) capitol of jazz?
The early January concurrence of the Jazz Connect conference, the annual convention of APAP (Association of Performing Arts Presenters), Global Fest and Winter JazzFest makes a good case for Manhattan being the capitol of jazz-and-beyond. … read more
AJBlog: Jazz Beyond Jazz Published 2017-01-18

Art Is As Art Does
A recent dinner conversation with friends rolled around to the question:  “What is art?” A long conversation ensued.  Someone offered up Wikipedia’s definition … This group of arts administrators was unsatisfied. … read more
AJBlog: Audience Wanted Published 2017-01-16

Monday Recommendation: John Coltrane
John Coltrane, Live At Birdland (Impulse)
On this observance of Martin Luther King’s birthday, we recommend an album that John Coltrane made at the height of the 1960s civil rights movement … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-01-16