Category: AJBlogs

Monday Recommendation: Andrew Cyrille Andrew Cyrille Quartet, The Declaration Of Musical Independence (ECM) Andrew Cyrille, a bold drummer, long since established his audacity and the independence underscored in the album title. This collection is notable for subtlety and daring … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-01-02

12 Plays of Xmas: 7 Egor Bulychev by Gorky I’ve seen a lot of Chekhov. I mean, a lot. Last year, I marvelled at Vanya at the Almeida and spent a day with the National Theatre’s Young Chekhov trilogy. I can almost sing … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2017-01-02

Patti Smith’s New Year’s Eve vow: “We must not behave!” Patti Smith, Dec 31 2016, Park West Chicago. Photo by Lauren Deutsch. Ushering in 2017 with Patti Smith and band at Chicago’s Park West New Year’s Eve was inspiriting for us of a certain age and … read more
AJBlog: Jazz Beyond Jazz Published 2017-01-01

7 Audience Development Resolutions for 2017 “Your beliefs become your thoughts; Your thoughts become your words; Your words become your actions; Your actions become your habits; Your habits become your values; Your values become your destiny.” – Mahatma Gandhi Together, let’s make these resolutions for 2017: I … read more
AJBlog: Audience Wanted Published 2017-01-01

12 Plays of Xmas:  3. Ruined by Lynn Nottage
I can’t remember how I missed the Pulitzer-winning Ruined when it played in London in 2010. It was at a favourite theatre (the Almeida) and starred favourite actors (Jenny Jules, Lucian Msamati). Maybe I was … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2016-12-29

My favorite posts of 2016
In addition to writing about theater and the other arts for a living, I also blog in this space purely for my pleasure. Here are ten of my favorite posts from the year almost past: … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-12-29
 

Overbuilding of cultural facilities and ‘economic impact’
Followers of this blog are familiar with my thoughts on ‘economic impact‘ studies. But I think I have forgotten to mention yet another way in which these studies are not only useless, but positively harmful. … read more
AJBlog: For What It’s Worth Published 2016-12-28

12 Plays of Xmas: 2. Birth by TW Robertson
What does reality look like on stage? I’ll tell you what it doesn’t usually look like: a play that sets the finale in ivy-covered ruins on an aristocratic estate. … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2016-12-28

It’s Still the Christmas Season
When I wrote two recent seasonal posts here–about art-related Christmas/Chanukkah presents and about the Star Trail at the National Gallery – I had  forgotten about an exhibition … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2016-12-28

 

12 Plays of Xmas: 1. Owners by Caryl Churchill
Caryl Churchill is the presiding playwright of our era. At 78, every play she writes is an event – not because of their rarity, or a forelock-tugging spirit of sentimentality, but because … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2016-12-27

Triple Gravy
Ray Brown wrote “Gravy Waltz,” with a lyric by comedian and talk show host Steve Allen. Allen recorded the piece on piano and got extensive airplay with it in … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-12-27

My forgotten uncle
If my family had any dark secrets, they went to the grave with my parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. But like all families, we did have a few subjects of which we preferred not to … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-12-27

Rising Tide
Patterns of rising and falling inflection are vital to a lot of music. Purely instrumental music often encodes emphasis-patterns that resemble speech, or song. (Linguists prefer the term “intonation” to signify these … read more
AJBlog: PianoMorphosis Published 2016-12-27

 

What do we actually mean by intrinsic benefits?
If we cannot find any impacts, if attending music recitals doesn’t lead to your giving higher reported subjective wellbeing, what then? … read more
AJBlog: For What It’s Worth Published 2016-12-26

Monday Recommendation: Dr. Lonnie Smith
Dr. Lonnie Smith, Evolution (Blue Note)
The venerable organist’s doctorate is a figment, but his musicianship and ability to mold combos of any size into formidable units are even more real than when … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-12-26

On a screen, darkly
My brother, like me, is deeply attached to the increasingly distant past that we share. That’s one of the reasons why he and my sister-in-law live in the house where the two of us grew up, … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-12-26

 

The devastating debut of 4:48 Psychosis (the opera) stands high in 2016’s best
4.48 Psychosis Royal Opera / Lyric Hammersmith, London
The guy behind the ticket counter at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre checked out my Brooklyn zip code and asked “Did you come over for this?”  … read more
AJBlog: Condemned to Music Published 2016-12-21

“Meditations on Mortality”: Illustrated Companion to My WSJ Review of Jasper Johns/Edvard Munch at VMFA
John Ravenal, curator of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond , set himself two prerequisites for undertaking the scholarly yet easy-to-love show Jasper Johns and Edvard Munch: Love, Loss, and the Cycle of Life  … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-12-21

Jazz warms Chi spots: Hot House @ Alhambra Palace, AACM @ Promontory
There are good arguments for building venues just for jazz. But speaking of arts communities in general: Most are moveable feasts, fluid, transient, at best inviting to newcomers to the table. … read more
AJBlog: Jazz Beyond Jazz Published 2016-12-21

 

Art For Christmas and Chanukkah
Are still shopping for gifts this holiday season? An email from Winterthur this morning reminded me that I’ve been meaning to suggest giving the gift of art – or art books, even for children or grown-up kids. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2016-12-20

Monday Recommendation: Redman’s And Mehldau’s “Nearness”
Joshua Redman And Brad Mehldau, Nearness (Nonesuch) … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-12-19

 

Orchestras, equity and disruption
Thinking about orchestras and equity, two things have helped me frame a perspective: Angus Maguire’s reboot … read more
AJBlog: SongWorking Published 2016-12-19

Chen Yi and Stylistic Synthesis
Every year, we have our composition students do focused study of the works of a living composer, then Skype with that composer to discuss the music.  This year, one of the composers we focused on … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2016-12-19

 

This Week In Audience: How We Think About Measuring Audiences Edition This Week: Business models and arts audiences… The rising impact of crowdfunding on the arts… Big Data can measure the wrong things, so be careful… Data show audiences are less affected by information overload … read more
AJBlog: AJ Arts Audience Published 2016-12-18

Weekend Extra: “Freeway” Two Ways
Chet Baker became famous as a trumpeter, not a composer. Still, when he was with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet he wrote a tune that attracts musicians more than sixty years later. “Freeway” has clever rhythmic … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-12-17

‘Tis the Season
Mark Morris’s The Hard Nut at BAM Howard Gilman Opera House. Five of the dancing snowflakes in Mark Morris’s The Hard Nut. Photo: Yi-Chun Wu Mark Morris’s The Hard Nut sets the knowing audience at … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2016-12-17

On Stage with the Marx Bros
ONE of the glories of American culture is the cinematic ensemble known as the Marx Brothers. But before Chico, Zeppo, Harpo, and Groucho became anarchic movie stars in film like “A Day at the Races” … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2016-12-16