Category: AJBlogs

Which is the Inimitable Don? Jones’s Giovanni
Søren Kierkegaard said in Either/Or: Because Don Giovanni desires in each and every woman the whole of womanhood, his behaviour has to be judged aesthetically, not ethically. Richard Jones has, I think, taken this seriously. … read more
AJBlog: Plain English Published 2016-10-05

Snapshot: Joni Mitchell sings “California” on The Johnny Cash Show
Joni Mitchell sings “California” on The Johnny Cash Show. This episode was originally telecast by ABC in 1969. … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-10-05

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ABCD and Community Engagement
For those who have been fostering connections between art and communities for years, the term Arts-Based Community Development is well known and, while not a perfect expression of the work, one that is immediately recognizable and understood in the field. … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2016-10-04

The perpetual now
Mrs. T and I opted last Monday to watch a William Powell comedy, My Man Godfrey, instead of subjecting ourselves to the first presidential debate. When I tweeted about our decision, these responses were immediately forthcoming from two of my followers: … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-10-04

Twelve years after: on adapting the classics
From 2004: If you’re going to make a stage or screen adaptation of a familiar work of art, you really only have two viable alternatives: try to reproduce the original as closely as possible, or go your own way. … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-10-04

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Maastricht, AKA Tefaf, Comes to New York
Tefaf – most often discussed by its location as in “are you going to Maastricht this year?” – is to my mind the most interesting and best art fair in the world. The participating dealers, usually numbering about 270, presents art from antiquity to the present. It’s huge. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2016-10-03

Happy 80th to Steve Reich
A few years back I spent an hour or so with Steve Reich before a concert of his work. Here is the story I wrote about the pioneering minimalist, who marks his 80th birthday today. … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2016-10-03

Reviewing as First Draft of History
Last week Michiko Kakutani reviewed the first of two volumes of the latest Hitler biography for the New York Times. I’ve got Ian Kershaw’s double-decker biography, which is huge and ought suffice, but … read more
AJBlog: Quick Study Published 2016-10-03

August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey” at the Taper
Last night I caught Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom — one of the historically earliest of August Wilson’s cycle of plays about black life in the 20th century — at the Mark Taper Forum. This production … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2016-10-03

Monday Recommendation: Bria Skonberg
Bria Skonberg, Bria (Okeh) In her first album for a major label, Bria Skonberg achieves consistency that in the past she sometimes obscured in forced vocal mannerisms. Her trumpet work, based in traditional jazz and … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-10-03

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This Week In Audience: Measuring Audience Value – Three Things We Learned About Audiences This Week: How are we measuring the value that audiences get for their money?… Think you own the culture you just bought? In the digital age, maybe you don’t… Wow!  fan conventions are making … read more
AJBlog: AJ Arts Audience Published 2016-10-02

City Flock
Jennifer Monson/iLAND performs in towin St. Mark’s Church. Photographed in dress rehearsal: Jennifer Monson’s/iLAND’s in tow at Danspace Project. Visible (L to R): Valerie Oliveiro, Niall Jones, nibla pastrana santiago, and Jennifer Monson. Photo: … read more
AJBlog: DancebeatPublished 2016-10-01

What arts legislation do we want then? A call for suggestions
A few days ago blog neighbour Doug McLennan lamented that Congress seems to have no interest in arts-related legislation, with no bills coming to floor on which we could even guess at how elected officials … read more
AJBlog: For What it’s WorthPublished 2016-10-01

Wilsey or Won’t She? FASMF’s Board Head Defies Regime Change (plus: Albright-Knox name change)
Now she’s a board chair, not president. But whatever names you call her, it appears that Diane (“Dede”) Wilsey has out-maneuvered the proponents of regime change at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. The …read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrlPublished 2016-09-30

“Art Is Good?” Not Much Of An Argument For Art Is It?
I suggested in a post this week that, based on the lack of any arts business before the 114th US Congress, that it appears that lobbying for the arts seems to be failing. … read more
AJBlog: diacritical | Douglas McLennan Published 2016-09-29

Tech Crash at Metropolitan Museum: “Digital Underground” Buried?
While I’ve been distracted from blogging by mainstream-media assignments, I’ve been itching to weigh in on several important museum developments. Let’s start with Metropolitan Museum President Daniel Weiss‘ tough-love strategies … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-09-29

Not so good planning
Let’s agree, first, on one thing. A gala that opens a symphony orchestra’s season should feel like a gala. Should be fun and lively, with some glamour and glitz. But to create a gala like that, you have to do some planning. … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2016-09-29

Mysterious Beauty
Pam Tanowitz Dance kicks off “NY Quadrille,” a two-week season masterminded by Lar Lubovitch. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2016-09-29

Hands and Brains
Unless orchestras change, ‘diversifying the stage’ means that orchestras will have more Black and Latino bodies, but not necessarily Black and Latino minds. … read more
AJBlog: SongWorking Published 2016-09-29

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What should Congress do about the arts?
I am going to urge caution on the vision thing. Because aside from “art is good”, reasonable people can differ on what that vision ought to be. … read more
AJBlog: For What It’s Worth Published 2016-09-28

Miles Davis: Long Time Gone
This is how co-host Renee Montaigne of National Public Radio’s Morning Edition opened one of the program’s hours this morning. “We’re kind of blue. Miles Davis died 25 years ago today.” … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-09-28

Snapshot: The Kinks sing “Sunny Afternoon”
The Kinks perform Ray Davies’ “Sunny Afternoon” in a 1966 promotional video. … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-09-28

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Arts Congressional Report Card: Why The Arts Have No Political Clout
Americans for the Arts Action Fund PAC has released its 2016 Congressional Arts Report Card rating members of Congress on their support for the arts. Many lobby groups do such rankings as a way of … read more
AJBlog: diacritical | Douglas McLennan Published 2016-09-27

Met Layoffs Today: About Three Dozen People Let Go
Today, the Metropolitan Museum of Art shed more staff – in the form of involuntary layoffs. As we’ve known for a while, the Met’s financial position has deteriorated: … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2016-09-27

Library Lessons
The transition from books to information as the core mission was something libraries had to address over the last generation. Today, the relevance transformation expands to provision of services and resources. … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2016-09-27

Witnessing
When you think about it, the majority of my practice as an orchestral musician is witnessed. … Lately I’ve been focusing on the thinking part of my practice. It’s the part that wrestles with aesthetic, organizational and social frameworks. … read more
AJBlog: SongWorking Published 2016-09-27

Abstract Expressionism Hits the Bull’s Eye
This is the Tate website glossary’s definition: “Abstract expressionism is the term applied to new forms of abstract art developed by American painters such as Jackson Pollock, … read more
AJBlog: Plain English Published 2016-09-27

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Thinking and speaking
Most of us have been admonished from an early age to ‘think before you speak.’ But it turns out that speaking doesn’t work that way. … read more
AJBlog: The Artful Manager Published 2016-09-26

More inspiration from DePauw
Only one event at the seminal 21CMposium at DePauw University was in standard conference format — a panel discussion. That was deliberate, and was one reason the symposium was so powerful. … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2016-09-26

Boundaries
A recent discussion with my friend Robert Carl has me pondering the ways we think of epochs in art. … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2016-09-26

African roots, Middle Eastern extensions in Hyde Park Jazz Fest
The two-day fest in the neighborhood soon to host Barack Obama’s presidential library focused on local performers familiar to Chicago’s south side audiences … read more
AJBlog: Jazz Beyond Jazz Published 2016-09-26

Mike Zito: Keep Coming Back
After sideman work, then membership in cooperative groups with Cyrille Neville, Devon Allman and others, in 2012 the St. Louis blues guitarist and singer Mike Zito formed his band, The Wheel. Few dedicated jazz listeners … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-09-26

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Man Down! We’ve Lost Andrew Sullivan: The Battle For The Real World Is Coming For You
Is reality just a construct of the online world or is the online world merely an overlay on reality? Every new technological advance that extends our reach also imposes previously unnecessary decisions about how and …read more
AJBlog: diacritical/Douglas McLennan Published 2016-09-23

Pap goes the easel: Painting After Postmodernism, Belgium-USA
It’s being billed as a “manifesto exhibition,” and the curator, my friend, the art historian and filmmaker Barbara Rose, is happy to … read more
AJBlog: Plain English Published 2016-09-25

John Coltrane At 90 There are so many options that it is difficult to know what to bring you today to observe the great saxophonist John Coltrane’s (1926-1967) 90th birthday. Among Coltrane’s hundreds of recordings and videos, no doubt … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-09-23

Man Down! We’ve Lost Andrew Sullivan: The Battle For The Real World Is Coming For You Is reality just a construct of the online world or is the online world merely an overlay on reality? Every new technological advance that extends our reach also imposes previously unnecessary decisions about how and … read more
AJBlog: diacritical/Douglas McLennan Published 2016-09-23

A view from the gasworks In today’s Wall Street Journal I review an important off-Broadway revival of Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey. Here’s an excerpt. * * * Shelagh Delaney wrote her first play, “A Taste of Honey,” a … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-09-23