Category: AJBlogs

Stephen Petronio: Honoring His Heritage, Moving On
The Stephen Petronio Company performs new and historic works. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2018-03-25

Other people’s stories: art by parents
We all have a strong inclination to view ourselves as the protagonists of our own stories. People in committed relationships have an increased incentive to view themselves as serving supporting roles in someone else’s narrative. Parents have an even stronger incentive to see themselves in supporting roles, and even as backdrop. What does this mean for artists? … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2018-03-26

Shostakovich and the Fool: Boris Godunov and King Lear
The most galvanizing Shakespeare experience I know is the 1971 Soviet film version of King Lear directed by Grigory Kozintsev with music by Dmitri Shostakovich. Its dimensions are such that … read more
AJBlog: Unanswered Question Published 2018-03-25

Monday Recommendation: DIVA At 25
The DIVA Jazz Orchestra 25th Anniversary Project (ArtistShare)
It has been a quarter of a century since Buddy Rich’s manager and relief drummer Stanley Kay found himself conducting a band whose drummer was young Sherrie Maricle. Intrigued by her playing, Kay set out to find whether there were other women jazz musicians of comparable talent. There were. DIVA was soon born and … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2018-03-26

 

Replay: Pierre Boulez conducts Debussy’s Jeux
Pierre Boulez and the New Philharmonia Orchestra perform Claude Debussy’s Jeux on the BBC in 1966: (This is the latest in a series of arts-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, … read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2018-03-23

Almanac: Winston Churchill on how to live
“Nature is merciful and does not try her children, man or beast, beyond their compass. It is only where the cruelty of man intervenes that hellish torments appear. For the rest—live dangerously; take things as … read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2018-03-23

Catching Up (Well…Giving It A Good Try)
The John Coltrane project described in this post is completed and awaiting release by Concord Jazz. However—I am happy to report—other free lance assignments have developed. Rifftides progress slows a bit while … read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2018-03-22

Paul Taylor and His Cohort
Paul Taylor American Modern Dance at Lincoln Center through March 25th. The Paul Taylor Dance Company in Doug Varone’s Half Life. Photo: Paul B. Goode I think I finally got it straight: Paul Taylor American … read more
AJBlog: DancebeatPublished 2018-03-22

Why Did the Attorney General Cave in Berkshire Museum Case? My Q&A with the Rockwells’ Lawyer
Those, like me, who were caught off-guard by the astonishing deal (now awaiting court validation) cut last month by the Berkshire Museum and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey feel justifiably blindsided by the AG’s about-face. … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrlPublished 2018-03-21

Paul Taylor and His Cohort
Paul Taylor American Modern Dance at Lincoln Center through March 25th.
I think I finally got it straight: Paul Taylor American Modern Dance is  … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2018-03-22

Catching Up (Well … Giving It A Good Try)
The John Coltrane project described in this post is completed and awaiting release by Concord Jazz. However,… in the next few posts we’ll call your attention to recent listening that may interest you. Some of the albums have been out a while. Others are quite new. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2018-03-22

 

Getting Picasso Right: You Think It’s Easy?
In London a few weeks back, I was fortunate to be there on the day of the press preview for Picasso 1932: Love, Fame, Tragedy at the Tate Modern. You might think. at first, that doing a Picasso show is easy, … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2018-03-21

Why Did the Attorney General Cave in Berkshire Museum Case? My Q&A with the Rockwells’ Lawyer
Those, like me, who were caught off-guard by the astonishing deal (now awaiting court validation) cut last month by the Berkshire Museum and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey feel justifiably blindsided by the AG’s about-face. … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2018-03-21

Maija Kauhanen sings about Child Brides
As you might have noticed from my last posting, this past year’s WOMEX had some pretty powerful women performing. Among them was most certainly Finland’s Maija Kauhanen, whose day case was exceptionally compelling. … read more
AJBlog: OtherWorldly Published 2018-03-21

 

What They Want
There is an unfortunate tendency on the part of some in the nonprofit arts industry to believe that it is their responsibility to provide to the public art that they think the public needs. This is usually based on little to no understanding of what those needs might actually be. … read more
AJBlog: Engaging MattersPublished 2018-03-20

Is there an ethical case against deaccessioning by museums?
In response to a post by artsjournal.com blog neighbor Lee Rosenbaum on proposed sales of works by the Berkshire Museum and the Lasalle University Art Museum, I asked via Twitter whether there was a coherent case to be made that  … read more
AJBlog: For What It’s Worth Published 2018-03-20

Berkshire Museum in Court: Pointed Questions, No Resolution (plus, a push for a deaccession law)
While the Berkshire Eagle’s Larry Parnass rushes off to file his story on the just concluded court hearing on the Berkshire Museum’s art-sale plans, let’s interpret what we’ve learned from Larry’s live tweets on how the proceedings went. … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2018-03-20

Meredith Monk’s Journey
Meredith Monk’s Cellular Songs at the BAM Harvey Theater, March 14 through 18. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2018-03-20

Old friends
I go back a long way with Laura Demanski, my best friend, who blogged with me as “Our Girl in Chicago” for many years. We met some three decades ago. Back then she was the … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2018-03-20

 

 

Court Hearing/Protest Demonstration: Crucial Week in Berkshire/La Salle Deaccession Deliberations
Coming to a boil this week, the heated controversies over the fate of endangered collections at two small, little-known museums pose a huge potential threat to museums around the country. And there’s only one sure … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2018-03-19

The Pleasure of Context
Like many people, when I read a great book, I immediately cast about for other titles by the same author.  When I see a film that catches my attention, I look for more by the same creative team. Part of this practice is a desire to get … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2018-03-19

Old friends
I go back a long way with Laura Demanski, my best friend, who blogged with me as “Our Girl in Chicago” for many years. We met some three decades ago. Back then she was … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2018-03-20

Propwatch: the axe in Buggy Baby
It was Chekhov who defined the essential rule of theatre props. ‘If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall,’ he told a friend in 1889, ‘then in the … read more
AJBlog: Performance MonkeyPublished 2018-03-16

Fallen Giants: Richard Meier at Cornell University & the Getty Center (and other besmirched luminaries)
“He’s a giant. We are all basking in the glow of his legacy.” So said Kent Kleinman, Cornell University’s Dean of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, as quoted in a Cornell Chronicle article … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrlPublished 2018-03-16

Dream academy
What happened to the genre of academic satire? In the Chronicle Review, Andrew Kay has some ideas; I’d like to offer a different take. Disclaimer: I’m no literary critic. But (a) I am an academic, … read more
AJBlog: For What it’s WorthPublished 2018-03-16

Almanac: Rex Stout on secrets
“You should know that your only safe secrets are those you yourself have forgotten.” Rex Stout, Death of a Doxy… read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2018-03-16

The Big Crack
Oh oh no, it’s Bonomo. Not the wrapper I remember. The polite ones pretend to remember, because they don’t want to show they aren’t down with your age. “Down with” is their age. And … read more
AJBlog: Out TherePublished 2018-03-15

The Big Crack
The vintage-candy vault is a Brooklyn cliché, like stoop ball, stickball, new pink Spaldings (Spawl-DEENS) down the grate. … read more
AJBlog: Out There Published 2018-03-15

Bill Frisell And Brad Mehldau: Alone
Their recording histories encompass dozens of collaborations, but in their new albums two of the most prolific recording artists in modern music go it alone. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2018-03-15

Mieczyslaw Weinberg on Film
Is Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-1996) a third Soviet composer to set beside Shostakovich and Prokofiev? An increasing number of musicians seem to think so, including the peerless Latvian-born violinist Gidon Kremer, himself a product of Soviet training. … read more
AJBlog: Unanswered Question Published 2018-03-15

Beware the Eve of the Ides of March
Today is the Ides of March, so I should have known better than to go to a performance yesterday of Julius Caesar at London’s new theatre, The Bridge. Remember, it was on … read more
AJBlog: Plain English Published 2018-03-15

Doin’ What You Do
In ‘Present What You Do’ I advocated for early engagement work to flow, where possible, from programming already planned and contextualized around the interests of communities. Serendipitously (there’s a word I don’t often get to use), … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2018-03-13

“Plundering the Art Museum”: La Salle University Faculty Senate Blasts Planned Art Sales (full text)
In a statement approved unanimously by those attending its Mar. 6 meeting, the Faculty Senate of La Salle University, Philadelphia, blasted the proposed sale through Christie’s of 46 highlights of from the collection of the … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2018-03-13

Spike, Smalls, and Mezzrow
Spike Wilner is a ragtime jazz pianist with an unusual background. He’s also the major-domo of not one but two great jazz clubs across the street from each other in Manhattan. … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2018-03-13

Reassembling A Bird Post (And Hoping For The Best)
(This post originally ran in 2014, but a record company or an agent or a publicist or fate removed the videos. The Rifftides staff has patiently reassembled the piece and restored the music. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2018-03-13

Decorative but not useful: the instrumental benefits of the arts
What good are the arts beyond the personal aesthetic pleasure we gain from them? There is quite a list out there, of these so-called instrumental benefits of the arts … But you don’t have to work in the art world long to know that these instrumental benefits are not seen as a purely intellectual enquiry, but are a tool for advocacy … read more
AJBlog: For What It’s Worth Published 2018-03-11

TEFAF Maastricht: Changing, But the Same
The world’s best art fair – Tefaf Maastricht. whose 275 participating galleries show the art of seven millennia, all told – got underway last Thursday, as usual. Fair organizers are keen to point out what’s different this year: … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2018-03-12

Monday Recommendation, Keith Jarrett Trio: After The Fall
Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette, After The Fall (ECM)
In 1998 Keith Jarrett was emerging from a siege of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that had sidelined him for two years. As he … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2018-03-12

Disruption
Life is full of small pleasures, and I do my best not to undervalue them. For me, many of life’s pleasures are solitary. … Sometimes, though, events capture my attention, pull me out of my self and away from my solitary activities.   Last spring was such a time.  Like many others, I found national and world events disrupting my routines.  That disruption was a good thing: … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2018-03-12