Recent Listening: Django Bates Trio
Django Bates’ Belovèd, The Study Of Touch (ECM) Following his engrossing participation in Anouar Brahem’s Blue Maqams, pianist Bates returns to ECM with his trio in nine of his compositions, a Charlie … read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2018-01-05
Intersession Deaccession: AAM and AAMD Issue Joint Statement Deploring the La Salle Sales
As they did in the ongoing Berkshire Museum saga, the American Alliance for Museums and the Association of Art Museum Directors have just issued a joint statement strongly opposing La Salle University’s planned sales of … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrlPublished 2018-01-05
Replay: Sid Catlett sits in with the John Kirby Sextet
The John Kirby Sextet plays Charlie Shavers’ “Musicomania” in Sepia Cinderella, directed by Arthur Leonard and released in 1947. The band consists of Buster Bailey on clarinet, Charlie Holmes on alto saxophone, Shavers on trumpet, … read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2018-01-05
Almanac: Michael Powell on the unity of “high” and popular art
“Art with a big A makes professionals uneasy. All art is one, and there is no difference in the mystery of the craft, only in the hand and eye of the craftsman.” Michael Powell, A … read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2018-01-05
Admission Revision: Metropolitan Museum Raises Eyebrows with Mandatory Fees for Non-New Yorkers
Were it not for my free-admission press pass, I’d be personally affected and affronted by the Metropolitan Museum’s new admissions policy. I’d feel as if a longtime lover had jilted me. As a Bronx native … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrlPublished 2018-01-04
Artichokes, Hearts
A while back I read that some folks were plucking artichokes from farm borders off the roads in California, apparently to sell. One doesn’t immediately think that these vegetable aardvarks are sustenance, although, indirectly, … read more
AJBlog: Out TherePublished 2018-01-04