Category: AJBlogs

With 23 items exploiting the portraits currently arrayed for sale on the NPG’s website, the Smithsonian’s merchandising masterminds have found a way to turn an uplifting event into something bordering on tacky. (The book is very good, though.) – Lee Rosenbaum

Los Angeles singer Lyn Stanley frequently appears in L.A. with a big band of Swing Era veterans. But in this recording, her accompanists are six of Southern California’s busiest veteran players of modern jazz. – Doug Ramsey

Recently we had a small dinner party at Millwood Farm, the excuse for which was to drink a special bottle, one that had been in my cellar for a very long time. It was in its own, individual wooden box, and I had long overlooked it. – Paul Levy

One of the nice things about collecting art is that you needn’t leave home to look at it. I had to miss a major exhibition of Hans Hofmann, whose work I love passionately. Fortunately, Mrs. T and I had a Hofmann of our own — and now we have two. – Terry Teachout

I hadn’t wanted to write anything about this beforehand (for fear of putting a dangerous idea into someone’s head), but I was worried about the welfare of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts during the Jan. 20 gun-rights rally in Richmond. I was concerned that there might be a replay of what had happened in August 2017 in Charlottesville. – Lee Rosenbaum

When we “go to work” in the arts, we often mean actually going to an official and shared physical workspace. But there’s more and more opportunity and reason to cut the tether altogether — to abandon a shared, physical “home base” for an entirely remote or virtual work network that doesn’t have a street address. – Andrew Taylor

Those nostalgic for the closed Moishe’s Kosher Bake Shop in the East Village may wish to read this. (I walk the other way when nostalgia comes around the corner.) – Jeff Weinstein

What if I never write another book, or direct another play? Will I die a disappointed man? – Terry Teachout

“One of my happiest moments, in my years as a journalist, was when I got Ice-T to stop saying something homophobic and cruel in his live shows.” – Greg Sandow

Yelena Eckemoff, Nocturnal Animals (L&H Productions)
Russian-born pianist and composer Eckemoff, long a New York resident, collaborates with a superb rhythm section of Scandinavian musicians. They are inspired by creatures that populate the world’s forests of the night. – Doug Ramsey