Category: AJBlogs

There exists in the hearts and minds of at least some in the nonprofit arts sector a sense that the work they present is superior to most or all popular culture — and that those who patronize such culture are inferior. This sets up a monumental barrier to connecting with new communities. And even if it is unconscious and unspoken, the attitude itself is easy for people to spot when it is directed at them. – Doug Borwick

After many years, I recently re-opened The Closing of the American Mind and discovered that Allan Bloom was prophetic. In effect, he prophesied identity politics and political rectitude – and closed minds and “impoverished souls.” – Joseph Horowitz

When we talk about organizations, or other forms of collective action by groups of people, we often speak as if we have dominantly conscious control. But evidence from a range of disciplines suggests that we’re not really in conscious control of much — individually or collectively. – Andrew Taylor

The metropolis does not have a high profile in generally accepted narrative of jazz and other progressive music, although it should: Mexico City has a thriving community of skilled, sophisticated and risk-taking musicians, having produced and attracted modernists and innovators in all the arts since at least the 1920s. – Howard Mandel

It’s been 10 years since I published what seems to have been some prescient commentary about the now (belatedly) completed Jean Nouvel-designed 1,050-foot tower (known to CultureGrrl readers as The MoMA Monster). – Lee Rosenbaum

The New Year seems to be a good time to try to set down some of my basic thoughts about the need for and the path to effective community engagement. As often happens on this blog, this is a very rough first draft. Refinements will follow. – Doug Borwick

As I watched Dolemite Is My Name on Netflix the other day, I realized that I never anticipated living to see the end of movies as a public and collective viewing experience. Yet it’s well on the way to happening. This led me to ask: what other things did I fail to envision taking place in my lifetime? – Terry Teachout

Here’s an item purloined (with his permission) from bassist Bill Crow’s column “The Band Room” in Allegro, the publication of New York Local 802 of the American Federation Of Musicians. – Doug Ramsey

For his album Long Waves, the Italian trumpeter and flugelhornist assembles a group of contemporaries to play his compositions and a couple of cherished standard songs. Ambrosetti’s fluid improvisations, sometimes with a Miles Davis bent, are consistently impressive. – Doug Ramsey

It was disheartening to realize that almost all of the statements issued yesterday by museums and their professional organizations “condemn[ing] the targeting of cultural sites for destruction” failed to cast blame for those shameful threats directly where the blame lies — on President Trump. – Lee Rosenbaum