Category: people

“Gale walked on jazz’s cutting edge from his childhood. He was taught to play trumpet by bebop legend Kenny Dorham; as a teenager in the 1950s, he jammed with such titanic figures as Art Blakey and Jackie McLean; and he joined the Sun Ra Arkestra at 21. In addition to Ra, with whom he would work until the mid-1980s, Gale appeared on iconic and important recordings by Cecil Taylor and Larry Young before releasing two highly acclaimed albums of his own in the late 1960s on Blue Note Records. … Relocating from New York to San Jose in 1972, Gale built … a strong profile as an educator … [and] a passionate advocate and activist for musicians’ health and wellness.” – JazzTimes

For much of the 1970s and 1980s the Anna Wyman Dance Theatre was regarded as one of Canada’s foremost modern-dance companies. In 1975 it became the first modern dance troupe to tour Canada and went on to become one of the most travelled companies in North America. It took Canada-made modern dance to India, Southeast Asia, Australia, Europe and Mexico. It made TV specials, appeared in films and headlined at the National Arts Centre. – Vancouver Sun

“She originally created The Magic School Bus in 1986 with illustrator Bruce Degen. The core idea of a sweet and nerdy crew of schoolchildren taking field trips into scientific concepts, bodily parts, into space and back to the age of dinosaurs — and always led by their teacher, the intrepid Ms. Frizzle — eventually spun out into dozens of tie-ins and more than 93 million copies in print, plus a beloved television show that aired for 18 years in more than 100 countries.” – NPR

The man who functioned as the chief of police for the Ansar Dine extremists who took over the historic Malian city in 2012, destroying medieval shrines and manuscripts and terrorizing the city’s inhabitants, has been formally indicted at the International Criminal Court. Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoude declined to enter pleas on 16 charges. – BBC

“For more than 200 episodes, Mr. Imahara, lovingly referred to as the ‘geek’ of the show’s build team” — he had been an engineer at Industrial Light & Magic and Lucasfilm — “wowed audiences by bringing tech to life through his ability to design and operate complex robotics that helped test myths in subjects ranging from skydiving to driving stunt cars to firing guns.” – The Washington Post

“An accomplished artist and creative director, Walentas played a critical role in nurturing DUMBO’s artistic renaissance for more than 30 years.” As her husband, David, redeveloped the district’s old warehouses, “she sponsored local artists, brought arts programs to the Brooklyn neighborhood, and dedicated her life’s work to restoring the 1922 carousel in Brooklyn Bridge Park that’s named in her honor.” – Brooklyn Paper

Mrs. Sokoloff taught at Curtis longer than any other professor in the conservatory’s history, and more than anyone else, she was its gracious — if sharp-witted — personification. – Philadelphia Inquirer

OK, “mogul” might be stretching it. But Robinson, author of You Can’t Touch my Hair and Everything’s Trash, But It’s Okay, has a deal with Penguin Random House for her own imprint, Tiny Reparations Books. She says now is a good time. “I think the publishing industry is hearing — I think they are more receptive to the sort of critique that’s being presented to them, and they’re more willing to make those changes. … And I think it is up to people like me to make sure those changes keep happening.” – Los Angeles Times

Richter was “a prolific composer whose determination to be heard in a male-dominated field once led her to rent Merkin Concert Hall to stage a program of her own works” – and she wrote nearly 200 in a career spanning back to the 1940s. – The New York Times

Gina Prince-Bythewood, director of Love & Basketball (don’t @ us) and the also incredible, totally different Beyond the Lights, casually became the first Black woman to direct a superhero action movie. But 2020 was supposed to be big: “There were five other female-directed blockbusters. Obviously Patty [with Wonder Woman 1984], there’s Cate Shortland doing Black Widow, Mulan with Niki Caro, The Eternals with Chloé Zhao, and Cathy Yan’s Birds of Prey. … I hope we can destroy this narrative that women don’t love action, because we do.” – The Atlantic