The October Revolution in Jazz & Contemporary Music was something like a State of the Union for free improvisation and avant-garde composition, and also a statement of potential. An intergenerational sweep of experimentalists — including younger acts as well as many of free jazz’s first-generation heroes, now in their 70s, 80s and 90s — appeared on a well-appointed stage in a city not known for high-budget jazz presentations. It was a rare institutional moment for the improvising avant-garde and maybe proof that in a moment when jazzis surging, the United States can respect its fringes on a level that only Europe historically has.
Tag: 10.11.17
Disembodied Hands Are The New Stars Of Online Video
“The disembodied hand has a sinister cinematic reputation. … But on social media, the hand has been cast in a new role, as a symbol of artisanal craftsmanship and entrepreneurial zeal. … This time it’s a helping hand, channeling its energies toward cooking party foods and executing creative household hacks.”
Harvey Weinstein May Be Gone, But Hollywood’s Woman Problems Are Not
Manohla Dargis observes how Weinstein’s treatment of relatively powerless young women has been considered normal behavior in the film industry for most of its history – and considers whether the current backlash is a turning point.
MFA Boston Gets Two Huge Gifts Of Old Dutch Master Paintings
Two Boston-area couples who have been collecting 17th-century Dutch and Flemish art for decades are donating a total of 113 works – including canvases by Rembrandt, van Dyck, and Rubens – along with funding and library materials for a new Center for the Study of Netherlandish Art.
Jewish History Center Cancels Play Under Right-Wing Pressure; Backlash Follows
The board of the American Jewish Historical Society, based in Manhattan, canceled a public reading of Rubble Rubble by playwright Dan Fishback, a critic of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. The play is about disagreements within a family over Israel and Palestine, but, says Fishback, “The people who made this decision had no access to my script. This was about my beliefs.” Criticism of the cancellation came swiftly, and one artist removed work of hers from display at the Society.
Kansas City Symphony Increases Endowment By $55 Million
“After a five-year fundraising campaign, the Kansas City Symphony announced Wednesday that it had accomplished its goal of raising $55 million for its endowment fund, which will now total more than $100 million.”
Dancer Pennsylvania Ballet Fired For Being Too Tall Tells Her Story
Sara Michelle Murawski was personally recruited by incoming artistic director Ángel Corella, only to be told – four months into her first season and right before she went onstage as the Sugar Plum Fairy – that her contract would not be renewed because she was too tall for any of the company’s men to partner. (She’s 5’10½”.) She writes here about getting through the shock and disappointment, how her height has and hasn’t been an issue throughout her studies and career, and how she came to headline a new company that’s getting started this year in Charleston.
Lawsuit Dropped, Looted Antiquity To Be Returned From Met Museum To Lebanon
“A Colorado couple has dropped a federal lawsuit that sought to stop the Manhattan district attorney’s office from returning to the Republic of Lebanon an ancient marble bull’s head that prosecutors said had been looted during that country’s civil war. … The 2,300-year-old sculpture had been on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art until July when the museum turned it over to authorities.”
Britain’s National Theatre Says It’s Too Dependent On Money From On Commercial Transfers
While the three-venue complex at London’s Southbank Centre saw its best attendance (93%) in 14 years, with a boost in box-office income, its report says that the NT has relied too much on revenue – by nature uncertain – from the likes of War Horse and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time to offset government funding cuts.
Politics Looms Over World’s Oldest Book Fair
“‘Books are the best weapons,’ President Emmanuel Macron of France said at the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair, addressing the unifying power of literature and language. ‘Without culture, there is no Europe.’ … Can Dundar, the former editor in chief of the Turkish opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet who faces imprisonment in Turkey, will add to the political theme in a talk about writing in exile; the German author Thomas Wagner and the activist Gerald Hensel will discuss the identity of the new right.”