My review of vocalist Melissa Walker with Christian McBride's trio, in today's Inquirer. This was the final big engagement at Zanzibar Blue, one of Philly's top clubs.
I have to add a word about Ari Hoenig's unbelievably tight group "Punk Bop," which played Chris's Jazz Cafe the same night. Hoenig on drums, Joel Frahm on tenor, Gilad Hekselman on guitar and Orlando Le Fleming on bass. Playing music from Hoenig's Inversations CD, among other things, they reached the highest levels of metric complexity, stirring in heaps of blues and soul as well.
Frahm is at Sweet Rhythm in New York this week, celebrating the release of his new disc We Used to Dance (Anzic), with an imposing band: Kenny Barron on piano, Rufus Reid on bass and Victor Lewis on drums.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
Strained metaphor dept.
This is a few days old, but Edward Wong's NYT analysis of the political machinations of Moktada Al-Sadr builds up to the following line:
He has become a great improviser, the Miles Davis of the war.
Wong in no way means to glorify Sadr or validate his positions. But coming on the heels of Gilad Atzmon's latest call to jihad, I'd say that the above pushes the limits of good taste.
He has become a great improviser, the Miles Davis of the war.
Wong in no way means to glorify Sadr or validate his positions. But coming on the heels of Gilad Atzmon's latest call to jihad, I'd say that the above pushes the limits of good taste.
Gere's "offense"
As you've heard, a warrant for Richard Gere's arrest was served in India, in response to his public kissing of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty. Seeking to defuse the controversy, Gere has apologized for giving offense. Too bad — his initial response, that this was a publicity-seeking move by a fringe group of Hindu fundamentalists, was the correct one.
On NPR this morning, a listener wrote in that Gere should have been more sensitive to "Indian culture," as if there is such a thing as a unitary Indian culture. The country is massive, with a billion people and well over 18 officially recognized languages. Top Indian officials, and Ms. Shetty herself, are speaking out against the effigy-burning mobs.
To say that foreigners should "respect" these ultra-conservative wackos as upholders of "Indian culture" is like saying that visitors to America, in deference to "American culture," ought not to offend the political sensitivities of James Dobson.
[P.S. — On CNN someone was quoted to the effect that in India, there are "different ideas about how a woman should be treated." I'll say. Just look at the mobs of angry men protesting Richard Gere and imagine how they treat women.]
On NPR this morning, a listener wrote in that Gere should have been more sensitive to "Indian culture," as if there is such a thing as a unitary Indian culture. The country is massive, with a billion people and well over 18 officially recognized languages. Top Indian officials, and Ms. Shetty herself, are speaking out against the effigy-burning mobs.
To say that foreigners should "respect" these ultra-conservative wackos as upholders of "Indian culture" is like saying that visitors to America, in deference to "American culture," ought not to offend the political sensitivities of James Dobson.
[P.S. — On CNN someone was quoted to the effect that in India, there are "different ideas about how a woman should be treated." I'll say. Just look at the mobs of angry men protesting Richard Gere and imagine how they treat women.]
Rosenwinkel in Philly
Guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel is playing two nights in Philly at Chris's Jazz Cafe. Last night's two sets were marvelous — he's got Mark Turner on tenor, Aaron Parks on piano, Joe Martin on bass and Rodney Green on drums. Plenty of new material, plus heated renditions of "Zhivago," "Use of Light," "A Life Unfolds" and others. Kurt is no longer recording for Verve, a label teetering on the edge of oblivion; he'll soon put out a live recording from the Village Vanguard on his own imprint.
The last half-dozen times I've seen Rosenwinkel it's been at the Vanguard, in a climate of total audience absorption. There's nothing quite like it anywhere else. At Chris's the first-set crowd was terrific. But during the second set, the band had to compete with a noisy and oblivious bunch at the bar. Morale seemed to sag. A few in front started murmuring "shhh..." but it was Kurt himself who finally yelled "Shut Up!" Unprofessional? No, urgently necessary. Feeling antsy and rebellious, perhaps, he called "Milestones," a bebop standard, at a furious tempo. Propelled by Green's extraordinary drumming, he played a solo that left everyone aghast. Not sure if it was that or the "shut up," but people were paying attention now. An inspiring instance of onstage recovery, of battling anomie with sheer artistic will. Takes quite a reserve of talent to pull it off.
The last half-dozen times I've seen Rosenwinkel it's been at the Vanguard, in a climate of total audience absorption. There's nothing quite like it anywhere else. At Chris's the first-set crowd was terrific. But during the second set, the band had to compete with a noisy and oblivious bunch at the bar. Morale seemed to sag. A few in front started murmuring "shhh..." but it was Kurt himself who finally yelled "Shut Up!" Unprofessional? No, urgently necessary. Feeling antsy and rebellious, perhaps, he called "Milestones," a bebop standard, at a furious tempo. Propelled by Green's extraordinary drumming, he played a solo that left everyone aghast. Not sure if it was that or the "shut up," but people were paying attention now. An inspiring instance of onstage recovery, of battling anomie with sheer artistic will. Takes quite a reserve of talent to pull it off.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Our hopeless war debate, cont.
The only thing more frustrating than the debate between Congress and the White House on this war funding bill is the mainstream media's complete ineptitude in reporting about it. Andrew Sullivan points us to this comprehensive post by Marty Lederman. The background:
In budget request after budget request over the past few years, the President has failed to ask Congress for resources sufficient to fund the Iraq War. (This has presumably been intentional; it allows the President to avoid publicly acknowledging the true cost of the war.) Therefore, it has been necessary for Congress repeatedly to enact supplemental appropriations bills to fund the war -- seven in total.
The latest being the bill now making headlines. Lederman writes: "As usual, the nation's media have written countless stories about the public debate on this bill without providing ready access to the actual statutory language at the heart of the dispute." Following a detailed reading of that language, Lederman concludes:
The President will veto this bill -- which provides the troops, and returning veterans, with much greater funding and support than the President himself proposed -- simply because the bill would also, quite modestly, establish a presumption that redeployment is to begin by this July, if the Iraqis are not meeting the President's benchmarks, and if the President is unable to make the case to delay the beginning of redeployment to a later date. [Emphasis in original.]
And yet the President accuses the Democratic leaders of "[choosing] to further delay funding our troops." Nothing could be further from the truth.
In budget request after budget request over the past few years, the President has failed to ask Congress for resources sufficient to fund the Iraq War. (This has presumably been intentional; it allows the President to avoid publicly acknowledging the true cost of the war.) Therefore, it has been necessary for Congress repeatedly to enact supplemental appropriations bills to fund the war -- seven in total.
The latest being the bill now making headlines. Lederman writes: "As usual, the nation's media have written countless stories about the public debate on this bill without providing ready access to the actual statutory language at the heart of the dispute." Following a detailed reading of that language, Lederman concludes:
The President will veto this bill -- which provides the troops, and returning veterans, with much greater funding and support than the President himself proposed -- simply because the bill would also, quite modestly, establish a presumption that redeployment is to begin by this July, if the Iraqis are not meeting the President's benchmarks, and if the President is unable to make the case to delay the beginning of redeployment to a later date. [Emphasis in original.]
And yet the President accuses the Democratic leaders of "[choosing] to further delay funding our troops." Nothing could be further from the truth.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Philly live
I've made my peace with the fact that I'm missing tons of great live music in New York. But I'll tell you, the Philly calendar is nothing to sneeze at. Last night, Ethan Iverson and David King of The Bad Plus met two prominent avant-gardists, violist Mat Maneri and saxophonist Tim Berne, in a quartet they call Buffalo Collision. Iverson, a sometime critic for Downbeat and a truly creative blogger, describes the band this way: "Tim and Mat are pure, natural creators of abstract melody. Dave and I are impure, magpie souls who need drama and groove. These two philosophies collide like buffalo." Indeed they did at Penn's Rose Recital Hall: three extended free pieces, with Berne switching between alto and baritone saxes and Iverson threading all kinds of counterpoint and implied tempos, at one point sinking to his knees to play the piano's highest register. The middle piece was the best: Iverson began it with fractured solo playing, and King and Maneri ended it with a hypnotic duo passage. The concert was held under the auspices of the Ars Nova Workshop, which has more vital stuff coming up — check the website.
Other recent highlights: Mats Gustafsson's trio The Thing at an out-of-the-way venue called the Avant Gentlemen's Lodge (another Ars Nova gig); drummer Calvin Weston at the Rotunda, with a remarkable keyboardist named Brian Marsella; and the Kronos Quartet playing Terry Riley's "Sun Rings" at the Kimmel Center, with haunting sound effects and massive video display. This week Kurt Rosenwinkel plays two nights at Chris's. And one of the better-known clubs, Zanzibar Blue, will shut down after a weekend apperance by vocalist Melissa Walker. She'll be backed by Christian McBride's trio, with Aaron Goldberg on piano.
Other recent highlights: Mats Gustafsson's trio The Thing at an out-of-the-way venue called the Avant Gentlemen's Lodge (another Ars Nova gig); drummer Calvin Weston at the Rotunda, with a remarkable keyboardist named Brian Marsella; and the Kronos Quartet playing Terry Riley's "Sun Rings" at the Kimmel Center, with haunting sound effects and massive video display. This week Kurt Rosenwinkel plays two nights at Chris's. And one of the better-known clubs, Zanzibar Blue, will shut down after a weekend apperance by vocalist Melissa Walker. She'll be backed by Christian McBride's trio, with Aaron Goldberg on piano.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
The "peace" train
Sitting in heavy traffic on Route 76 yesterday, I had the compounded misfortune of hearing Deepak Chopra's Wellness Radio, broadcast on Sirius. Chopra, a millionaire many times over, admonished us all to rid ourselves of personal demons, the kind that tell us money is important. But what struck me most was a guest appearance by Jonathan Granoff of the Global Security Institute.
Granoff, based in Philly as it happens, is an "international peace activist." He has a penchant for mumbo-jumbo like "disarmament begins with the self." Like me, he abhors the cowboy unilateralism and belligerence of U.S. foreign policy under Bush. On Chopra's program he declared that three documents — the UN charter, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty — are the pillars on which any progress for our civilization must rest. Again, I fully agree. Granoff went on to call for nuclear disarmament and to decry the West's threatening nuclear posture in the post-Cold War world. (I do not have a transcript handy.)
Chopra interjected with a good question: But what hope is there? Isn't the trend in the other direction, with states like Iran and North Korea inching toward nuclear weapons? Granoff's tone changed remarkably — from clear and unflinching moral condemnation of the West, to mushy-headed apologetics for the dictatorial regimes that Chopra mentioned. With Iran, he said, the issue is really whether states have the right to develop peaceful nuclear technology. And North Korea, he averred, needs to be welcomed back to the international community and given a security guarantee.
Granoff seemed to suggest that these authoritarian states bear none of the blame for the current situation. His forgiving, carefully neutral tone was in stark contrast to his previously stated concern for the human rights treaties and principles listed above. About the West's violations of such treaties and principles, Granoff was dogged and loquacious. He was silent, however, about North Korea's surreal, tyrannical repression of its citizens, not to mention its proliferation of conventional weapons around the globe — something that ought to concern a peace activist very much. Granoff also declined to mention, much less condemn, recent Iranian boasting about its thousands of centrifuges and its ongoing plans to enrich uranium, in defiance of the very United Nations that Granoff held so sacred at the beginning of the hour. And of course, not a word about Iran's human rights record. We're talking about a regime that regards the Universal Declaration on Human Rights as so much Kleenex, whose current president is a Holocaust denier who has openly made common cause with European and American neo-Nazis. Opposing this sort of thing doesn't factor into today's "peace activism," apparently.
Granoff is right to oppose the Bush administration worldview, and to warn against the absolute folly of any possible military strike against Iran. But these positions have led him to soft-pedal his take on the regimes arrayed against the U.S. — regimes that merit condemnation, in the strongest terms, according to every criterion that Granoff himself articulates.
Aside from the one interjection, Deepak Chopra barely challenged Granoff at all. "Healing the collective consciousness" is all fine and good, but when it comes to political issues as grave as this, Chopra's program is worse than useless.
Granoff, based in Philly as it happens, is an "international peace activist." He has a penchant for mumbo-jumbo like "disarmament begins with the self." Like me, he abhors the cowboy unilateralism and belligerence of U.S. foreign policy under Bush. On Chopra's program he declared that three documents — the UN charter, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty — are the pillars on which any progress for our civilization must rest. Again, I fully agree. Granoff went on to call for nuclear disarmament and to decry the West's threatening nuclear posture in the post-Cold War world. (I do not have a transcript handy.)
Chopra interjected with a good question: But what hope is there? Isn't the trend in the other direction, with states like Iran and North Korea inching toward nuclear weapons? Granoff's tone changed remarkably — from clear and unflinching moral condemnation of the West, to mushy-headed apologetics for the dictatorial regimes that Chopra mentioned. With Iran, he said, the issue is really whether states have the right to develop peaceful nuclear technology. And North Korea, he averred, needs to be welcomed back to the international community and given a security guarantee.
Granoff seemed to suggest that these authoritarian states bear none of the blame for the current situation. His forgiving, carefully neutral tone was in stark contrast to his previously stated concern for the human rights treaties and principles listed above. About the West's violations of such treaties and principles, Granoff was dogged and loquacious. He was silent, however, about North Korea's surreal, tyrannical repression of its citizens, not to mention its proliferation of conventional weapons around the globe — something that ought to concern a peace activist very much. Granoff also declined to mention, much less condemn, recent Iranian boasting about its thousands of centrifuges and its ongoing plans to enrich uranium, in defiance of the very United Nations that Granoff held so sacred at the beginning of the hour. And of course, not a word about Iran's human rights record. We're talking about a regime that regards the Universal Declaration on Human Rights as so much Kleenex, whose current president is a Holocaust denier who has openly made common cause with European and American neo-Nazis. Opposing this sort of thing doesn't factor into today's "peace activism," apparently.
Granoff is right to oppose the Bush administration worldview, and to warn against the absolute folly of any possible military strike against Iran. But these positions have led him to soft-pedal his take on the regimes arrayed against the U.S. — regimes that merit condemnation, in the strongest terms, according to every criterion that Granoff himself articulates.
Aside from the one interjection, Deepak Chopra barely challenged Granoff at all. "Healing the collective consciousness" is all fine and good, but when it comes to political issues as grave as this, Chopra's program is worse than useless.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Andrew Hill R.I.P.
This morning, America lost one of its greatest musical talents, the pianist and composer Andrew Hill. I spent time with Mr. Hill at his home in Jersey City while researching a piece for the April 2006 edition of Jazz Times. That piece is here [pdf].
[Update: There's a really interesting Hill post at Do The Math.]
[Update: What a gift. Andrew Hill's final concert, at Trinity Church March 29, is available in its entirety online.]
[Update: There's a really interesting Hill post at Do The Math.]
[Update: What a gift. Andrew Hill's final concert, at Trinity Church March 29, is available in its entirety online.]
Ban all handguns
Like Timothy Noah of Slate, I'm perfectly comfortable calling for this. I regard Noah's piece as the definitive statement on the gun-control implications of the Virginia Tech massacre. And no, arguing for gun control after this calamity is not "playing politics" with tragedy, etc. No one argues that banning guns will stop all gun violence. But it will reduce it. I just moved to a city, Philadelphia, that is suffering from an epidemic of gun violence, so this debate is not the least bit abstract to me.
Noah shines a light on the curious logic of the pro-gun forces:
A psychopathic mass-murderer buys a gun legally. That's an argument against gun control. A psychopathic mass-murderer buys a gun illegally. That's an argument against gun control, too. Everything is an argument against gun control.
He continues:
This country, speaking through its government, does not favor gun control.
[...]The massacre at Virginia Tech is a logical consequence of that reality. Are we sorry that 32 people, most of them no older than 22, were killed? Of course. But we aren't so sorry that we intend to do anything to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. We value the lives of Mary Read, Ryan Clark, Leslie Sherman, and all the rest, but we value more their killer Cho Seung Hui's untrammeled right to purchase not only a Glock 19 and a Walther P22, but also the ammunition clips that, according to the April 18 Washington Post, would have been impossible to obtain legally had Congress not allowed President Clinton's assault-weapon ban to expire three years ago.
[...]
There are people in this country today who, one day in the future, will be gunned down by psychopaths like Cho Seung-Hui. Future presidents will be assassinated, if the past is any guide, and probably the odd pop star, too. We could spare these lives—some of them, at least—by making it difficult or impossible to acquire a handgun in the United States. But we choose not to. Tough luck, whoever you are.
[Update: "[Cho Seung-Hui] ended up buying a load of mags from Wal-Mart and Dick’s Sporting Goods." NY Times 4/20. Seventeen spent magazines were recovered at the crime scene. You can go to jail for a long time over a bag of weed. But you can buy all the 9-mm. ammunition you want at Wal-Mart.]
Noah shines a light on the curious logic of the pro-gun forces:
A psychopathic mass-murderer buys a gun legally. That's an argument against gun control. A psychopathic mass-murderer buys a gun illegally. That's an argument against gun control, too. Everything is an argument against gun control.
He continues:
This country, speaking through its government, does not favor gun control.
[...]The massacre at Virginia Tech is a logical consequence of that reality. Are we sorry that 32 people, most of them no older than 22, were killed? Of course. But we aren't so sorry that we intend to do anything to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. We value the lives of Mary Read, Ryan Clark, Leslie Sherman, and all the rest, but we value more their killer Cho Seung Hui's untrammeled right to purchase not only a Glock 19 and a Walther P22, but also the ammunition clips that, according to the April 18 Washington Post, would have been impossible to obtain legally had Congress not allowed President Clinton's assault-weapon ban to expire three years ago.
[...]
There are people in this country today who, one day in the future, will be gunned down by psychopaths like Cho Seung-Hui. Future presidents will be assassinated, if the past is any guide, and probably the odd pop star, too. We could spare these lives—some of them, at least—by making it difficult or impossible to acquire a handgun in the United States. But we choose not to. Tough luck, whoever you are.
[Update: "[Cho Seung-Hui] ended up buying a load of mags from Wal-Mart and Dick’s Sporting Goods." NY Times 4/20. Seventeen spent magazines were recovered at the crime scene. You can go to jail for a long time over a bag of weed. But you can buy all the 9-mm. ammunition you want at Wal-Mart.]
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Kitty Carlisle Hart
Just a word in memory of singer and actress Kitty Carlisle Hart, who died on April 17 at age 96.
I have a particularly vivid memory of meeting Mrs. Hart. It was at least five, maybe seven years ago, when I was a guitarist for hire. [Update: It stands to reason that this was her 90th birthday celebration.] I got a call from actor Geoff Nauffts, with whom I'd worked once before. He told me about a little gig, I think at the Gramercy Theater on East 23rd Street (now defunct). Just one song, "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face," in a bouncy jazz feel, just for guitar and voice. I figured it would be casual, so I threw on a faded pair of Dickies and a green shirt with a collar. When I showed up I learned that this was a gala tribute to ... Kitty Carlisle Hart. Betty Buckley was on the bill, along with Judy Kuhn and a host of others.
Looking around, I could immediately see that I was badly underdressed. I ran out of the theater and looked for a nearby clothing store and a decent pair of pants. No luck. Backstage, I voiced my embarrassment to Geoff, who was completely nonchalant. I ran into the great pianist Bruce Barth, who was there to accompany Betty Buckley. A moment later I was face to face with Mrs. Hart. She smiled at me and asked with genuine interest and open-heartedness: "And what are you going to play?" I told her; she seemed delighted. I think we shook hands.
Thank you, Mrs. Hart, for your graciousness during one of my not-so-professional moments.
I have a particularly vivid memory of meeting Mrs. Hart. It was at least five, maybe seven years ago, when I was a guitarist for hire. [Update: It stands to reason that this was her 90th birthday celebration.] I got a call from actor Geoff Nauffts, with whom I'd worked once before. He told me about a little gig, I think at the Gramercy Theater on East 23rd Street (now defunct). Just one song, "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face," in a bouncy jazz feel, just for guitar and voice. I figured it would be casual, so I threw on a faded pair of Dickies and a green shirt with a collar. When I showed up I learned that this was a gala tribute to ... Kitty Carlisle Hart. Betty Buckley was on the bill, along with Judy Kuhn and a host of others.
Looking around, I could immediately see that I was badly underdressed. I ran out of the theater and looked for a nearby clothing store and a decent pair of pants. No luck. Backstage, I voiced my embarrassment to Geoff, who was completely nonchalant. I ran into the great pianist Bruce Barth, who was there to accompany Betty Buckley. A moment later I was face to face with Mrs. Hart. She smiled at me and asked with genuine interest and open-heartedness: "And what are you going to play?" I told her; she seemed delighted. I think we shook hands.
Thank you, Mrs. Hart, for your graciousness during one of my not-so-professional moments.
On Ropeadope Digital
Ropeadope Records, founded in 1999, has essentially reinvented itself as Ropeadope Digital, an online venture. My story is in today's Philadelphia Inquirer.
"Jihad don't swing"
Forwarded to me from a jazz radio programmers' listserv, a riposte to Gilad Atzmon's morally and intellectually bankrupt portrait of jazz as "holy war" akin to militant jihad.
---
Last night's televised prayers of representatives of the Moslem, Buddhist, Jewish and Christian community of Virginia Tech offering solace to the families and friends of the massacre victims and appeals for mutual respect and restraint in the tragedy's aftermath are a moving reminder of the America we uphold and the hatred and violence we reject.
The recent posting of Gilad Atzmon's confused ramblings is particularly abhorrent in view of his attempt to couple the symbol of freedom that is jazz with the moniker of incitement that is jihad.
Students at the University of Denver where Atzmon spoke may be interested to note that Colorado hosted, half a century earlier, a father of Islamic extremism and jihad, Sayyid Qutb, whose rantings against jazz, among other American repugnancies such as its bare-legged women, are noted in last October's Unesco-sponsored jazz symposium (marking the 50th Anniversary of the 1st International Congress of Black Writers and Artists 1956-2006):
"In 'The Age of Horrorism', an essay in the Observer, Martin Amis quoted Sayyid Qutb, a founder of Islamic fundamentalism, as defining jazz as "a type of music invented by blacks to please their primitive tendencies - their desire for noise and their appetite for sexual arousal." That is pretty much how Hitler and Stalin defined it. Like it or not, you have to admit music with enemies like that can't be all bad." ( Mike Zwerin, "Jazz Is World Music, Even With An American Accent", Oct 2, 2006)
Respected journalists including The Washington Post's Lee Hockstader have lamented the Islamic extremism that closed down Ramallah's sole jazz club at the start of the 2nd Intifada, preventing saxophonist Arnie Lawrence and his co-existence jazz band of Israelis and Palestinians from continuing to play there to a packed multi-cultural house. Last April 22, marking a year since Mr Lawrence's death, Israel's Army Radio dedicated its weekly jazz program to this dream of cultural freedom, broadcasting Mr Lawrence's Palestinian-Israeli-American ensemble singing "Cheek to Cheek" in the still unreleased "Live from Ramallah".
Since Atzmon mentions Max Roach in his diatribe, I would add that Max's "The Promised Land: A Peace Tour" in the Spring of 1999, brought together Moslems, Jews, Buddhists, Christians and others in a series of concerts throughout Arab and Israeli towns capped by a standing-room only Israel Festival performance for over ten thousand, despite the threats of jihadist suicide bombers.
As April 22 approaches, marking two years since Arnie's passing, his students of all faiths and nationalities continue to play together throughout Israel and wherever in the world free music is audible. Jazz swings. Jihad don't.
---
Last night's televised prayers of representatives of the Moslem, Buddhist, Jewish and Christian community of Virginia Tech offering solace to the families and friends of the massacre victims and appeals for mutual respect and restraint in the tragedy's aftermath are a moving reminder of the America we uphold and the hatred and violence we reject.
The recent posting of Gilad Atzmon's confused ramblings is particularly abhorrent in view of his attempt to couple the symbol of freedom that is jazz with the moniker of incitement that is jihad.
Students at the University of Denver where Atzmon spoke may be interested to note that Colorado hosted, half a century earlier, a father of Islamic extremism and jihad, Sayyid Qutb, whose rantings against jazz, among other American repugnancies such as its bare-legged women, are noted in last October's Unesco-sponsored jazz symposium (marking the 50th Anniversary of the 1st International Congress of Black Writers and Artists 1956-2006):
"In 'The Age of Horrorism', an essay in the Observer, Martin Amis quoted Sayyid Qutb, a founder of Islamic fundamentalism, as defining jazz as "a type of music invented by blacks to please their primitive tendencies - their desire for noise and their appetite for sexual arousal." That is pretty much how Hitler and Stalin defined it. Like it or not, you have to admit music with enemies like that can't be all bad." ( Mike Zwerin, "Jazz Is World Music, Even With An American Accent", Oct 2, 2006)
Respected journalists including The Washington Post's Lee Hockstader have lamented the Islamic extremism that closed down Ramallah's sole jazz club at the start of the 2nd Intifada, preventing saxophonist Arnie Lawrence and his co-existence jazz band of Israelis and Palestinians from continuing to play there to a packed multi-cultural house. Last April 22, marking a year since Mr Lawrence's death, Israel's Army Radio dedicated its weekly jazz program to this dream of cultural freedom, broadcasting Mr Lawrence's Palestinian-Israeli-American ensemble singing "Cheek to Cheek" in the still unreleased "Live from Ramallah".
Since Atzmon mentions Max Roach in his diatribe, I would add that Max's "The Promised Land: A Peace Tour" in the Spring of 1999, brought together Moslems, Jews, Buddhists, Christians and others in a series of concerts throughout Arab and Israeli towns capped by a standing-room only Israel Festival performance for over ten thousand, despite the threats of jihadist suicide bombers.
As April 22 approaches, marking two years since Arnie's passing, his students of all faiths and nationalities continue to play together throughout Israel and wherever in the world free music is audible. Jazz swings. Jihad don't.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Atzmon meets Imus
Consider two quotes:
"There's never been a suggestion on my radio program that there is some inherent characteristic or ability of one race that makes them superior to another," [Don] Imus said. — from 60 Minutes transcript, April 15, 2007
"I find it important to mention that in none of my political texts or interviews have I ever used any kind of racially orientated arguments." — Gilad Atzmon, UK-based saxophonist and "activist," attempting to deny that he is an antisemite.
Their logic is precisely the same, resting on an absurdly narrow and self-serving definition of racism. Atzmon (Imus) wants us to believe that if you're not a master-race theorist, running around comparing the size of human skulls and such, then you're not a racist. It's amazing that anyone on the left would buy this for a second.
Here is the latest from Atzmon: a speech he made at the University of Denver, where he tried to wow the students with "Lacanian terminology" and openly proclaimed solidarity with "the last sovereign pockets of Muslim resistance" in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan. I do wonder whether he supports the jihadis of the Tawhid and Jihad Brigades in Gaza, who abducted and very possibly killed BBC journalist Alan Johnston — a crime that has been condemned outright by a large number of Palestinians.
Worst of all, Atzmon invokes jazz music itself as a vindication of his beliefs:
For me, Jihad and Jazz are very similar forms of commitment. For me, the generations of Black Americans who sacrificed everything for the sake of beauty and resistance were actually engaged in a holy war. For me it was Bird, Max Roach, Dizzy, Coltrane and others who went far beyond the American dream of materialism and market value.
To the best of my knowledge, Bird, Max, Dizzy and Trane never killed anyone, let alone an innocent civilian.
"There's never been a suggestion on my radio program that there is some inherent characteristic or ability of one race that makes them superior to another," [Don] Imus said. — from 60 Minutes transcript, April 15, 2007
"I find it important to mention that in none of my political texts or interviews have I ever used any kind of racially orientated arguments." — Gilad Atzmon, UK-based saxophonist and "activist," attempting to deny that he is an antisemite.
Their logic is precisely the same, resting on an absurdly narrow and self-serving definition of racism. Atzmon (Imus) wants us to believe that if you're not a master-race theorist, running around comparing the size of human skulls and such, then you're not a racist. It's amazing that anyone on the left would buy this for a second.
Here is the latest from Atzmon: a speech he made at the University of Denver, where he tried to wow the students with "Lacanian terminology" and openly proclaimed solidarity with "the last sovereign pockets of Muslim resistance" in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan. I do wonder whether he supports the jihadis of the Tawhid and Jihad Brigades in Gaza, who abducted and very possibly killed BBC journalist Alan Johnston — a crime that has been condemned outright by a large number of Palestinians.
Worst of all, Atzmon invokes jazz music itself as a vindication of his beliefs:
For me, Jihad and Jazz are very similar forms of commitment. For me, the generations of Black Americans who sacrificed everything for the sake of beauty and resistance were actually engaged in a holy war. For me it was Bird, Max Roach, Dizzy, Coltrane and others who went far beyond the American dream of materialism and market value.
To the best of my knowledge, Bird, Max, Dizzy and Trane never killed anyone, let alone an innocent civilian.
"True Mathematics"
My profile of "the great restructural master" Anthony Braxton appears in the May 2007 issue of Jazz Times. PDF downloadable here.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Tonic's closing represents wider cultural crisis
Received this from a New York-based musician and thought I'd post it here. The news of Tonic's closing astounds me, but it shouldn't. I never thought I'd see the words "Luxury Condos" and "Avenue B" next to each other, but indeed I did last time I walked through Alphabet City. (Tonic lies just south of there, but same deal.) Just the sight of Tonic's squat little building, literally fighting for space next to the huge construction site immediately to the south, was enough to tell you that the venue was in trouble.
One of my fondest Tonic memories: Drew Gress with Tim Berne, Uri Caine and Jim Black in the mid-'90s, before the club even had a stage. The last show I saw there was Han Bennink with Dave Douglas and a handful of others.
---
Press Release: Avant Jazz/Indie/New Music Cultural Crisis
April 11, 2007
Responding to community outrage at the eviction of Tonic - a center of New York City's new music cultural life for the last 9 years - an ad hoc committee of musicians, cultural activists, and their supporters are convening to call for public political intervention.
When: 11:00 am this Saturday April 14th
Where: Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street between Rivington and Delancey
Why: To ask for public political intervention to protect new music/indie/avant/jazz in New York City and to ask the city to provide a minimum 200 capacity, centrally located venue for experimental music.
What: From 11 am on April 14 -- musicians and other performers will stage a musical protest against the planned closing of Tonic, a vital NYC new music resource.
Tonic, located at 107 Norfolk Street, has been unable to afford a series of rent increases imposed by landlord William Gottleib Inc. It will be forced to close its doors April 14th.
Contact: 646-250-9361/ 646-244-1886.
Or email - bridge3@takeittothebridge.com
Coming on the heels of the closing of CBGB's, Sin-e, Fez, the Continental, and numerous other downtown venues, the closing of Tonic represents the continued shutting down of NYC's most important live music experimental jazz, indie, and new music scene.
This wave of club closings constitutes a market failure. If there is not immediate and sufficient public intervention, either in the form of limiting rents, or supplying alternate space and funding, or both, New York City will lose an essential part of its heritage, culture, and economy.
Tonic is the last new music/indie/avant jazz venue in Manhattan with a capacity above 90, presenting concerts on a nightly basis. It is also the last such venue in the city with the relatively musician friendly policy of paying 75% of door receipts.
In words of Steven Bernstein (leader of the band Sex Mob):
“My band closes some of the biggest festivals in Europe...Meanwhile there’s only one club I can play in New York and it’s about to close.” (New York Times)
According to Patricia Nicholson-Parker, organizer of the Vision Festival:
“We have come together to say we deserve a space and in essence, we have already paid for our space. Musicians contribute to the economy of this city every day with world-class performances. In the case of Tonic, many musicians came together and invested in the space. Through benefits and organizing they raised significant sums of money (100+ grand) for the venue, ‘Tonic.’ The city needs to acknowledge this. It is good for the city and good for the artists and their audiences for the city to make available a musician-friendly community venue which holds up to 200 audience members. It is important that it be centrally located in the LES where this serious alternative music has been birthed and where it can be easily accessed by audiences.”
This press release is being issued by an ad hoc coalition of musicians and supporters of new/experimental jazz/indie music. We represent a racially and culturally diverse community united in our desire to preserve the cultural legacy and future viability of this music historically based in the LES.
Saturday’s action will be the first of an ongoing series of actions towards this goal.
Further information and contacts are available at www.takeittothebridge.com
The coalition is asking:
1. That the city council adopt a general principle similar to European cultural policy: that the arts should not be left to the mercy of market forces: so that the new music and experimental jazz/indie musical culture, which is a unique asset -- and an essential part of New York’s history, economy, and identity -- will not to be left without support.
2. That the city recognize the damage done to its cultural heritage and status as a 'cultural capitol' by the displacement of venues central to experimental musics, and act now to protect those remaining venues from displacement -- either by providing funding sufficient to allow them to withstand the explosion of commercial rents, or by legislation forcing landlords to restrict rents of culturally valuable venues, or both.
3. That New York City intervenes to preserve 107 Norfolk Street as an experimental music venue, or make available a comparably sized and centrally located space for that purpose.
BACKGROUND
Economic impact:
There has been little discussion of the economic impact of shutting down nightly new music venues in NYC. Beyond its own inherent value as art, new music/experimental indie/jazz also serves as crucial research and development for a much larger music industry- entertainment products, including music, are a major New York City export, and live entertainment in NYC is a major factor in restaurant, tourism, and hotel industries.
The reason people come here from all over the world to hear music, and hire ensembles from New York to tour all over the world- derives from the unique sound of the city’s music. This uniqueness derives in turn from the historic interaction between NYC's mainstream and its avant garde and other indigenous scenes.
The proximity, the mutual artistic influence, the trading back and forth of players between mainstream and avant gardes is what has created the competitive advantage of NYC music -- its world famous "edge." The avant garde draws from a pool of excellent professionals also working in NYC pop, classical, and mainstream jazz and rock: these are enriched by the cultural ideas of its avant garde. This "edge" brings millions in local club and restaurant business, music and film production, and tourism to New York annually, in addition to creating employment for the thousands of NYC-based musicians who tour world markets on a yearly basis.
The Mostly Mozart festival is a wonderful experience for many New Yorkers. However, it is neither an export nor the type of music representing New York City's musical cultural abroad. Europeans can travel to Salzburg or Vienna to hear Mozart. New York's indigenous forms, however, are being presented every night of the year in cities throughout Europe, Asia and around the world. New music/experimental indie/jazz has support abroad completely disproportionate with its profile in NYC, as even a brief visit to http://www.europejazz.net/, the European jazz network website will confirm. And tourists from abroad can and do travel to New York to hear this music in its local setting.
But all this depends on its having a local setting: including a viable new indie and experimental music nightly club scene. It is not only culturally barbarous, but also incredibly short sighted economic policy that the internationally and critically recognized value of this music should be without an adequate, well advertised, and easily accessible showcase in its place of birth: one funded well enough to be able to both nurture new talent and present established musicians.
One of my fondest Tonic memories: Drew Gress with Tim Berne, Uri Caine and Jim Black in the mid-'90s, before the club even had a stage. The last show I saw there was Han Bennink with Dave Douglas and a handful of others.
---
Press Release: Avant Jazz/Indie/New Music Cultural Crisis
April 11, 2007
Responding to community outrage at the eviction of Tonic - a center of New York City's new music cultural life for the last 9 years - an ad hoc committee of musicians, cultural activists, and their supporters are convening to call for public political intervention.
When: 11:00 am this Saturday April 14th
Where: Tonic, 107 Norfolk Street between Rivington and Delancey
Why: To ask for public political intervention to protect new music/indie/avant/jazz in New York City and to ask the city to provide a minimum 200 capacity, centrally located venue for experimental music.
What: From 11 am on April 14 -- musicians and other performers will stage a musical protest against the planned closing of Tonic, a vital NYC new music resource.
Tonic, located at 107 Norfolk Street, has been unable to afford a series of rent increases imposed by landlord William Gottleib Inc. It will be forced to close its doors April 14th.
Contact: 646-250-9361/ 646-244-1886.
Or email - bridge3@takeittothebridge.com
Coming on the heels of the closing of CBGB's, Sin-e, Fez, the Continental, and numerous other downtown venues, the closing of Tonic represents the continued shutting down of NYC's most important live music experimental jazz, indie, and new music scene.
This wave of club closings constitutes a market failure. If there is not immediate and sufficient public intervention, either in the form of limiting rents, or supplying alternate space and funding, or both, New York City will lose an essential part of its heritage, culture, and economy.
Tonic is the last new music/indie/avant jazz venue in Manhattan with a capacity above 90, presenting concerts on a nightly basis. It is also the last such venue in the city with the relatively musician friendly policy of paying 75% of door receipts.
In words of Steven Bernstein (leader of the band Sex Mob):
“My band closes some of the biggest festivals in Europe...Meanwhile there’s only one club I can play in New York and it’s about to close.” (New York Times)
According to Patricia Nicholson-Parker, organizer of the Vision Festival:
“We have come together to say we deserve a space and in essence, we have already paid for our space. Musicians contribute to the economy of this city every day with world-class performances. In the case of Tonic, many musicians came together and invested in the space. Through benefits and organizing they raised significant sums of money (100+ grand) for the venue, ‘Tonic.’ The city needs to acknowledge this. It is good for the city and good for the artists and their audiences for the city to make available a musician-friendly community venue which holds up to 200 audience members. It is important that it be centrally located in the LES where this serious alternative music has been birthed and where it can be easily accessed by audiences.”
This press release is being issued by an ad hoc coalition of musicians and supporters of new/experimental jazz/indie music. We represent a racially and culturally diverse community united in our desire to preserve the cultural legacy and future viability of this music historically based in the LES.
Saturday’s action will be the first of an ongoing series of actions towards this goal.
Further information and contacts are available at www.takeittothebridge.com
The coalition is asking:
1. That the city council adopt a general principle similar to European cultural policy: that the arts should not be left to the mercy of market forces: so that the new music and experimental jazz/indie musical culture, which is a unique asset -- and an essential part of New York’s history, economy, and identity -- will not to be left without support.
2. That the city recognize the damage done to its cultural heritage and status as a 'cultural capitol' by the displacement of venues central to experimental musics, and act now to protect those remaining venues from displacement -- either by providing funding sufficient to allow them to withstand the explosion of commercial rents, or by legislation forcing landlords to restrict rents of culturally valuable venues, or both.
3. That New York City intervenes to preserve 107 Norfolk Street as an experimental music venue, or make available a comparably sized and centrally located space for that purpose.
BACKGROUND
Economic impact:
There has been little discussion of the economic impact of shutting down nightly new music venues in NYC. Beyond its own inherent value as art, new music/experimental indie/jazz also serves as crucial research and development for a much larger music industry- entertainment products, including music, are a major New York City export, and live entertainment in NYC is a major factor in restaurant, tourism, and hotel industries.
The reason people come here from all over the world to hear music, and hire ensembles from New York to tour all over the world- derives from the unique sound of the city’s music. This uniqueness derives in turn from the historic interaction between NYC's mainstream and its avant garde and other indigenous scenes.
The proximity, the mutual artistic influence, the trading back and forth of players between mainstream and avant gardes is what has created the competitive advantage of NYC music -- its world famous "edge." The avant garde draws from a pool of excellent professionals also working in NYC pop, classical, and mainstream jazz and rock: these are enriched by the cultural ideas of its avant garde. This "edge" brings millions in local club and restaurant business, music and film production, and tourism to New York annually, in addition to creating employment for the thousands of NYC-based musicians who tour world markets on a yearly basis.
The Mostly Mozart festival is a wonderful experience for many New Yorkers. However, it is neither an export nor the type of music representing New York City's musical cultural abroad. Europeans can travel to Salzburg or Vienna to hear Mozart. New York's indigenous forms, however, are being presented every night of the year in cities throughout Europe, Asia and around the world. New music/experimental indie/jazz has support abroad completely disproportionate with its profile in NYC, as even a brief visit to http://www.europejazz.net/, the European jazz network website will confirm. And tourists from abroad can and do travel to New York to hear this music in its local setting.
But all this depends on its having a local setting: including a viable new indie and experimental music nightly club scene. It is not only culturally barbarous, but also incredibly short sighted economic policy that the internationally and critically recognized value of this music should be without an adequate, well advertised, and easily accessible showcase in its place of birth: one funded well enough to be able to both nurture new talent and present established musicians.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Imus fallout
Finally, a piece examining the role of Don Imus's executive producer and sidekick, Bernard McGuirk, who was the first person to use the word "ho's" during the now-infamous exchange. I am fully delighted to see Imus get the drubbing he deserves, don't get me wrong. But there are other offenders as well.
Just as I don't support the idea of the ADL's Abe Foxman speaking for the entire Jewish community on the issue of antisemitism, neither do I see much value in Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson's highly public atonement sessions. But let's note that during his on-air meeting with Sharpton, Imus said, "Geez, I can't get anywhere with you people."
And try to beat this involuted logic from McGuirk: "To not satirize someone just because of their race, I think that would be patronizing and racist in itself." There we have it, the new math: It's racist not to be a racist.
[P.S. — I realize that there's a good debate to be had about what has been called "post-P.C." humor, of the kind heard on "South Park," "The Daily Show" and so forth. I'm a fan of the stuff when it's done well. The pendulum, in other words, can swing the other way, toward excessive fear of giving offense to one group or another. That's the point that McGuirk is trying to make, but he has no standing to make it. The Imus remarks unfolded in a context of what could be called "pre-P.C." humor. There's nothing knowing or intelligent about it; it's simply middle-aged whites demeaning young blacks, in the neanderthal spirit of the Old South.]
Just as I don't support the idea of the ADL's Abe Foxman speaking for the entire Jewish community on the issue of antisemitism, neither do I see much value in Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson's highly public atonement sessions. But let's note that during his on-air meeting with Sharpton, Imus said, "Geez, I can't get anywhere with you people."
And try to beat this involuted logic from McGuirk: "To not satirize someone just because of their race, I think that would be patronizing and racist in itself." There we have it, the new math: It's racist not to be a racist.
[P.S. — I realize that there's a good debate to be had about what has been called "post-P.C." humor, of the kind heard on "South Park," "The Daily Show" and so forth. I'm a fan of the stuff when it's done well. The pendulum, in other words, can swing the other way, toward excessive fear of giving offense to one group or another. That's the point that McGuirk is trying to make, but he has no standing to make it. The Imus remarks unfolded in a context of what could be called "pre-P.C." humor. There's nothing knowing or intelligent about it; it's simply middle-aged whites demeaning young blacks, in the neanderthal spirit of the Old South.]
Foster, Motian
I wanted to express belated excitement about one of my last evenings hearing music in New York (although that sounds so final — I plan to be back in NYC regularly). This was March 23, a night that began brilliantly uptown at the Thalia at Symphony Space, where clarinetist Andy Biskin played music from his CD Early American: The Melodies of Stephen Foster. Foster (1826-1864) is considered to be America's first professional songwriter, in the modern sense. We're talking things like "Camptown Races," "Oh! Susanna," "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" and "Beautiful Dreamer." Biskin gave them all a kind of postmodern makeover. Bits of humor and camp, sure, but this was no fooling around — it was musicianship on the highest level, with Pete McCann on guitar and banjo, Chris Washburne on trombone and tuba, John Hollenbeck on drums and percussion, and Theo Bleckmann guesting on vocals.
Downtown at Cornelia Street Cafe the same night, guitarist Joel Harrison presented his arrangements of music by Paul Motian, the iconic jazz drummer, still going strong at 76. Motian's original compositions have been pretty well documented over the years, but Harrison has highlighted their beauty as never before by setting them for string quartet and two electric guitars (Liberty Ellman played the second axe). The bewitching set included "Conception Vessel," "Etude," "Drum Music" and "Time After Time" and "Mumbo Jumbo."
Two venues, two bands, two tributes to composers from different aesthetic worlds. That's New York, and there's no place like home.
Downtown at Cornelia Street Cafe the same night, guitarist Joel Harrison presented his arrangements of music by Paul Motian, the iconic jazz drummer, still going strong at 76. Motian's original compositions have been pretty well documented over the years, but Harrison has highlighted their beauty as never before by setting them for string quartet and two electric guitars (Liberty Ellman played the second axe). The bewitching set included "Conception Vessel," "Etude," "Drum Music" and "Time After Time" and "Mumbo Jumbo."
Two venues, two bands, two tributes to composers from different aesthetic worlds. That's New York, and there's no place like home.
Monday, April 09, 2007
The Sadr legacy
Thousands have marched on Najaf at the urging of Moktada al-Sadr, to protest the American presence in Iraq:
“The enemy that is occupying our country is now targeting the dignity of the Iraqi people,” said lawmaker Nassar al-Rubaie, head of Mr. Sadr’s bloc in parliament, as he marched, according to the A.P. “After four years of occupation, we have hundreds of thousands of people dead and wounded.”
Here at Lerterland we support a troop withdrawal from Iraq. But Mr. al-Rubaie is a consummate hypocrite. History will record the Mahdi Army's own lavish contribution to the Iraqi death toll.
“The enemy that is occupying our country is now targeting the dignity of the Iraqi people,” said lawmaker Nassar al-Rubaie, head of Mr. Sadr’s bloc in parliament, as he marched, according to the A.P. “After four years of occupation, we have hundreds of thousands of people dead and wounded.”
Here at Lerterland we support a troop withdrawal from Iraq. But Mr. al-Rubaie is a consummate hypocrite. History will record the Mahdi Army's own lavish contribution to the Iraqi death toll.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Back in gear, slowly
About a week ago I moved from New York to Philadelphia, for reasons both personal and professional. I'm greatly enjoying my new life, but things have been quite hectic and I've had even less time than usual for blogging. I'll do what I can to change that in the coming days and weeks. Thanks for reading and please keep this space on your radar.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Six Picks: April 2007
My monthly list of recommended CDs, as published in All About Jazz-New York, April 2007:
Ralph Alessi, Look (Between the Lines/Challenge)
Bobby Broom, Song and Dance (Origin)
Anat Fort, A Long Story (ECM)
Alvin Fielder Trio, A Measure of Vision (Clean Feed)
Russ Lossing/Mat Maneri/Mark Dresser, Metal Rat (Clean Feed)
Kendrick Scott, The Source (World Culture)
Ralph Alessi, Look (Between the Lines/Challenge)
Bobby Broom, Song and Dance (Origin)
Anat Fort, A Long Story (ECM)
Alvin Fielder Trio, A Measure of Vision (Clean Feed)
Russ Lossing/Mat Maneri/Mark Dresser, Metal Rat (Clean Feed)
Kendrick Scott, The Source (World Culture)
On Pat Metheny & Brad Mehldau
Go here to read my Philadelphia Inquirer piece on guitarist Pat Metheny and pianist Brad Mehldau.
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