Pike on Pilger

Far-left polemicist John Pilger is very happy to report that boycotting Israel is an idea that is catching on. Only problem is his evidence — he cites a group, Independent Jewish Voices, whose founding author is flatly opposed to the boycott. Pilger is either inept, dishonest or both. Jon Pike of Engage comments.

More on Pilger here and here.

Anoushka Shankar/Karsh Kale

My review of their Tuesday night Philly show, in today's Inquirer.

Free Aung San Suu Kyi

With Sean Penn and other celebs supporting a budding autocracy in Venezuela, it's nice to see Jim Carrey making a dead-serious appeal for the freedom of Aung San Suu Kyi.

[P.S. - Demonstrations have been flaring up in Rangoon in recent days. Take a moment to appreciate the incredible bravery of the Burmese opposition, whose members are being rounded up by plainclothes thugs:

Wielding brooms and hoes, [government agents] pose as members of the public, chiding the demonstrators before beating and seizing them, according to wire service reports.

Known as the Swan-ar Shin, or Masters of Force, they appear to have taken the place of military intelligence enforcers in combating protests.]

Katrina, two years on

My friend and colleague Larry Blumenfeld has an informative piece in Salon.

The week on disc (2)

In case you missed the last one...

Bruce Eisenbeil, Inner Constellation (NEMU): A 27-part free suite (just over 45 minutes), followed by three shorter pieces. Simpatico quintet featuring Nasheet Waits on drums and Aaron Ali Sheikh (curator of this important concert series) on alto. Eisenbeil sounds great on electric and acoustic guitars.

James Carney, Green-Wood (Songlines): The graffiti-style cover graphic led me to think this might be a hip-hop project, but no — it's a solid modern jazz outing for septet, featuring pianist/keyboardist Carney with the likes of Ralph Alessi, Tony Malaby and Josh Roseman.

Eberhard Weber, Stages of a Long Journey (ECM): Sumptuous live large-ensemble retrospective from the German bassist. Gary Burton sounds wonderful on it.

Marcus Strickland, Open Reel Deck (Strick Muzik): Good sophomore disc from the Twi-Life Group, with Mike Moreno taking Lage Lund's place on guitar. I don't quite get the three lo-fi tracks ("In-", "cep-", "tion-"), but elsewhere the sound, tunes and solos are strong. Features the spoken-word of Malachi on five of 12 tracks, and pianist Jon Cowherd on his own "Subway Suite 2nd Movement," which can also be heard here. [P.S. I was remiss in not pointing out trumpeter Keyon Harrold's fantastic performance on track 10, "Virtue."]

simakDialog, Patahan (MoonJune): Live recording from Jakarta, Indonesia, leaning a bit toward fusion, the main attraction being pianist/Fender Rhodes man Riza Arshad. Lyrical original works, with an edge.

Michael Musillami, The Treatment (Playscape): The guitarist's Beijing trio, with special guest Mark Feldman on violin. Long takes, open forms, intricate themes, tight rhythmic foundation in bassist Joe Fonda and drummer George Schuller. With a DVD too.

The buck stops ... where?

It's an unfolding investigation, with many conclusions still to be drawn, but the implications of this story are absolutely huge. It's about thoroughgoing corruption in the procurement of weapons for the Iraqi armed forces. We've already heard about how the U.S. "cannot fully account for about 110,000 AK-47 rifles, 90,000 pistols, 80 items of body armor, and 115,000 helmets reported as issued to Iraqi security forces as of Sept. 22, 2005." Which would seem to explain the countless kidnappings and wanton massacres carried out by men wearing legit Iraqi army and police uniforms. Well, apparently it goes deeper than that, and American officers may themselves be involved in criminal wrongdoing.

General David Petraeus, hailed by war supporters as some sort of god among men, has some interesting things to say:

General Petraeus has said that the imperative to provide weapons to Iraqi security forces was more important than maintaining impeccable records.

In an interview on Aug. 18, General Petraeus said that with ill-equipped Iraqi security forces confronting soaring violence across the country in 2004 and 2005, he made a decision not to wait for formal tracking systems to be put in place before distributing the weapons.

“We made a decision to arm guys who wanted to fight for their country,” General Petraeus said.

Or fight against American troops, it seems. This extraordinary and much-discussed op-ed [$], by seven service members questioning the very purpose of the war, contains the following passage:

A few nights ago ... we witnessed the death of one American soldier and the critical wounding of two others when a lethal armor-piercing explosive was detonated between an Iraqi Army checkpoint and a police one. Local Iraqis readily testified to American investigators that Iraqi police and Army officers escorted the triggermen and helped plant the bomb....
[...]
As many grunts will tell you, this is a near-routine event. Reports that a majority of Iraqi Army commanders are now reliable partners can be considered only misleading rhetoric.

So not only did the U.S. disband the Iraqi army, sending thousands upon thousands of armed Iraqis home without jobs. In the name of providing order and security, it then flooded Iraq with more weapons, without the proper accountability checks in place, leaving the process open to widespread corruption and, ultimately, facilitating attacks on American soldiers.

Something to remember when rabid rightists accuse war opponents of failing to support our troops in the field.

[Update: The plot thickens ... some of the missing weapons have turned up in Turkey. The continual border tension between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan may soon get worse....]

Black Sugar Transmission

Andee Hinds — singer, songwriter, guitar-shredder and not least of all, my good friend — has a new intiative he calls Black Sugar Transmission. It's fist-pumping, melodic and highly destructive dance-rock, and there are some new tracks mastered by Greg Calbi up at the BST MySpace page. Have fun.

More from Andee at Andee's Vault.

An inconvenient massacre

It's popular to beat up on the NYT's Thomas Friedman, but he hits on something important in today's column, "Swift-Boated By Bin Laden" (TimesSelect). His point: the Bush administration never hesitates to launch vicious p.r. attacks against Democrats but is curiously mute on Qaeda-inspired atrocities such as the anti-Yazidi attacks of August 14, which killed over 500 men, women and children. "[W]hat was the Bush team's response to this outrage?" asks Friedman. "Virtual silence."

"Excuse me," he continues, "but what exactly are we fighting for in Iraq, or in this wider war against Islamist extremism, if the murder of 500 civilians can be shrugged off?"

An excellent question, but Friedman leaves it hanging. The reason for the Bushies' silence is simple: to make a big to-do about sectarian massacres like this would be off-message. Much more important to claim the surge is working. To deplore the Sinjar bloodbath in forceful terms might confuse the American public. Heck, it might even seem an admission of failure.

So yes, the right is shrugging off these deaths. But they barely register on the American cultural landscape anyway.

Here's the thing: antiwar lefties are shrugging as much as anyone else. Take Tim Robbins, the very caricature of a dum-dum Hollywood liberal, on the season opener of Bill Maher Friday night. Robbins claimed that the U.S. has killed 400,000 of Iraq's citizens, not pausing to consider the proportion of internecine violence represented in that much-debated figure. That, too, would be off-message.

Sure, one can (and should) argue that Bush's cruel, arrogant and negligent policies led to the sectarian slaughter. But that does not mean U.S. forces have directly and wantonly killed 400,000 Iraqis. That is a lie, and it effectively lets the death squads and truck bombers off the hook. Their dead, mutilated and completely forgotten victims deserve a hell of a lot better.

The week live

Quick props to alto saxophonist Bobby Selvaggio, who came through Philly on Wednesday, August 22 in support of his new Playscape CD Unspoken Dialogue. The album features major players like Kenny Werner and Ben Street, none of whom were on hand at Chris's Jazz Cafe. But the quintet was quite capable — particularly the trumpeter Paul Tynan, whose time feel and melodic control really couldn't be more solid. Mostly originals in a modern vein, plus an offbeat bolero take on "Alone Together."

Yesterday I made a quick trip to New York for day one of the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, in Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park. Headliner Abbey Lincoln, 77 and not in the very best of health, bowed out thanks to the heat and humidity. Cassandra Wilson performed in her stead, accompanied by Lincoln's band — the young Juilliard student Jonathan Baptiste, on piano, was outstanding. Marcus Gilmore sat in for drummer Jaz Sawyer on the second half of the set (you'll rarely hear Marcus play bebop, but that's the way to appreciate how much his ride cymbal touch owes to his grandfather Roy Haynes). Altoist Steve Coleman and trumpeter Roy Hargrove, two starkly different musical personalities, could be heard battling it out on "Ornithology." Serviceable rundowns of "Caravan" and "Now's the Time," a rich and slow-paced "Up Jumped Spring," but Abbey was missed.

Vocalist Lezlie Harrison played with the surefooted guitarist Saul Rubin and organist Kyle Koehler, plus special guest Roy Hargrove in fine form. Pianist Marc Cary led his trio, one of today's best, with the vibrant Sameer Gupta on drums and tabla. Drum legend Chico Hamilton, who turns 86 next month, was a bit labored in speech, but funny: "I'd like you meet him, him, him, him and him," he said, pointing out the members of his band Euphoria. "Tomorrow being Sunday, we've got five hymns." The band played well despite time constraints, premiering a new and fairly intricate suite titled "Charlie Parker," with contrapuntal rubato themes and multiple shifting tempos.

Later that the evening at the Vanguard, trumpeter John McNeil and tenor saxist Bill McHenry co-led their quartet with Joe Martin on bass and Jochen Rueckert on drums — certainly on my list of top small groups of the year. They played seldom-heard gems by Russ Freeman and Tommy Flanagan, plus an entirely lost, unrecorded burner by Dizzy Gillespie called "Caprice." Loose vibe, slick and scaled-down arrangements, diamond-hard swing, incredibly subtle contouring from Rueckert's kit. McNeil is nearing 60; it's great to see him getting his due in a major club.

The week on disc (1)

At the risk of biting off more than I can chew, I'm going to start this little series to supplement my monthly Six Picks. The volume of music coming my way is just overwhelming — a lot really good, some extraordinary, too much of it getting filed away without comment. I figured it's time to step up the level of coverage on this site. I'll generally avoid overlapping these choices with Six Picks, but not as a rule. Editorial remarks won't be extensive; during particularly busy weeks, there won't be remarks at all. But better a quick list than nothing. Here's the first:

Mudville, Iris Nova (no label): Funk/soul/lounge vibe with major jazzers on board (Liberty Ellman, Alan Ferber, Michael Blake). Songs not great, but the production is, and singer Marilyn Carino reminds me a bit of k.d. lang meets Annie Lennox.

Benny Lackner, Pilgrim (Stray Dog): Pianist from the group Maroon with another moody, sonically inventive trio release. Derek Nievergelt on bass, Robert Perkins on drums. Two Feist covers, shades of Mehldau's Largo.

Bob Mintzer & Gil Goldstein, Longing (Owl/Sunnyside): Unbelievably beautiful duo recording from 1995, a reissue I think (or else the archival find of the year). Tunes by both players. Mintzer's tenor smolders, and his bass clarinet's even better.

Harris Eisenstadt, The All Seeing Eye + Octets (Poo-Bah Records): Adventurous drummer/composer, anything under his name guaranteed worth a listen. First half of this is a reimagining of Wayne Shorter's Blue Note classic, but I prefer the second half, a collection of original chamber-like pieces.

Chris Jentsch, Brooklyn Suite (Fleur de Son): Nice guitar work from the leader, though I'd love to hear him with a cleaner sound. The big band writing is tight, conceptually ambitious, packed with monster solos (Mike McGinnis, Andy Laster, Russ Johnson, more).

André Ceccarelli, Golden Land (CAM Jazz): Burning session from the Italian drummer. Pianist Enrico Pieranunzi destroys (he has a way of doing that). Tenor saxist David El-Malek does some damage too.

Vietnam syndrome

It crops up in the strangest ways, doesn't it? In 2004 Christopher Hitchens was berating Democrats and liberals for linking Iraq and Vietnam. Now it's Bush himself who insists on the connection.

People are picking apart Bush's historical analogy, I'm glad to see. I'll just add one bit of good news: at least Bush wasn't president when that war was going on. U.S. troops might still be slogging through the mud of Indochina.

Bush isn't wrong, incidentally, that Vietnam's victorious communists brought suffering to a large number of people. But he would have us believe the oppression and death started only after American withdrawal — that falling U.S. bombs and out-of-control U.S. ground troops did nothing to scar the population.

Similarly, Bush would have us believe that the bloodbath in Iraq lies in the future, that it isn't happening now.

By this point most people know the truth: that his failed policies created the conditions for Iraq's collapse. What is happening now is exactly what he and Cheney and Rumsfeld assured us would never happen. So, please, Mr. President. You're the last person anyone should listen to when it comes to humanitarian concern.

500 killed, 1500 wounded

That is the newly revised toll, according to the Iraqi Red Crescent Society, of the coordinated and genocidal attack on the Yazidi community of northern Iraq that occurred on August 14. Over 1000 homes were leveled in the blasts.

And U.S. politicians continue to travel to Iraq and report back that they felt very safe. Well, that's what really counts.

The NY Times article on the aftermath is hard to bear, but the most chilling passage is the final one:

“In a few days, 10,000 of our men will be ready to protect our areas,” said Kheder Aziz, who was sobbing on a street in Kirkuk. “All the Sunni Arab tribes living around us are responsible, either because they helped with the attack or knew what would happen.”

It will be a long time, U.S. troops or no U.S. troops, before this ends.

"Intifada NYC"

To rehearse the details of this controversy: a Brooklyn organization called Arab Women Active in the Arts and Media (AWAAM) printed t-shirts with the slogan "Intifada NYC." Debbie Almontaser, as principal of the soon-to-open Khalil Gibran International Academy, a Brooklyn middle school with no connection to AWAAM, defended the use of the slogan when asked about it by reporters. She was then bombarded with right-wing attacks from the NY Post, NY Sun, cretins like Daniel Pipes — groups and individuals that had been waging a campaign against the Gibran academy for months.

Almontaser then retracted her initial comments. Referring to the word "intifada," she said: "By minimizing the word's historical associations, I implied that I condone violence and threats of violence." Almontaser then resigned as principal, citing the school's best interest.

Former mayor Ed Koch isn't someone I'd expect to cite favorably, but he got it largely right, save for the fact that Almontaser wasn't technically fired:

“I believe there is nothing wrong with having a school related in Islamic culture,” said former Mayor Edward I. Koch. “ I don’t think there is anything wrong with the idea at all.” He added, referring to Ms. Almontaser: “They were too quick to fire her though. I thought she apologized and gave what she thought was an adequate response and is believable.”

I agree: Almontaser responded forthrightly and shouldn't be out of a job.

Representatives of AWAAM point to Almontaser's resignation as evidence of a climate of xenophobia and political intimidation. They're right, but only up to a point. Condemning Israeli policy toward the Palestinians is one thing; endorsing the Palestinian intifada, a violent campaign directed very frequently against Israeli civilians, is another; calling for "Intifada NYC" is another still.

Appearing on Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now!" — a program I've taken issue with here and here — Paula Hajar and Mona Eldahry make a rather disingenuous case. Eldahry speaks about the various pressures facing New York's young Arabs and Muslims. Echoing Almontaser's earlier comments, she cites the generic definition of "intifada" as literally "shaking off" and says that "Intifada NYC" simply refers to the need to speak out. Hajar argues:

You know, the language is a large language. Obviously words can be used any and in many different ways. And “jihad,” for example, “jihad” has an explanation. “Jihad” is a struggle. It's more relevant to the inner struggle. It's like your twelve-step program or Al-Anon or Alcoholics Anonymous or Weight Watchers. It's what you do to get clear, to kind of clean up your own business. That's what a jihad really is. But people use it always as a holy war. And this “intifada” -- I mean, Mona gave a beautiful explanation, and that was what Debbie was referring to. And people cannot just have these knee-jerk reactions. They have no context. They're not allowing for context either.

Hajar is nothing if not a politically minded person, and yet here she is insisting that we interpret words like "jihad" and "intifada" in only the most apolitical way. It doesn't wash. She is the one who is eliding context. Jihadists in Gaza, Iraq and Afghanistan are not talking about anything resembling Weight Watchers, and she knows it.

Interestingly, the AWAAM website carries an angry letter to Randi Weingarten, president of the United Federation of Teachers, from an organization called the Center for Immigrant Families. Weingarten publicly took issue with Debbie Almontaser over her initial defense of the "Intifada NYC" t-shirt. CIF attacks Weingarten as follows:

...do you not know that in most parts of the world, the word intifada connotes resistance to an unethical and illegal and brutal occupation? It is not the word intifada that promotes violence or that should be denounced; rather, what should be denounced is an occupation that promotes violence and that made the intifada necessary.

AWAAM proudly posts this letter on its site as a call to activism, under the banner "Letter Writing Anyone?" Seems that the real meaning of "intifada" isn't so murky and open to interpretation after all.

RIP Max Roach

In researching a forthcoming piece for the Inquirer on saxophonist Odean Pope, I happen to be listening to a lot of Max Roach — right now, in fact, Pope's unaccompanied solo from the 1984 Soul Note release Scott Free is blasting in my headphones.

Roach's quartet with Pope and Cecil Bridgewater was some of the first jazz I heard, in the early '80s. One of my best friends at the time was a drummer, and he alerted me to a TV broadcast featuring the quartet. I taped it on the newfangled machine of the time, called a VCR. And I watched, over and over.

Darcy James Argue has a roundup of posts here.

[Update: Of course the TV footage I mention above is on YouTube, here and here.]

On Alison Krauss

My review of Alison Krauss & Union Station, with special guest Jerry Douglas on Dobro, in today's Inquirer.

For music's sake

Forgive the light posting — I'm swamped with work. But least I can do is throw some support toward this initiative...

---

ACMA
Alliance for Creative Music Action

A Town Hall Meeting

Tuesday, August 21 at 6:00 pm
at
Clemente Soto Velez
107 Suffolk Street
between Delancey and Rivington

[Manhattan]

ARTISTS RISE UP
Creative Music Action (ACMA) is a group of musicians, other artists and their supporters who are joining together as a pressure group to bring awareness about the needs of art in our communities

ACMA is dedicated to the principle that NYC's new music and experimental jazz culture is a unique asset that must not be left to the mercy of market forces. The varied original, creative musics that have been developed in New York and exported all over the world must be supported in New York, the city of their origin. In order to make that support real and substantial, it is imperative that New York donates a building that is centrally located in Manhattan. There are other issues that can and will be addressed by this new organization, including pressuring for more adequate coverage in the various medias - that is radio, television and the print media. For example, JAZZ is a living, developing and evolving, non-commercial Art form that needs intelligent and appropriate coverage.

ACMA recognizes that New York City, historically the international capital for innovative music, is now facing an acute cultural crisis. The formidable forces wielded by a sky rocketing real estate market have steadily eliminated new music venues from Manhattan, driving out musicians and composers, young and old, famous and unknown, whom all have contributed mightily to the vitality of this great city. ACMA is working with government officials and private sponsors to vigorously reverse this trend. ACMA is now working with Arts for Art to find an adaquate space to establish a creative music center, centrally located in downtown New York. but it is cleat that the scope of the music that would be presented in a New Venue would be broader than that of the Vision Festival including a real representation of all of the innovative non-commercial music that New York has to offer.

We Invite all who are interested to come to a Town Hall Meeting
to take place at Clemente Soto Velez
on Tuesday August 21

Plan is to:
-Put pressure on the City
-Give Arts for Art and other worthy organizations
buildings and/or spaces
in strategic locations
for creative music / other arts

Strategies:
-Letter writing to publications and gov't officials
-Petitions
-Demonstrations / rallys - Where?
-Talking and blogging about this EVERYWhere
-Communicate that musicians are aware of their worth and their rights

COMMITTEES
1. How do the arts, and specifically innovative creative music, benefit the general community?
2. Identify issues - what is keeping the arts out of the community and what can be done about this?
3. Organize events
4. Write blogs and letters
5. Go to meetings with politicians

Tronzo to the rescue

Last night violinist Jenny Scheinman brought her quartet to International House in Philly, for a showcase sponsored by the wonderful Ars Nova Workshop. The group was to have featured guitarist Nels Cline, master avant-gardist from LA, now better known as a member of Wilco. The turnout was enormous, but sadly, Cline was not there — having toughed out two sets the previous night at Joe's Pub in New York, he simply could not make the road trip with a 103-degree fever.

So the remarkable David Tronzo filled in. Scheinman told me that Tronzo had come out to hear the band on August 5 in New Hampshire, where he lives. Little did he know he'd get a call from Scheinman at 2pm on August 7. He hightailed it to Boston, caught the only flight to Philly of the day, and made it in time to play the gig, cold, with no preparation.

Tronzo, a virtuoso of the slide guitar, has practically created a new instrument, and it suited Scheinman's rough-edged, lyrical, rock-inflected music perfectly. Bassist Todd Sickafoose and drummer Jim Black took to Tronzo quite naturally, mixing it up through the odd meters and tight transitions. It was Black, however, who stole the show.

"Wiretap at Will"

I'm researching a complicated piece for the Philadelphia Music Project, so posting may be light for a little while.

But I wanted to link to Patrick Radden Keefe's important analysis of the disgraceful wiretapping bill that Bush just signed. Huge surprise: the Democrats knuckled under and gave the Decider everything he wants. "The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is now dead, and it's never coming back," writes Keefe:

[P]oliticians keep insisting that even when we cannot understand all this patchy techno-legal babble surrounding eavesdropping, the public should nevertheless recognize that it's really, really important, and that fixes to the existing programs are so urgently needed, that there's not even time to comprehend what's being changed.

Keefe comprehends, and it's not pretty. Read the whole thing.

On Bobby Zankel

My review of alto saxophonist Bobby Zankel and his 14-piece big band, The Warriors of the Wonderful Sound, in today's Inquirer.

Unfortunately, my mention of Zankel's latest CD, Ceremonies of Forgiveness, was edited out of the piece. So I thought I'd mention it here.

The bridge

I have an old college friend from Minneapolis — checked in with him and found out he crossed the I-35 bridge about 90 minutes before it collapsed.

The incident has sparked a nationwide discussion of bridge safety, and my thoughts go straight to the South Street Bridge here in Philly, which is very nearby. My wife and I cross it all the time. Owing to the bridge's state of disrepair, it was recently closed to buses and heavy trucks. This has complicated mass transit routes and traffic patterns. Who knows when they'll get around to actually doing the repair work. Maybe sooner now.

On Biréli Lagrène

My feature on virtuoso guitarist Biréli Lagrène, in the August/September '07 issue of Global Rhythm magazine. PDF available here.

Sean Penn sucks up

Just a couple of weeks ago, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, demonstrating his contempt for the principle of free speech, "announced that foreigners who visit Venezuela and criticise his government will be escorted to the airport and expelled."

Sean Penn doesn't have anything to worry about.

Penn has visited Venezuela and been warmly received by Chavez. It's fairly certain he had nothing critical to say to the man who has openly embraced Robert Mugabe, who has declared Alexander Lukashenko's Belarus "a model social state."

Styling himself as brave and bold dissenter, Penn is in fact a bootlicker.

There is a noble left-wing tradition of opposing authoritarianism in all its forms — a tradition that this blog seeks to venerate and continue. Of course, there is also a left-wing tradition of excusing and supporting dictatorial regimes, and this is the path that Penn has chosen, making a mockery of everything he purports to represent.

The dogs of war, part III

For background go here. TNR has rechecked everything and stands by the story:

Although we place great weight on the corroborations we have received, we wished to know more. But, late last week, the Army began its own investigation, short-circuiting our efforts. Beauchamp had his cell-phone and computer taken away and is currently unable to speak to even his family.

[Update: TNR comments further here. The U.S. Army asserts that Beauchamp has recanted, and claims it has signed statements to that effect. But the Army refuses to release those statements and is stonewalling any further investigation.]

Six Picks: August 2007

My monthly list of recommended CDs, as published in All About Jazz-New York, August 2007:

Tom Harrell, Light On (HighNote)

Roscoe Mitchell, Composition/Improvisation Nos. 1, 2 & 3 (ECM)

Ferenc Nemeth, Night Songs (Dreamers Collective)

Michel Portal, Birdwatcher (Universal France/Sunnyside)

Alex Sipiagin, Prints (Criss Cross)

Dayna Stephens, The Timeless Now (CTA)

Ingmar Bergman RIP

In "The Seventh Seal" (1957) there's a scene in which the knight (Max von Sydow) sits down on a hillside with a troupe of traveling performers. They offer him strawberries and milk. The scene ends with the knight speaking these lines:

"I shall remember this moment. The silence, the twilight, the bowls of strawberries and milk, your faces in the evening light. Mikael sleeping, Jof with his lyre. I'll try to remember what we have talked about. I'll carry this memory between my hands as carefully as if it were a bowl filled to the brim with fresh milk. And it will be an adequate sign — it will be enough for me."