Q: But didn't hobnobbing with the glitterati and playing before the royal families of Europe feel uncomfortable? Even John Entwistle commented in 1970 that The Who had become "snob rock," and "the kind of band that Jackie Onassis would come and see"? Townshend: "I don't know if I was uncomfortable with it or comfortable with it. I don't remember Jackie Onassis coming to one of our gigs. I never really quite got what John's grief was. I think John was in the wrong band. John wanted to be in, I dunno, Whitesnake. Really. But he loved me and he … [Read more...]
REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL: Eliza Gilkyson
March 23, 2004 By
Eliza Gilkyson LAND OF MILK AND HONEY (Red House Records) Topical songs from white folk are even more rare than they are successful, especially in a day and age when outrage is so commonplace. But rolling through a stack of CDs today in the car as I took my kids to school, I came across the lead track, "Hiway 9," and pretty much creamed my boots: So the little man gathered all his chicken hawks in and the neoo-cons and his daddy's kin They had their own clear channel and a hell of a spin And a white man hidden in a black man's skin If you … [Read more...]
LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS: Thomson on Didion
March 19, 2004 By
This was easily the best thing I read all week, and easily the best thing ever on Joan Didion (don't think the AJ "access" password works, though): She has admitted coming of age in the time of male novels - 'big fish, Africa, Paris, no second acts' - and of feeling disconcerted at the scant space allowed for women. 'I dealt with it the same way I deal with everything. I just tended my own garden, didn't pay much attention, behaved - I suppose - deviously. I mean I didn't actually let too many people know what I was doing.' There's that … [Read more...]
BSO CONCERT: Symphony Hall, March 16, 2004
March 17, 2004 By
Edo de Waarta, conductor Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano DVORAK Piano Concerto IVES Thanksgiving and Forefathers' Day JANACEK Sinfonietta In person, de Waart reminds me of Bernard Haitink, a fellow Dutchman, although his conducting manner is less stodgy. This came out a lot in the Dvorak, which had more orchestral than piano flair. Aimard was so good, however, that it made you wonder why he'd bothered. A lot of the passagework was tedious, and many of the flourishes worked better as ideas than as actual climaxes. It made me think that Dvorak … [Read more...]
DAVE HOLLAND BIG BAND: Zankel Hall, March 10, 2004
March 12, 2004 By
·· Taylor Haskins, Trumpet ·· Alex “Sasha” Sipiagin, Trumpet ·· Duane Eubanks, Trumpet ·· Chris Potter, Tenor Saxophone ·· Antonio Hart, Alto Saxophone ·· Mark Gross, Alto Saxophone ·· Gary Smulyan, Baritone ·· Robin Eubanks, Trombone ·· Jon Arns, Trombone ·· Douglas Purviance, Tromone ·· Steve Nelson, Vibraphone and Marimba ·· Dave Holland, Bass ·· Nate Smith, Drums Holland is legendary, and with good reason, but it's only in the past five years he's been writing and arranging for this big band -- a revelation. … [Read more...]
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: We Give You…
March 7, 2004 By
The Elizabeth Wurtzel of Motherhood, and the latest barometer of the New Yorker's decline. … [Read more...]
