Extraordinary Popular Delusions, Chicago free improv all-stars

AJBlogs Posted: January 10, 2019 11:52 am

Keyboardist and synthesizer specialist Jim Baker has led the collective quartet Extraordinary Popular Delusions playing every Monday night in obscure Chicago venues for the past 13 years. — Howard Mandel

Weekend Extra: Desmond Alert
Thomas Cunniffe’s excellent weblog Jazz History Online has managed to find the performance by Paul Desmond and his Canadian quartet originally broadcast in 1975 by ... read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished on June 15, 2019 4:36 pm
From Mayor to Nightmare
The Dark Side of Boris Johnson Public Reading Rooms [2016] Now that he is on his way to becoming the new Prime Minister of the ... read more
AJBlog: Straight|UpPublished on June 14, 2019 9:28 am
The end of the beginning
Those of you who follow me on Twitter or Facebook will know that Mrs. T has been in the University of Connecticut Health Center’s ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished on June 14, 2019 2:02 am
Replay: Somerset Maugham’s “Sanatorium”
“Sanatorium,” the last section of Trio, a 1950 anthology film based on the short stories of W. Somerset Maugham. This section was adapted from Maugham’s ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished on June 14, 2019 2:01 am
Almanac: Somerset Maugham on suffering
“There are people who say that suffering ennobles. It is not true. As a general rule it makes man petty, querulous and selfish; but ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished on June 14, 2019 2:00 am
Calder & Noguchi Air Balls: SFMOMA Lobs Some Foul Shots for the Golden State Warriors
Although the Golden State Warriors narrowly lost the NBA Championship to the Toronto Raptors at last night’s nip-and-tuck Game 6 of the finals, the California ... read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrlPublished on June 13, 2019 9:38 pm
Samantha Boshnack’s Seismic Belt
https://www.amazon.com/Santa-Monica-Samantha-Boshnacks-Seismic/dp/B07M7V2SKX During her years in Seattle, trumpeter Samantha Boshnack developed impressively as a player eager to take musical chances. At the same time, she often ... read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished on June 13, 2019 1:56 pm
Eye On San Diego–For Art!
San Diego, you may be surprised is not only the eighth largest U.S. city by population, but also among the fastest growing. Yet people to ... read more
AJBlog: Real Clear ArtsPublished on June 13, 2019 11:00 am
So you want to see a show?
Here’s my list of recommended Broadway, off-Broadway, and out-of-town shows, updated weekly. In all cases, I gave these shows favorable reviews (if sometimes qualifiedly ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished on June 13, 2019 4:01 am
Almanac: Roger Ebert on academic prose
“I was instructed long ago by a wise editor, ‘If you understand something you can explain it so that almost anyone can understand it. If ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished on June 13, 2019 4:00 am
“Don’t make me go out there alone!” — Leonard Bernstein’s last tango with ‘Candide’
By the time he made his way to the podium, Leonard Bernstein was clearly in trouble. Well after the entrance applause died down, he needed ... read more
AJBlog: Condemned to MusicPublished on June 13, 2019 1:42 am
Snapshot: James Stewart in “Winning Your Wings”
Winning Your Wings, a 1942 recruitment film directed by John Huston and starring James Stewart, who was then a second lieutenant in the U.S. ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished on June 12, 2019 4:01 am
Almanac: Lillian Hellman on a problem with success
“I don’t think many writers like best their best-known piece of work, particularly when it was written a long time ago.” Lillian Hellman (interviewed ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished on June 12, 2019 4:00 am
David Lang holds no prisoners in his new, gloves-off opera
David Lang’s music is too pleasurable to be called experimental. Though his language takes the minimalist aesthetic to a very personal place — the little ... read more
AJBlog: Condemned to MusicPublished on June 11, 2019 10:04 pm
Propwatch: the seeds in King Hedley II
Some props haul their own metaphors on stage with them. When King (Aaron Pierre), recently released from prison, sprinkles flower seeds over an unpromising scrub ... read more
AJBlog: Performance MonkeyPublished on June 11, 2019 10:42 am
Lookback: a tribute to my mother on her eightieth birthday
From 2009: My mother has given me countless other gifts through the years, starting with the gift of a sense of humor. I was, ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished on June 11, 2019 4:01 am
Almanac: Kingsley Amis on emotional responses to extreme stress
“She stepped forward, kissed me and laid her head against my shoulder, leaning prudently forward to keep the rest of herself out of contact with ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished on June 11, 2019 4:00 am
Bud Powell
Occasionally, Rifftides presents something from the blog’s archive. The staff got together to discuss Bud Powell and agreed that if there is even a slight ... read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished on June 10, 2019 10:19 pm
Just because: Doc Watson sings “Trouble in Mind”
Doc Watson and Richard Watson, his grandson, sing and play “Trouble in Mind” in a 2003 performance in Charlotte, North Carolina: (This is ... read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished on June 10, 2019 4:01 am