Ellington’s legacy — as large and as meaningful as that of any artist in American history — remains enigmatic. We honor him, put him on stamps, name streets and buildings after him and teach him. But we still don’t know what to do with Ellington beyond keeping his best-known tunes in rotation. - Los Angeles Times
A 28-film, nearly 50-year collaboration with Spielberg. Fifty-two Oscar nominations – the most for a living person and second only to Walt Disney – with five wins. Four Olympic Games fanfares. One presidential inauguration (Obama). - The Guardian
Shelly C. Lowe, a Navajo who grew up in rural northern Arizona, was nominated by President Biden as chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities in October and was confirmed by the Senate on February 2. - MSN (The Washington Post)
Concetta Antico is a tetrachromat, which means she has a fourth colour receptor in her retina compared with the standard three which most people have. While those of us with three of these receptors can distinguish around one million different colours, tetrachromats see an estimated 100 million. - The Guardian
"A leading postmodern choreographer who crossed over into playwriting territory, he was massively prolific for about 60 years. He combined movement and words in ways that could be stimulating or jolting, focusing on family or fantasy, or delving into Ionesco, Shakespeare, or Aristophanes." - Dance Magazine
"Once a symbol of Italian mystique, ever-present on-screen and on fashion magazine covers, … (she) secured an enduring place in art house drama as the muse of Michelangelo Antonioni for his 1960s films about existential dread before redefining herself as a vibrant comedian." - MSN (The Washington Post)
Last year, the actor Francis Huster passionately made the case for the reinterment of Molière within the Panthéon, Molière’s remains having had a long and slightly hair-raising cultural history of their own. - The New Yorker
Margaret Wise Brown "burned through her money as quickly as she earned it, travelling to Europe on ocean liners and spending entire advances on Chrysler convertibles. … She was engaged to two men but never married, and she had a decade-long affair with a woman." - The New Yorker
Under Franco, the study of Spanish art languished - but Jonathan Brown, art historian, curator, professor, and mentor, brought luminous painters like Velázquez to mainstream attention. - The New York Times
The actor says, "I think it’s really interesting what happens to you if you grow up thinking there’s something wrong with you because you’re attracted to a certain thing. ... That takes a lot of time and understanding to get over." - The Guardian (UK)
The 84-year-old Swiss photographer of the flamenco world fell sometime on the evening of January 19. A homeless person in the area called authorities the next morning, but it was too late. - El Pais
Meanwhile, "officials in New Mexico are still examining how a live bullet got on set and then into the gun that Baldwin was practicing with and whether anyone should be held criminally responsible." - The New York Times
Matos, who has died at 53, and his colleagues reinvigorated and made famous the Afro-Puerto Rican music plena and bomba "by infusing them with jazz textures, exuberant horn sections and Cuban batá rhythms." - The New York Times
She started working at the foundation in 1972 and continued until this year, and the prestigious competition and awards she administered helped launch many impressive careers. - The New York Times
