Last night i caught Leif Ove Andsnes, the norwegian pianist, at disney hall. (here he is, right, after, presumably, chopping an entire nordic forest.) he played a set of janacek, brahms, mozart and schubert, with violinist christian tetzlaff. (a fine story on the celebrated duo here.)great concert, by the way. while the ballade in the janacek was nearly heart-stopping, my favorite was the brahms … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2009
Gastropubs and Highland Park
The other night i went to the reasonably new "gastropub" in the formerly rundown-- now thriving -- area of los angeles called highland park. an english friend, who i sometimes go pub-hopping with near his home off the hampstead heath, grumbles these days when his beloved victorian watering holes "go gastro," in his words.but i'm in favor of the trend, partly because english pub food, and most … [Read more...]
LA PHIL VS RADIOHEAD
Just back from a LA Philharmonic press conference which is the most elaborate i've seen from any arts group, including i think the getty's launch a decade ago... they're very excited about Gustavo Dudamel, the 27-year-old venezuelan who kicks off his first season here in the fall. the one concert i saw him conduct, which included a berlioz, was as good as the considerable hype. (i have vowed to … [Read more...]
BARRY MANILOW AND THE END OF CLASSICAL MUSIC
Don't know about your private hell -- remember orwell's "room 101"? -- but mine is to be locked in a room and made to listen to barry manilow croon "i write the songs..." turns out it actually happens, in at least one town in colorado -- strikes me as a new chapter of the "scared straight" franchise. the story was buried a bit in today's LATimes, but it's an interesting and cautionary read about … [Read more...]
BARACK OBAMA AND EZRA JACK KEATS
Amazing amount of excitement, anticipation, and i expect resentment and suppressed fear right now around the obama inauguration... i will try to avoid getting too deeply into politics in this blog despite my fascination with it -- i've learned the hard way over the years that there is actually some wisdom to the old warning about talking about politics and religion across the dinner table. but … [Read more...]
CELEBRATING THE HADEN FAMILY + ….. GREAT BREAKUP LPS
I want to talk for a minute about los angeles' Haden family: you could define true musical eclecticism as the ability to dig all the branches on this multigenerational family tree. jazzheads know missouri-reared bassist charlie haden for his ability to match the country twang on ornette coleman's early (and best records) -- charlie grounds free jazz stuff that might otherwise be rootless: some of … [Read more...]
GREAT OVERLOOKED NOVEL
Over the last couple years i covered books, mostly novels, almost exclusively, and there's no way anyone can read everything. but let me call james howard kunstler's "world made by hand" my favorite undersung novel of '08, or something along those lines. the book is the tale of a little village in upstate new york in a world suspiciously like ours, but after resources have run out almost entirely. … [Read more...]
REDISCOVERING ANDREW HILL
The pioneers of my favorite period of jazz -- the '50s and early '60s -- have been dying off at a dispiriting pace lately. A few weeks ago we lost trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, whose "Open Sesame" and work on early Herbie Hancock records i love. The other day i walked into amoeba's jazz room and heard the clerks blasting his classic "Hub Tones." but over the last year or so i've been rediscovering … [Read more...]
LA WEEKLY, NEW TIMES, VILLAGE VOICE, ETC
Readers and media-watchers here in LA have followed the dismantling of the LA Weekly as editors like Joe Donnelly (who i once worked for) and film critic Ella Taylor were shown the door... here's a long, provocative "autopsy" by longtime lefty journalism Marc Cooper that is a kind of mini-history of the alt press, perhaps the bookend to the elegantly written but somewhat puzzling louis menand … [Read more...]
BELATED BEST RECORDS OF 08
Afraid the days are past where i could do a definitive top-10 of all the year's music, but here are a few new ones i've really liked:Beach House is a dream-pop duo from baltimore, sort of a chick-led version of Galaxie 500, a less strung out Mazzy Star or a non-Japanese Sugar Plant. I've played this one, the aptly named "Devotion," incessantly; it is perfect hangover music and gets you to a really … [Read more...]