Anyone in New Orleans will offer stern correction should you refer to Katrina as a "natural disaster." And anyone involved in the city's culture will point out the many unnatural barriers that have popped up in Katrina's wake. You'd think that New Orleans would welcome back the communities and establishments that anchor its culture. But the message implicit in the post-Katrina … [Read more...] about unnatural disasters
con clave
If you were bold enough to brave the pelting ice and hail in Manhattan last weekend, Greenwich Village was alive with Latin jazz. You needed only face the elements for a few blocks. Over at Sweet Rhythm on Seventh Avenue South was conga master and flugelhorn player Jerry Gonzalez and his Fort Apache band. The 1989 Gonzalez album, "Rumba Para Monk" (Sunnyside) reinforced two … [Read more...] about con clave
dirty four-letter words.
In writing some program notes for a March 19th Merkin Hall performance by pianist-composer Vijay Iyer (duets with saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, tabla player Suphala, and pianist Amina Claudine Myers), I clicked onto Iyer's website, which led me to an essay he'd written for www.allaboutjazz.com. The allaboutjazz site is notoriously uneven, regularly blending real criticism … [Read more...] about dirty four-letter words.
missing thomas.
I just got the following email from Terri Castillo-Chapin, widow of the musician and composer Thomas Chapin, marking what would have been his 50th birthday today. In the near-decade since leukemia claimed Chapin, many great musicians have passed on. But Terri's email informs of a new website and a charitable fund, and it reminded me of how especially hard Chapin's passing hit … [Read more...] about missing thomas.
where y’at?
That's how locals answer their cellphones in New Orleans. And it's sort of what one of my dear readers was asking when she caught me doing everything but posting: did you: -slip on leftover mardi gras beads and are now in traction -get kidnapped by rogue voodoo ghosts -oversleep ? Well, Mardi Gras beads and ghosts of some sort did sort of grab me and, yes, I spent too much time … [Read more...] about where y’at?