Friday, January 20 2012
Stand-Up! America’s Dissenting Tradition Part One: Trailblazers Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce
Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce were more than just maverick dissenters; they were the founding fathers of what would later coalesce under the umbrella of the “counter-culture”.
Monday, December 5 2011
Subversive Sexology!: A Conversation with Annie Sprinkle!
With a pure heart and a heavy dose of body politic rebellion, Annie Sprinkle re-invents ecology in the age of eroticised digital culture.
Tuesday, February 1 2011
Que Pasa, New York?
How do artists get their work done in other cities of the world? Where is it viable to live? It's probably silly to begin our investigation in New York. Just 30 years ago, New York was still opening its arms to the tired, poor, huddled masses of creatives. But now?
Friday, July 30 2010
Barbequing with Legends: Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek on Cinema, Cinephilia and Good-Looking Shoes
On the eve of the release of Get Low, PopMatters talks with film legends Sissy Spacek and Robert Duvall about food criticism (sort of), film critics (without mentioning any, ahem, names), and of course, cute shoes (and a few other things).
Thursday, April 22 2010
It’s Not Who You Know, It’s What You Do with Who You Know
Bassist and composer Dave Holland has been making adventurous, melodic jazz for 40 years with the likes of Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Sam Rivers, Anthony Braxton, Stan Getz, Pat Metheny and many others.
Monday, March 29 2010
Going Solo: The Return of the One-man Band
Maybe it’s the crappy economy, or just an extension of the long-term trend in popular music toward smaller and smaller ensembles, but it sure seems like there are a lot of one-man bands out there lately.
Monday, March 22 2010
Come Back to the 9-5, Dave Chappelle, Dave Chappelle
If Dave Chapelle came back, spring would come earlier, melodies would sound sweeter, the polar ice caps would stop melting, and maybe we might all understand and treat each other just a bit better.
Thursday, March 18 2010
The Naked Truth of a Nude Art Exhibit
I was rather self-conscious while crossing the threshold, despite it being the two women in the doorway who weren’t clothed. I felt I was naked at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Wednesday, March 17 2010
The Nonchalant Brilliance of John Pizzarelli, Jr.
John Pizzarelli is cool enough to be modern but hot enough to be 'old' -- and he knows what he's doing with that voice, even if he's no Sinatra.
Thursday, February 18 2010
Celluloid Dreams: How to Film a Melody
How do you paint a picture of a melody? How do you tell a story about a D-major-7 chord or a C-minor-melodic scale? How do you make a film about harmonic innovation or the division of a measure into overlapping polyrhythms?
Tuesday, January 12 2010
Overlooked Jazz Gems of 2009
The year 2009 was a such a good one for jazz that even some music that had been neglected stands out as stellar. Layman catches up with music he never should have missed.
Wednesday, December 16 2009
Reviewing Jazz of 2009: Wherefore Art Thou, Blue Note?
The best jazz of 2009 did not come, even a little bit, from the storied "major labels" of jazz. What happened to Blue Note and Verve this year?
Friday, October 30 2009
Can Tyler Perry’s ‘For Colored Girls’ Resurrect BAM?
Film adaptations from black masterpieces -- and the Chitlin Circuit -- are rejuvenating America's Black Arts Movement.
Friday, September 25 2009
Hal Ashby: Hollywood Rebel
Films and books strive toward a common goal: telling a story. And very few modern filmmakers are as good at spinning a yarn as the late Hal Ashby was.
Tuesday, September 8 2009
Louisiana Woman, Texas Troubadour
Need more duets in your life? Loretta Lynn and Ernest Tubb are among country music's best partnerships.
Thursday, June 11 2009
Great Vibrations: An Interview with Gary Burton
Our jazz critic talks to Gary Burton about his reunion with Pat Metheny, about starting a "gentle" jazz-rock group, and that no one seems to know what a "vibraphone" really is.
Wednesday, February 11 2009
Beyond the Bubble of the Grammys
The Grammys suffer from the same problem as the rest of the recording industry: thinking America defines culture.
Wednesday, February 4 2009
Across the Universe, for the Sixth Time
This year's globalFEST was punctuated by performances from Occidental Brothers Dance Band International, La Troba Kung-Fu, Kailash Kher, Watcha Clan, and others -- a brave journey through the world of sounds, guided by open minds and big hearts.
Tuesday, February 3 2009
Concert Overload
Free-for-all shows are like a "cool" parent trying to be your friend, instead of your authority figure. While it seems like a good situation at first -- no curfew, no rules -- you realize, eventually, that what it really needs is some structure.
Thursday, September 25 2008
Retelling the Story of Black Music: Bert Williams, Godfather of the Black Stage & Studio
Bert Williams in blackface started a conversation about representing blackness within a mainstream context that has continued through virtually every crossover moment in black American life.
