All That Jazz All That Jazz
Let's cut to the chase on Ken Burns's Jazz, which rolled out on PBS January 8, by invoking Wallace Stevens. 1) Is it entertaining TV? Mostly, in PBS fashion. ...
Jan 12, 2001 / Books & the Arts / Gene Santoro
Lennon’s Greatest Hits Lennon’s Greatest Hits
December 8, 2000: It was twenty years ago today that Mark David Chapman shot and killed John Lennon outside the Dakota on West 72nd Street in New York City, bringing whatever was...
Nov 30, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Jon Wiener
Coronation by Cornet Coronation by Cornet
LOUIS ARMSTRONG AT 100 In 1927 a young cornetist led his band into a meticulously hilarious version of a classic composition Jelly Roll Morton had made famous, "Twelfth St...
Nov 10, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Gene Santoro
Born to Run Born to Run
The sound of Wrecking Ball (Elektra), Emmylou Harris's 1995 album produced by former Brian Eno/Neville Brothers associate Daniel Lanois, drew me back toward her. But it was her f...
Oct 12, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Gene Santoro
Rock & Roll Fantasies Rock & Roll Fantasies
It is a depressing rule for students of American political discourse that the more one happens to know about a given subject, the more amazing one finds the brazen ignorance that...
Jun 29, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Eric Alterman
Hip-Hop Politics on Campus Hip-Hop Politics on Campus
"You have no idea how much love I got for this," says David Jamil Muhammad, referring to his role as a student organizer of "Hip-Hop Generation--Hip-Hop as a Movement." The confe...
Apr 27, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Johnny Temple
Lennon’s MI5-FBI Files Lennon’s MI5-FBI Files
The headline in the Sunday Times of London was spectacular: Lennon Funded Terrorists and Trotskyists. It was also erroneous.
Feb 23, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Jon Wiener
Was It Good Party Music? Was It Good Party Music?
Lionel Trilling once commented that "if ever we want to remind ourselves of the nature and power of art, we have only to think of how accurate reactionary governments are in thei...
Jan 27, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Jeremy Eichler
Noise From Underground Noise From Underground
For more information about Positive Force, or to send donations to the Arthur S. Flemming Center, write to Positive Force, 3510 North 8th Street, Arlington, VA 22201. Checks should...
Sep 30, 1999 / Books & the Arts / Johnny Temple
Waits: Guthrie’s Heir? Waits: Guthrie’s Heir?
Tom Waits is an imaginary hobo. He cruises the oddball corners of American pop culture, collecting the deft and moving and loopy short takes he sees and imagines there.
May 6, 1999 / Books & the Arts / Gene Santoro