Duke Ellington’s Symphony in Black, Starring a 19-Year-old Billie Holiday

"In September of 1935 Paramount Pictures released a nine-minute movie remarkable in several ways. Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life is one of the earliest cinematic explorations of African-American culture for a mass audience. It features Duke Ellington and his orchestra performing his first extended composition. And perhaps most notably, it stars Billie Holiday in her first filmed performance."
Open Culture (Video)

2010 April: Billie Holiday, 2011 November: Duke Ellington - "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)", 1943, 2011 September: "Take the A Train" - Duke Ellington, 2012 June: The Sound of Jazz (1957).

"Sessions at West 54th" 1997 - Patti Smith

"Recorded live on September 27, 1997 at the Sony Music Studios in New York City, NY for the 'Sessions at West 54th' television program."
YouTube: Beneath the Southern Cross, About a Boy, Wing, Don't Say Nothing

Mel Bochner: Proposition and Process: A Theory of Sculpture (1968-1973)

“Five by Four” (1972), of stones and chalk, “Theory of Sculpture” series
"The excellent exhibition of Mel Bochner’s mind-bending, defiantly modest early Conceptual sculptures at Peter Freeman is a post-Minimalist time capsule. It provides a startlingly real sense of the attitude and physical ethos of SoHo’s experimental, artist-generated beginnings in the late 1960s and early ’70s while showcasing some of the most singular art that the era produced."
NYT: A Calculus With Chalk, Stones and Walnuts
Peter Freeman, Inc

2009 September: Mel Bochner

Junior Byles - 129 Beat Street: Ja-Man Special 1975-1978

"A collection of four Junior Byles tracks from his post-Lee 'Scratch' Perry era and seven tracks from lesser-known artists like Rupert Reid, Pablo Moses and others, 129 Beat Street highlights some of the best cuts from the little-known House of Music studio operated by Dudley 'Manzie' Swaby and Leroy 'Bunny' Hollett. In addition to that unifying theme, all the classic roots tracks are held together by thumping bass, exquisite singing and strongly conscious Rastafarian messages."
allmusic
Blood And Fire
Wikipedia
YouTube: Junior Byles & Rupert Reid - Chant Down Babylon, Dave Robinson - My Homeland, Remember Me (Extended), Bim Sherman - Mighty ruler, Pitchy Patchy, Know Where You're Going, U Brown - So Long, Rupert Reid - See The Dread Deh

Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada New Mural In Vitry, France

"Cuban-American artist Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada just completed this brilliant and massive mural somewhere on the streets of Vitry, France. The intense beauty of Jorge Rodriguez- Gerada's artwork is heightened by the artist's obsession with picture surface- Jorge's pieces are painted directly onto our manmade environment, yet appear to spring forth so organically from the bubbling paint and crumbling brickwork. The artist stresses his artworks should work 'in harmony with their location.'"
StreetArtNews

2012 May: Identity Series by Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada

Ronald Reis

New York City: Washington Square Park
"Ronald Reis began taking photographs as a youngster with an Argus A2. ... Influenced by the work of Helen Levitt, Louis Stettner, and Cartier-Bresson, Reis became a passionate street photographer, honing his eye and his ability to compose and capture photographs on the fly. This decisive quality is reflected in his contact sheets filled with single exposures."
Duke: About the Ronald Reis Photographs Collection
Duke: Ronald Reis Photographs

Leroy Washington

"Little is known about Leroy Washington, who recorded several sessions between 1957 and 1961 for Jay Miller. He was recalled by Miller as perhaps his favorite blues guitarist. He only released a handful of sides, however, he had recorded a considerable legacy of material for Miller, which had lain unissued for decades."
YouTube: My True Life, Wild cherry, Hello Baby, I Don't Want Your Money, You Can´t Trust Nobody, Baby Please Come Home

New European Paintings Galleries, 1250–1800

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, ca. 1525–1569, The Harvesters (detail)
"The Met's world-renowned collection of European Old Master paintings from the thirteenth through the early nineteenth century have reopened after an extensive renovation and reinstallation. This is the first major renovation of the galleries since 1951 and the first overall reinstallation of the collection since 1972. Increased in size by almost one-third, the space now accommodates the display of more than seven hundred paintings in forty-five galleries, including one rotating special exhibition gallery."
Met Museum: New European Paintings Galleries, 1250–1800
Met Museum: Video
Met Museum:
A Tasting Tour of European Paintings

Bedford-Stuyvesant

"The result of three intense days of shooting in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn."
charles le brigand

Tom Johnson: An Hour for Piano (1985)

"Composer Tom Johnson rarely wrote musical pieces that existed for music's sake alone. Generally, they involved conceptual re-orientation on the part of the listener, often with language (particularly the language of self-reference) as the intermediary. With An Hour for Piano, the lovely, Satie-esque music is intended to be heard while the listener is reading Johnson's program notes which begin, 'It is important that you try not to allow the program notes to distract you from concentrating on the music.' Which, of course, they already have done."
allmusic
W - An Hour for Piano (Tom Johnson)
Lovely: An Hour for Piano by Tom Johnson
YouTube: An hour for piano (Part 1, Rzewski), (Part 2, Rzewski), (Part 3, Rzewski), (Part 4, Rzewski).

2011 February: Tom Johnson, 2012 May: Rational Melodies, 2013 March: Tom Johnson In Los Angeles

Roland Penrose - The Road Is Wider Than Long

"The manuscript of Roland Penrose’s narrative poem The Road Is Wider Than Long is an artist’s book, beautifully calligraphed with a style that reflects the changing mood of the poem and illustrated with his own photographs and collage. He had it bound in covers made of strong brown shoe leather, perhaps symbolic of durable protection. It is the chronicle of a shared journey and his gentle expression of his obsessive love for the woman of his dreams. ... The 'Lee' he refers to is Lee Miller who Roland had met in June 1937 at a wild Surrealist fancy dress party held by the daughters of the Rochas couturiers in their home while their parents were away. The party ended abruptly due to the unexpected return of Mons. et Mme Rochas who threw everyone out in the street, but Max Ernst with whom Roland had gone to the party knew the beautiful American woman who on that brief encounter had delivered to Roland what he later described as a bolt of lightning."
Musée de l'Élysée Lausanne
NPR - Much More Than A Muse: Lee Miller And Man Ray (Video)
Farley Farm House
W - Farley Farm House
Lee Miller Archives
W - Lee Miller
Farley Farm: Where Picasso came to tea

Theaster Gates

Theaster Gates, The Dorchester Project.
Wikipedia - "Theaster Gates (born 1973 Chicago) is an American Installation artist Social Practice artist. He lives and works in Chicago, Illinois. Gates' work has been shown at major museums and galleries internationally and deals with issues of urban planning, religious space, and craft. He is committed to the revitalization of poor neighborhoods through combining urban planning and art practices."
Wikipedia
Theaster Gates
Theaster Gates: The Dorchester Project
Kavi Gupta
Theaster Gates: The Rise of an Unconventional Art Star
Theaster Gates: 13th Ballad
vimeo: Theaster Gates: Dorchester Projects
White Cube: 12 Ballads for Huguenot House (Video)
YouTube: Interview with Theaster Gates

The Cult of Beauty: The Victorian Avant-Garde 1860–1900

John Spencer Stanhope, Love and the Maiden, 1877
"The Cult of Beauty: The Victorian Avant-Garde 1860–1900 is the first major exhibition to explore the unconventional creativity of the British Aesthetic Movement, tracing the evolution of this movement from a small circle of progressive artists and poets, through the achievements of innovative painters and architects, to its broad impact on fashion and the middle-class home. The superb artworks on view encompass the manifold forms of Victorian material culture: the traditional high art of painting, fashionable trends in architecture and interior decoration, handmade and manufactured furnishings for the 'artistic' home, art photography, and the new modes of dress."
Legion of Honor (Video)

BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music)

Duke Riley, Farewell, All Joys! More Fools Than Wise (2013)
"BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) is a multi-arts center located in Brooklyn, New York. For more than 150 years, BAM has been the home for adventurous artists, audiences, and ideas—engaging both global and local communities. With world-renowned programming in theater, dance, music, opera, film, and much more, BAM showcases the work of emerging artists and innovative modern masters."
BAM
W - Brooklyn Academy of Music
NYT: Brooklyn Academy of Music
YouTube: That's So New York: Brooklyn Academy of Music 150th Anniversary, The Brooklyn Music School

The Superiors - "What Would I Do"

"This is another performance filmed for my now legendary documentary, 'The Strange World Of Northern Soul'. The Superiors were a New York group in the 1960s, led by Ken Williams, who also recorded 'Come Back' for Okeh. 'What Would I do' seems to have been their only real monster on the scene. Ken worked a lot with both J.R. Bailey, and with Van McCoy, two late but great geniuses."
YouTube: What Would I Do

2012 October: Northern Soul, 2012 December: The obsession that is Northern Soul, 2013 February: J. J. Barnes

Parking Garage Door Does Impression of Miles Davis’ Jazz Album, Bitches Brew

"Classic. And if you’re not familiar with the reference — Miles Davis’ 1970 experimental jazz album, Bitches Brew — you can catch it on YouTube, or snag a copy online. H/T Kottke"
Open Culture (Video)

Atlas of Remote Islands - Judith Schalansky

"The Atlas of Remote Islands by Judith Schalansky is an extraordinary book – an armchair exploration of some of the world’s most remote and fascinating places. It is fascinating, illuminating and extremely beautiful. - An exclusive interview with the author of the Atlas of Remote Islands."
The Island Review
Intelligent Travel
Literary Review
amazon
Google

"Private Idaho", "Give Me Back My Man" - The B-52's

Wikipedia - "'Private Idaho' is a single released by The B-52's from their album Wild Planet. The single was their second Billboard Hot 100 chart entry, at #74. The single also peaked at #5 on the US Hot Dance Club Play, along with previous single 'Give Me Back My Man' and 'Party out of Bounds', both from Wild Planet."
W - "Private Idaho"
W - "Give Me Back My Man"
YouTube: Private Idaho 1980, Give Me Back My Man

2008 October: The B-52's
2012 October: The B-52's -1

Meatpacking District

Wikipedia - "The Meatpacking District is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan which runs roughly from West 14th Street south to Gansevoort Street, and from the Hudson River east to Hudson Street, although recently it is sometimes considered to have extended north to West 16th Street and east beyond Hudson Street."
Wikipedia
YouTube: Meatpacking District, Manhattan (Part 1), (Part 2

New England Fiddles

"New England Fiddles presents seven of the finest traditional musicians as they play in their homes and at dances and contests, passing their styles to younger fiddlers, and commenting on their music. Featured are Ron West (Yankee), Paddy Cronin (Irish), Ben Guillemette (Quebecois), Wilfred Guillette (Quebecois), Harold Luce (Yankee), Gerry Robichaud (Maritime), and the Cape Breton style of Joe Cormier. The film was made in 1983 by John Bishop and folklorist Nicholas Hawes."
folkstreams (Video)

An Opening of the Field: Jess, Robert Duncan, and Their Circle

Jess, Tricky Cad, Case V (detail), 1958
"The artist Jess Collins, known simply as Jess, and his partner, the poet Robert Duncan, were one of the most fascinating artistic couples of the 20th century. Soon after they met in 1950, they merged their personal and artistic lives to explore their interest in cultural mythologies, transformative narrative, and the appropriation of images. This is the first exhibition to explore the couple's artistic production and relationship. Through more than 100 individual and collaborative works of art and personal letters drawn from private and public collections, this exhibit also looks at their influence and unique position as precursors of Postmodernism."
Crocker Art Museum
artforum: Michael Duncan
O! Tricky Cad & Other Jessoterica
Proof: O! Tricky Cad & Other Jessoterica in Production
Jess: Master of the collage aesthetic
VillageLife

Bob Marley: In Dub Vol 1

"I'm always quite dubious of posthumous releases. They usually come cobbled together attempt at money making that would have the artist turning in his grave. Despite some reservations, I was intrigued enough to give this a spin as the thought of some good Marley tunes dubbed out was quite a prospect. In Dub Vol. 1 isn'€™t quite a new release, it was originally released in 2010 as a digital only package. There are some new versions here though added to some older stuff. The older ones have appeared on single b-sides in the past and are mainly instrumentals with some cute dubbing going on."
Louder Than War
YouTube: 03 - Forever Loving Jah Dub (Bob Marley & The Wailers In Dub, Vol. 1)
YouTube: Bob Marley "In Dub Vol. 1" (Full Album) 38:50

Un jour Pina m'a demandé (1987)

"Chantal Akerman followed famous Choreographer Pina Bausch and her company of dancers, The Tanzteater Wuppertal, for five weeks while they were on tour in Germany, Italy and France. Her objective was to capture Pina Bausch’s unparalleled art not only on stage by behind the scenes."
MUBI
The Pina Bausch blog - the films
YouTube: Un Jour Pina à Demandè - Pina Bausch - Chantal Akerman, Pina Bausch In Un jour Pina a demandé 01, 03, 05

2008 May: Pina Bausch
2009 June: Pina Bausch 1940-2009
2012 August: Pina Bausch Costumes  

I, You, We

Mary Ellen Mark, The Damm Family in Their Car, Los Angeles, California, 1987
"I, you, we: three very commonplace words. These pronouns—with all their implied complexities of meaning—provide an unexpected guide for assessing the works of art from the 1980s and early 1990s in the Museum’s collection. What becomes apparent in this survey of paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, and photographs is how the personal, social, and collective issues and concerns of the artists of this time are still relevant several decades later."
Whitney
Whitney: Images

DJ Hugo Mendez

"Sofrito is a U.K.-based DJ collective whose members include Hugo Mendez, Frankie Francis, and the Mighty Crime Minister. Since 2007, they've established a near-fanatical fan base because of their almost legendary parties under the Tropical Warehouse moniker in East London. Their rep has spread and they've branched out, hosting massive bashes on the beaches of Greece, and spinning from the stages of the WOMAD festival and in New York clubs. They've also featured live acts along with their spinning: the Souljazz Orchestra, Manu Dibango, and Quantic have all all appeared with them."
allmusic - Sofrito: International Soundclash
W - Sofrito
W - Mirepoix (cuisine)
Sofrito’s ‘International Soundclash’: An Interview with Hugo Mendez (Video)
Super Discoteca Down Under Mix (Video)
Soundcloud - Sofrito: Tropical Discotheque mini-mix by DJ Hugo Mendez (Video)
22tracks (Video)
YouTube: The Story Behind Sofrito: Tropical Discotheque

Ibrahim El-Salahi: A Visionary Modernist

"Ibrahim El-Salahi: A Visionary Modernist is the first museum retrospective of the exemplary career of Sudanese artist Ibrahim El-Salahi. Bringing together approximately 80 works from five decades of the artist's career, the retrospective highlights one of the most significant figures in African and Arab Modernist art, and reveals his place in the context of a global art history. The exhibition traces a personal journey that originates in Sudan and leads to the artist's international schooling, his detention as a political prisoner in his home country, his self-imposed exile in Qatar, and his current life in the United Kingdom."
Museum for African Art
amazon - Ibrahim El-Salahi: A Visionary Modernist
W - Ibrahim el-Salahi
YouTube: TateShots

6 Great Transit Maps That Aren't Transit Maps

"A good transit map is like a party for your eyes, and everyone's invited. Maybe it's the intentional distortion that brings clarity to an otherwise confusing world. Maybe it's the sharp lines and fluid curves that transform a utilitarian document into a piece of wall art (or, at least, a T-shirt). Maybe it's just something cool that's not worth over-analyzing. In any event, we find transit maps so appealing that they're worth looking at even when they don't actually depict transit systems. Here are six great transit maps — from a chart of classic movies to a meta transit map of the world's transit systems — that are likable precisely because they have little to do with transit."
The Atlantic: Cities

"Ol' '55" - Tom Waits

"Time went so quickly,
I went lickety-splitly
Out to my ol' '55
Pulled away slowly, feelin' so holy
God knows I was feelin' alive

And now the sun's comin' up
I'm ridin' with Lady Luck
Freeway cars and trucks"
Wikipedia
YouTube: Ol' 55 Live 1999, Ol' 55 (The Early Years)

2012 July: Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards
2013 March: Burma Shave

Narelle Jubelin

BOX.SET 10, 1999
"Art comes face-to-face with architecture in Vision in Motion, a project by the artist Narelle Jubelin. A celebration of significant – though often overlooked – modernist architecture, the exhibition presents a survey of Jubelin’s intricately sewn petit points of the past three decades alongside new site-specific works and videos, inspired by architecture and the built environment. The exhibition will be reconfigured for each venue of the tour."
Vision In Motion
Marlborough Contemporary
The Renaissance Society

Fairytale - Donovan

Wikipedia - "Fairytale is the second album from British singer-songwriter Donovan. ... Fairytale finds Donovan evolving his styles further towards British folk, especially on songs such as 'Summer Day Reflection Song' and 'Jersey Thursday'. 'Sunny Goodge Street' foreshadows the jazzy feel and descriptions of life in urban London that Donovan would continue to explore over the next two years."
Wikipedia
YouTube: Colors, To Try For The Sun, Summer Day Reflection Song, Sunny Goodge Street, Little Tin Soldier, Ballad of a Crystal Man, The Universal Soldier, Ballad of Geraldine

By the Lake, Tasmania

"Three young filmmakers from Melbourne, Australia heard about a man named Phipps who lived on a lake in central Tasmania. Phipps was a fly fisherman so the three set out to create a short film about the beauty of the serene sport. Once they met Phipps, however, that all changed. As Drew Dunlop, one of the three filmmakers explained to us, 'Phipps lives in a fisherman’s shack that his family’s owned all his life.
 His front garden is a giant lake, brimming with 9 lb trout; his neighbors are wedge-tailed eagles and possums and tiger snakes.
 We set out thinking we'd make a short film about the beauty of fly fishing but soon found out Phipps was the real star. The end result being a snapshot of Phipps' beautiful, quiet world.'"
My Modern Met (Vimeo)

A Passion for France

Edouard Vuillard, Young Girls Walking, 1891
"A pair of American art lovers, passionate about French culture, created, over several decades, an outstanding collection of 19th century and early 20th century works. The bonds of friendship established between the owners and the director of the Musée d’Orsay and Musée de l’Orangerie have now enabled this collection to be exhibited. Works include the seventh panel of Édouard Vuillard's Public Gardens, the Musée d'Orsay already has five of the nine panels, as well as works by Bonnard, Ranson and Roussel, and several of Vuillard's enchanting paintings, decorative panels by Maurice Denis and two Symbolist masterpieces by Redon."
Musée d'Orsay
Musée d'Orsay: A Passion for France

Self Portrait - Robert Mapplethorpe

"As variously costumed characters, Mapplethorpe researches his own identity, capturing his complex and contradictory nature. Whether depicting himself in a playful, fierce, or vulnerable state, the artist’s explorations are intensely personal and self-reflexive. In a number of early self-portraits, Mapplethorpe boldly explores the notion of gender. In one work from 1980, the artist appears as a sneering, smoking greaser – a James Dean archetype. In another from the same year, Self Portrait (with make-up), Mapplethorpe blurs his gender identity by appearing in partial drag, his face dramatically made-up."
Skarstedt
YouTube: Robert Mapplethorpe 'Self Portrait', 1980

2008 July: Robert Mapplethorpe, 2010 September: Arena - Robert Mapplethorpe (1988), 2010 October: The Hotel Chelsea, 2011 December: "Wild Leaves" - Patti Smith on World Aids Day, 2012 September: Last Address - Ira Sachs.

PUNK: Chaos to Couture

"The Met's spring 2013 Costume Institute exhibition, PUNK: Chaos to Couture, will examine punk's impact on high fashion from the movement's birth in the early 1970s through its continuing influence today. Featuring approximately one hundred designs for men and women, the exhibition will include original punk garments and recent, directional fashion to illustrate how haute couture and ready-to-wear borrow punk's visual symbols."
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Video and Audio)
Met Museum: Punk Fashion Will be Focus of Spring 2013 Costume Institute Exhibition at Metropolitan Museum
New Yorker: The Day That Punk Died Again
BBC: Punk fashion from chaos to couture at New York's Met (Video)
Punk: Chaos to Couture at the Costume Institute Shows How Derivative the Style Has Become (Video)
Dezeen
amazon
YouTube: "Punk: Chaos to Couture" exhibit, PUNK Gallery Views, Punk : Chaos to Couture Interview With Andrew Bolton - VOGUE, Met Gala 2013: Behind the Scenes at Punk: Chaos to Couture

A Century of Proust

"May 2 - Reading Proust: An Introduction. ... One hundred years after its publication, 'Swann’s Way,' the first volume in Marcel Proust’s cycle 'À la Recherche du Temps Perdu' — 'In Search of Lost Time,' better known to many Anglophone readers as 'Remembrance of Things Past,' the Shakespearian title used by Proust’s first English translator — doubles as thematic 'overture' and Michelin guide to the most captivating, ambitious and elusive of modern novels. The glittering surface of 'Swann's Way' presents a Manet-like canvas of belle époque France, a sumptuous world of fashionable salons and tranquil summer homes populated by characters — old and young, rich and poor, artists and aristocrats, footmen and physicians — who spring at us with comic ferocity: their sufferings and delusions, their petty cruelties, their self-destructive obsessions and corrosive vanities. By the end of the giant cycle (some 4,000 pages) these fictitious beings will seem realer than the members of one’s own family."
NY Times
Paris Review – Proust, Lost in Translation
Slate: In Pursuit of Proust

2008 June: Marcel Proust, 2011 October: How Proust Can Change Your Life, 2012 April: Marcel Proust - À la recherche du temps perdu, 2013 February: Marcel Proust and Swann's Way: 100th Anniversary.