Zuzu Bollin

“Two 78s in the early ‘50s and a 1989 rediscovery album don’t add up to much of a recorded legacy. But Zuzu Bollin’s contribution to the Texas blues legacy shouldn’t be overlooked – his T-Bone Walker-influenced sound typified postwar Lone Star blues guitar. Born A.D. Bollin, Zuzu listened to everyone from Blind Lemon Jefferson and Leroy Carr (on records) to Joe Turner and Count Basie. He picked up his nickname while in the band of Texan E.X. Brooks; seems he had a sweet tooth for a brand of ginger snap cookies called ZuZus. Bollin formed his own combo in 1949, featuring young saxist David 'Fathead’ Newman. After a stint with Percy Mayfield’s band, Bollin resumed playing around Dallas. In late 1951, he made his recording debut for Bob Sutton’s Torch logo. …”
allmusic
Wikipedia
Spotify, Grooveshark, YouTube: Texas Bluesman (1989)
YouTube: Headlight Blues, Why Don’t You Eat Where You Slept Last Night, Kidney Stew Blues, Stavin’ Chain, Cry, Cry, Cry, Blues In the Dark, Record Release 89 (LIVE), HOW DO YOU WANT YOUR ROLLIN' DONE

In ‘Black Power!,’ Art’s Political Punch and Populist Reach

Models from the Grandassa Models agency in 1968, part of the “Black Power!” exhibition at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
"Given the economic, environmental and social policies emanating from the White House, the United States could be headed for its most dynamic era of public resistance since the 1960s, one for which the Women’s March last winter was just a warm-up. Such an era would demand fresh developments in political art, meaning art with a populist reach. Where will that come from? Not from our mainstream art world, the one represented by big museums and art fairs. That world is a tight and self-regarding place, an echo chamber with mirrored walls. It’s a bit more diverse than it used to be, but still lags way behind the population at large. In terms of economics and class? It’s a gated community, a closed door. ..."
NY Times

A 1969 image of a newspaper carrier by Emory Douglas, minister of culture for the Black Panther Party.

Krapp's Last Tape - Samuel Beckett (1957)

Wikipedia - "Krapp's Last Tape is a one-act play, in English, by Samuel Beckett. With a cast of one man, it was written for Northern Irish actor Patrick Magee and first titled 'Magee monologue'. ... The curtain rises on '[a] late evening in the future.' It is Krapp’s 69th birthday and he hauls out his old tape recorder, reviews one of the earlier years – the recording he made when he was 39 – and makes a new recording commenting on the last 12 months. Krapp is sitting in his den, lit by the white light above his desk. Black-and-white imagery continues throughout. On his desk are a tape-recorder and a number of tins containing reels of recorded tape. He consults a ledger. The tape he is looking to review is the fifth tape in Box 3. He reads aloud from the ledger but it is obvious that words alone are not jogging his memory. He takes childish pleasure in saying the word ‘spool’. The tape dates from when he turned 39. His taped voice is strong and rather self-important. ..."
Wikipedia
Samuel Beckett - Krapp's Last Tape
Guardian - Krapp's Last Tape: John Hurt on Samuel Beckett's loner hero
DONALD DAVIS - A Spoken Arts, Inc. 33-1/3 rpm LP record [1961]
YouTube: Krapp's Last Tape (Patrick Magee)

2009 November: Samuel Beckett, 2010 April: A Piece of Monologue, 2011 June: Film (1965) - UbuWeb, 2012 March: “fathoms from anywhere”

Sisi Smiles

Congregants at Egypt's main Coptic cathedral gather in the aftermath of a suicide bombing in January.
"'It is the so-called step down,' photojournalist Hamada Elrasam tells me in Cairo, referring to the recent acquittal of ex-Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, who stood trial for a combined six years on charges of ordering the killing of hundreds of protesters during the 2011 revolution, the embezzlement of public funds, and corruption. ... Like Mubarak, who was an air chief marshal, army-general-turned-president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is a military politician. Elrasam’s “so-called step down” alludes to the continuation of tyrannical brutality with impunity: Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for thirty years, was on trial for conspiring to kill 239 demonstrators during the eighteen-day uprising that led to his resignation; and on August 14, 2013, over a month after the military coup against the country’s first freely elected president, Mohamed Morsi, then–defense minister Sisi was in the position of 'overall responsibility' when at least 817 protesters were massacred during the security forces’ raid of a mass pro–Muslim Brotherhood sit-in at Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawiya Square. ..."
Jacobin

Nicolas Jaar - We Weren't Made For These Times (2016)

"Radio 333 33 "We weren't made for these times" 2016 Tracks: [00] Funeral Canticle - The Choir of the AAM [04] Terango - Ouza & Teranga International Band ... [10] FOUR WOMEN - NINA SIMONE [15] Fruit Tree - Nick Drake [19] I'd Have You Anytime - George Harrison [22] Don't Take My Love - Jackie Ross [25] Some Velvet Morning - Nancy Sinatra [29] History Lesson - Nicolas Jaar [33] Chimacum Rain - Linda Perhacs Other People Network"
WN (Video)
YouTube: We Weren't Made For These Times
SoundCloud

2013 September: Nicolas Jaar, 2014 January: Other People, 2015 May: Nicolas Jaar Soundtracks Short Film About Police Brutality and #BlackLivesMatter, 2015 July: Space Is Only Noise (2010), 2015 August: Boiler Room NYC DJ Set at Clown & Sunset Takeove, 2015 September: Work It (Bluewave edit), 2015 October: Darkside EP - Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington (2011). 2012 January: The Color of Pomegranates (1968) - Sergei Parajanov, 2015 November: Nicolas Jaar - Soundtrack, The Color of Pomegranates (2015), 2017 January: Sirens (2016)

Eric Dolphy Quintet - Far Cry (1960)

"Charlie Parker's influence permeates this 1960 session. Beyond the obvious acknowledgment on song titles ('Mrs. Parker of K.C. ['Bird's Mother']' and 'Ode to Charlie Parker'), his restless spirit is utilized as a guiding light for breaking bebop molds. Far Cry finds multi-reedist Eric Dolphy in a transitional phase, relinquishing Parker's governing universal impact and diving into the next controversial phase that critics began calling 'anti-jazz.' On this date Booker Little's lyrical trumpet and Jackie Byard's confident grasp of multiple piano styles (though both steeped in hard bop) were sympathetic to the burgeoning 'avant-garde' approach that Dolphy displays, albeit sparingly, on this session. Far Cry contains the initial performance of Dolphy's future jazz classic 'Miss Ann,' along with his first recorded solo alto sax performance on 'Tenderly,' in which Dolphy bridges the gap between the solo saxophone performances of Coleman Hawkins and Anthony Braxton."
allmusic
W - Far Cry
amazon
YouTube: Far Cry! full album 41:33

2013 August: Out to Lunch! (1964), 2015 November: Eric Dolphy His Life and Art, 2016 February: Outward Bound (1960), 2016 April: Straight Ahead - Oliver Nelson With Eric Dolphy (1961)

20 Rare Photographs of Allen Ginsberg

"Twenty years ago today, Allen Ginsberg—author of Howl, Beat poet, revolutionary free mind, Buddhist, teacher, activist—died at the age of 70. In addition to being one of the most important and recognized modern poets, Ginsberg was also a photographer, and he took thousands of what he called “certain moments in eternity”: snapshots—usually joyful, often beautiful, sometimes profound, occasionally naked—of himself and his friends, documenting and reflecting the Beat generation and beyond. I particularly love photographs of Ginsberg—the exuberance he brought to his life is so palpable in them; he’s expressive and funny and—dare I say it—real. So on the occasion of his death, here are 20 photographs of Ginsberg—including a number that come with his original annotations, generously provided by his estate—for us to remember him by."
LitHub

2009 August: Beat Generation, 2010 April: Beat Hotel, 2010 October: "Howl" - Allen Ginsberg, 2012 April: The Beats — A Graphic History, 2012 December: Jazz poetry, 2013 January: Beat Memories: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg, 2015 August: The Word is Beat: Jazz, Poetry & the Beat Generation.

Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys - For the Last Time (1974)

"For the Last Time documents two historic moments in American music: The last time Bob Wills would ever attend or participate in a recording session -- he never made the final day of the session, having suffered a severe stroke the night before -- and the reunion of the great Texas Playboys, who began in the 1930s and recorded and toured together through the beginning of World War II. All living members were present, as well as Texas Playboy-for-a-day Merle Haggard, who drove all night from Chicago to make the session (he literally begged Wills to be a part of the sessions). ... In all, this is far from the lame tribute record we see so frequently these days; this is a deeply moving and inspiringly executed presentation of Bob Wills as not only a bandleader, but as an innovator and mentor. In other words, it is the only fitting tribute possible, with the man still very much alive sitting among his bandmates for the very last time."
allmusic
W - Bob Wills
Bob Wills
Discogs
amazon, iTunes
YouTube: For the Last Time 1:10:36

Pablo Power & Schoolly D, Philly VS New York: A Declaration of Co-Independence at Okay Space in Williamsburg

Pablo Power, Dekalb Didactic, Mixed media
"Currently on view at Okay Space at 281 North 7th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn is Philly VS New York: A Declaration of Co-Independence. Featuring works — fashioned both individually and collaboratively — by legendary Philly rapper Schoolly D and New York-based multi-disciplinary visual artist Pablo Power, this exhibit is a follow-up to their 2013 exhibition, Am I Black Enough?  Presented by Okay Space and Black Swan Projekt, Philly VS New York: A Declaration of Co-Independence continues through April 1. Pictured above is Gay Science and Joyous Wisdom by Pablo Power. ..."
Street Art NYC
Pablo Power
facebook - Schoolly D
YouTube: 'Philly vs. New York' w/ Schoolly D & Pablo Power @ Okay Space

Make Art Not War: Political Protest Posters from the Twentieth Century

"Two of the most recognizable images of twentieth-century art are Pablo Picasso’s 'Guernica' and the rather modest mass-produced poster by an unassuming illustrator, Lorraine Schneider 'War is Not Healthy for Children and Other Living Things.' From Picasso’s masterpiece to a humble piece of poster art, artists have used their talents to express dissent and to protest against injustice and immorality. As the face of many political movements, posters are essential for fueling recruitment, spreading propaganda, and sustaining morale. Disseminated by governments, political parties, labor unions and other organizations, political posters transcend time and span the entire spectrum of political affiliations and philosophies. ..."
NYU Press
Truthdig
amazon

Of a Feather

"The grass is still wet from the rain as the morning light pushes through the fog on a brisk spring morning in Prospect Park. The paths are dappled with joggers, cyclists, strollers, and dogs, yet no one notices our group of twelve, necks conspicuously craned and binoculars pressed up to our faces. It’s only 7:30 a.m., but this walk with the Brooklyn Bird Club began 30 minutes ago. ... Birders, like the creatures they seek, often go unnoticed until someone points them out. Once you know how to find them, they seem to be everywhere. In Brooklyn, they are particularly overlooked despite being a robust constituency of the borough’s incredible natural habitats, such as Prospect Park, Green-Wood Cemetery, Floyd Bennett Field, Dead Horse Bay, and Brooklyn Botanic Garden. ..."
BKLYNR
Macaulay Library: The Warbler Guide Song and Call Companion
amazon: The Sibley Guide to Birds, 2nd Edition

Jah Wobble, The Edge, Holger Czukay - Snake Charmer (1983)

"Yes, it was the Eighties as you can hear from the first stuttering synths on this overwrought supersession. Bassist Jah Wobble was post-Public Image Limited, The Edge from U2 clearly at a loose end (although a decade away from letting go on Achtung Baby) and multi-instrumentlist Czukay from Can probably quite liked the idea of getting into a studio for a series of free-flowing sessions. Others who dropped in during the recording of the Snake Chartmer mini-album were Can's Jaki Liebezeit, jazz-funk singer Marcella Allen and guitarist Animal. Wobble had already explored 'Islamic funk' with his Invaders of the Heart band but here got down with some weird amalgam of Eurobeat hooked to Afro-funk of the Talking Heads kind. ..."
Elsewhere
W - Snake Charmer
Discogs
YouTube: Snake Charmer 31:01

2011 February: Plight & Premonition, 2011 June: Persian Love, 2013 October: Flux + Mutability - David Sylvian and Holger Czukay (1989) , 2014 June: Holger Czukay - Der Osten Ist Rot, Rome Remains Rome (1984/7), 2016 March: Invaders Of The Heart - Jah Wobble (1982).

René Char (14 June 1907 – 19 February 1988)

Wikipedia - "René Char (14 June 1907 – 19 February 1988) was a 20th-century French poet and member of the French Resistance. ... Char's first book, Cloches sur le cœur was published in 1928 as a compilation of poems written between 1922 and 1926. In early 1929, he founded the journal Méridiens with André Cayatte and published three issues. In August, he sent twenty-six copies of his book Arsenal, published in Nîmes, to Paul Éluard, who in the autumn came to visit him at L'Isle sur la Sorgue. In late November, Char moved to Paris, where he met Louis Aragon, André Breton, and René Crevel, and joined the surrealists. ... Char joined the French Resistance in 1940, serving under the name of Captain Alexandre, where he commanded the Durance parachute drop zone. He refused to publish anything during the Occupation, but wrote the 'Feuillets d'Hypnos' during it (1943–4), prose poems dealing with resistance. ..."
Wikipedia
Char’s Refreshing Poetry
Brooklyn Rail: René Char - Resistance in Every Way
Poetry Foundation: Poetry, March 1957
amazon

Sound Advice - Pat Patrick & The Baritone Saxophone Retinue (1977)

"'Of all the saxophones, it is our opinion that the one with the most distinctive sound, warmth and range that can reach into that of other saxophones, is the baritone sax.' As composer, bandleader, and full-time member of the Sun Ra Arkestra, Pat Patrick was a visionary musician whose singular contribution to the jazz tradition has not yet been fully recognized. As well as holding down the baritone spot in the Arkestra for 35 years, Patrick played flute and alto, composed in both jazz and popular idioms, and was a widely respected musician, playing with Duke Ellington, Eric Dolphy, Thelonious Monk, and John Coltrane, with whom he appeared on Africa/Brass (1961). But he is best known for his crucial contributions to key Sun Ra recordings including Angels and Demons at Play (1967), Jazz in Silhouette (1959), and The Nubians of Plutonia (1967), among dozens of others. But as a bandleader, Patrick only released one LP -- the almost-mythical Sound Advice, recorded with his Baritone Saxophone Retinue, a unique gathering of baritone saxophone masters including Charles Davis and René McLean. ... Liner notes by scholar and musician Bill Banfield."
Forced Exposure
W - Laurdine Patrick
The Life and Career of Lourdine ‘Pat’ Patrick, Jazz Great and Father of Deval Patrick (Video)
amazon
YouTube: Sound Advice 8 videos

Trading Card Set of the Week – Twin Peaks (Star Pics, 1991)

"Twin Peaks was one hell of a phenomenon. Though it only lasted two seasons, David Lynch and Mark Frost’s brainchild burned as brightly for its short life as any television series ever has, and anyone alive and pop culturally aware at the dawn of the 1990s knew the question of the day: Who killed Laura Palmer? The mystery surrounding the death of the eponymous town’s All-American Girl — the homecoming queen, the A student, the deliverer of Meals on Wheels — gripped a vast swath of the viewing public, and that was even before the mystery deepened. ... Boutique card publisher Star Pics capitalized on the raging maelstrom of popularity by putting out a 76-strong set of cards in 1991, just as the second season started to come off the rails, dooming the show to an end of season cancellation. ..."
blog into mystery
Twin Peaks Star Pics Cards**
YouTube: Twin Peaks Star Pics Trading Cards

2008 September: Twin Peaks, 2010 March: Twin Peaks: How Laura Palmer's death marked the rebirth of TV drama, 2011 October: Twin Peaks: The Last Days, 2014 October: Welcome to Twin Peaks, 2015 June: David Lynch: ‘I’ve always loved Laura Palmer’, 2015 July: Twin Peaks Maps, 2016 May: Hear the Music of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks Played..., September: Twin Peaks Tarot Cards For The Magician Who Longs To See Through The Darkness Of Future Past, 2014 September: David Lynch: The Unified Field, 2014 December: David Lynch’s Bad Thoughts - J. Hoberman, 2015 March: Lumière and Company (1995), 2015 April: David Lynch Creates a Very Surreal Plug for Transcendental Meditation, 2015 December: What Is “Lynchian”?, 2017 March: Anatomy of a Fascinating Disaster: Fire Walk With Me.

Make the Most of the British Museum

"When the British Museum opened in 1753, it was the world’s first national public museum, free (as it still is) to all 'studious and curious persons.' It contains a breathtaking collection of over 8 million objects that paint an interconnected portrait of the world’s cultures. But it also epitomizes the long British traditions of exploration, quirkiness and obsessive collecting. You could spend weeks here. But don’t worry; we’ll guide you through. ..."
NY Times
[PDF] Make the Most of The British Museum
British Museum (SOUNDCLOUD)
YouTube: The British Museum

Various Artists - The Fruit of the Original Sin (1981)

"The second compilation released by the Belgian label Crepescule in the early '80s, and easily the most ambitious of its earliest such efforts, The Fruit of the Original Sin at the time acted as a sprawling catchall that drew together many different strands of what could be called post-punk and art rock from all over Europe and North America. From a distance, it's even more of an astonishing effort, thanks not only to the many bands and performers who appeared and later established strong reputations worldwide, but the sheer, surprising range of who appeared. ... Thorough liner notes and a reproduction of the original inside sleeves complete another solid LTM reissue."
allmusic
Les Disques du Crépuscule: The Fruit Of The Original Sin
DO LOOK BACK: LES DISQUES DU CREPUSCULE
Discogs
amazon
YouTube: The Fruit of the Original Sin · Peter Gordon, The Durutti Column - Party, Marine - Animal in My Head, Soft Verdict - Multiple 12, Paul Haig - Mad Horses, 323 - Affectionate Silence, Thick Pigeon - Sudan (Acoustic), Marguerite Duras - Interview

The Royals - Pick Up the Pieces (2002)

"The story of Roy Cousins and the Royals is, sadly, a fairly common one in Jamaican music. The body of work the group released between the years 1973 and 1979 rightly places them amongst the finest vocal acts of the roots era. Yet the failure of various producers and distributors to support the group, and constant changes in membership, led to their eventual obscurity outside of a relatively small group of reggae collectors. Thankfully, Pressure Sounds has sought to remedy this situation with this enhanced restoration of the group's classic 1977 debut, Pick up the Pieces. ..."
allmusic
Wikipedia
Reggae Vibes
iTunes
YouTube: Pick Up The Pieces 1:04:28

The Anarchism of Blackness

"Present incarnations of an unfazed and empowered far right increasingly demand the presence of a real, radical left. In the coming months and years, the left and left-leaning constituencies of the United States will need to make clear distinctions between potentially counterproductive symbolic progress, and actual material progress. Liberalism and party politics have failed a public attempting to bring about real change — but there are solutions. The Black liberation struggle, in particular, has long provided a blueprint for transformative social change within the boundaries of this empire, and it has done so due to its positioning as an inherently radical social formation — a product of the virulent and foundational nature of anti-Blackness in American society. ..."
ROAR Magazine

Mountolive - Lawrence Durrell (1958)

"Mountolive (published 1958) is, first of all, a masterful play on expectations. The Alexandria Quartet relies upon the crossed recollections of unreliable narrators for its form and in this the third volume Durrell deceptively switched to the traditional storytelling mode of a third-person narration – transforming it into an odd continuation of the experimental form. ... What begins as an affair between Mountolive and Leila soon expands to become a primarily political story, or rather the story of how political ideology put insurmountable strain upon relationships of all sorts, driving apart friends, lovers and brothers as the book progresses. Mountolive is also the most cinematic and spacious of the three 'sibling' novels. It breaks away from Darley’s constrictive voice and is a deeply refreshing and revitalizing example of changing horses in midstream. ..."
Pseudo-Intellectual Reviews
W - Mountolive
NY Times: Intrigue Is the Way of Life
Revisiting Lawrence Durrell’s The Alexandria Quartet — Paul M. Curtis

2011 December: The Alexandria Quartet - Lawrence Durrell, 2013 September: Villa that inspired Lawrence Durrell faces demolition, as Egypt allows heritage to crumble, 2014 August: Prospero’s Cell (1945), 2015 April: Bitter Lemons (1953–1956), 2015 May: Caesar's Vast Ghost: Aspects of Provence, 2016 July: Reflections on a Marine Venus (1953), 2016 September: The Greek Islands, 2016 October: Justine (1957), 2017 February: Balthazar (1958)

Baseball color line

1949: Roy Campanella, Larry Doby, Don Newcombe, Jackie Robinson
Wikipedia - "The color line in American baseball, until the late 1940s, excluded, with some big exceptions in the 19th century until the line was firmly drawn, players of Black African descent from Major League Baseball and its affiliated Minor Leagues. Racial segregation in professional baseball was sometimes called a gentlemen's agreement, meaning a tacit understanding, as there was no written policy at the highest level of organized baseball, the major leagues. ... The color line was broken for good when Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization for the 1946 season. ..."

"... Reluctance of Boston Red Sox. The Boston Red Sox were the last major league team to integrate, holding out until 1959. This was allegedly due to the steadfast resistance provided by team owner Tom Yawkey. ... Even with the stands limited to management, Robinson was subjected to racial epithets. Robinson left the tryout humiliated. Robinson would later call Yawkey 'one of the most bigoted guys in baseball'. ... The NAACP issued charges of 'following an anti-Negro policy', and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination announced a public hearing on racial bias against the Red Sox. ... When the African-American Tommy Harper, a popular former player and coach for Boston, then working as a minor league instructor, protested the policy and a story appeared in the Boston Globe, he was promptly fired. Harper sued the Red Sox for racial discrimination and his complaint was upheld on July 1, 1986. ..."
W - Baseball color line
Racism and America’s National Pastime: The Sad History of the Boston Red Sox
W - Tom Yawkey
Tom Yawkey | Ethics Alarms
'An undeniable legacy'
It’s time to banish the racist legacy of Tom Yawkey
Tommy Harper still haunted by time with Red Sox (Video)
NPR: Historian Illustrates Racial Intolerance In The Northeast In Post-War U.S. (Video)
Yawkey Way and the Red Sox’ racist history
CBS: David Price says he heard racist taunts from Red Sox fans at Fenway Park in 2016
The Red Sox: Racist
The David Ortiz bobblehead was too racist for Red Sox
Boston Red Sox Cancel 'Racist' David Ortiz Bobblehead Giveaway (Video)
David Price probably did hear racist taunts at Fenway Park

Listening Booth: A Divine Gospel-Disco Track

"Gospel disco was a bastard child of the eighties, and this house rework of a children’s choir from Bedford-Stuyvesant may be its most convoluted product. I won’t bog you down with the knotty history of 'Stand on the Word'; the song is too forward to be rendered understandable by continuity and logic. A fellow named Larry Levan may or may not have crafted this remix. The credits are disputed and the origins cloudy, but the record took off in clubs like the Paradise Garage and became a theme song for marathon dances that lasted until sunrise. The song has been infamous among dance-record hoarders since: Justice decided to get children’s vocals for 'D.A.N.C.E.' after obsessing over 'Stand on the Word,' and the track has played before recent gigs for LCD Soundsystem’s reunion tour. (Getting tickets to the Brooklyn shows required nothing short of divine intervention). ..."
New Yorker (Video)
Guardian - Divine disco: the beatific sub-genre that delivered sermons on the dancefloor (Video)
Thump: It's Time For Us to Praise the Godfathers of Gospel Disco (Video)
amazon: Greg Belson's Divine Disco, American Gospel Disco (1974-1984)

Peter Sacks

Mixed media. Aftermath 11, 6 x 6, 2013-2014.
"Peter Sacks was born in 1950 in South Africa. He lived there for the first half of his life, mostly in the city of Durban, on the Indian Ocean. Sacks studied at Oxford, as well as in the United States, at Princeton and Yale (where he wrote, partly as his thesis, The English Elegy: Studies in the Genre from Spenser to Yeats). All through this time, which included the study of art and the history of painting – from the rock-art of Southern Africa to the frescoes of the early Renaissance, from the funerary portraiture of Egypt to the entangled figurative and abstract heritages of Modernism – Sacks also spent years of travel, often times on foot. Walks across various parts of South and North America, Africa, Europe and Asia, comprised much of his development on a formal as well as cultural level.
Peter Sacks: Biography
Peter Sacks
Robert Miller Gallery
Peter Sacks interview: ‘Every painting has its own secret story’
NY Times: Where a Thousand Words Paint a Picture
vimeo: PAINTINGS :: Gallery Tour

Agnès Varda’s Art of Being There

"... But, for a short while this spring, such viewing is back in public at the Blum & Poe art gallery, in New York, with a whimsical yet impassioned exhibit of work by the filmmaker Agnès Varda. Varda, of course, is one of the crucial modern directors; she made her first film, 'La Pointe Courte,' in 1954, as a twenty-five-year-old independent filmmaker, and her most recently released film is 'The Beaches of Agnès,' from 2008. (She has a new film forthcoming, 'Visages, Visages,' which she co-directed with the photographer JR.) The gallery exhibit is the work of a filmmaker who has been, so to speak, between films—but Varda’s career has always been enlivened by an essential and constant sense of between-ness, an occasionalism in the best sense of the term. ..."
New Yorker
Capturing the Artist in Time: The Joyful Energy of Agnes Varda: Agnes Varda: From Here to There.
THE VOICE OF A WOMAN
Agnès Varda: Life as Art (Video)

August 2010: Agnès Varda, May 2011: The Beaches of Agnès, 2011 December: Interview - Agnès Varda, 2013 February: The Gleaners and I (2000), 2013 September: Cinévardaphoto (2004), 2014 July: Black Panthers (1968 doc.), 2014 October: Art on Screen: A Conversation with Agnès Varda, 2015 September: Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962), Plaisir d’amour en Iran (1976).

Pierre Reverdy - NYRB Poets

"... This is a well organized book of translations of French cubist poet, Pierre Reverdy. Just out from the NYRB Poets series, this collection has some of the usual suspects of Reverdy translation such as Kenneth Rexroth (now back in print here mind you) and Ron Padgett, but also some exciting translations by John Ashbery and Frank O’Hara, which is worth the price alone. Reverdy’s poems are stripped down, with lines often simply containing objects of a still-life with touches of far-reaching magical energy. […] The great Pierre Reverdy, comrade to Picasso and Braque, peer and contemporary of Wallace Stevens and William Carlos Williams, is among the most mysteriously satisfying of twentieth-century poets, his poems an uncanny mixture of the simple and the sublime. ..."
Poetry Foundation: Super-fantastique! City Lights Recommends Pierre Reverdy Edited by Mary Ann Caws
Poetry Society: Mary Ann Caws on Pierre Reverdy
amazon

2008 January: Pierre Reverdy 1889-1960, 2010 May: Eight Poems by Pierre Reverdy, 2014 October: Pierre Reverdy, 2016 November: Haunted House by Pierre Reverdy, Translated by John Ashbery (2007)

Marat/Sade - Peter Brook (1963)

Wikipedia - "The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade, usually shortened to Marat/Sade, is a 1967 British film adaptation of Peter Weiss' play Marat/Sade. The screen adaptation is directed by Peter Brook, and originated in his theatre production for the Royal Shakespeare Company. ... In the Charenton Asylum in 1808, the Marquis de Sade stages a play about the murder of Jean-Paul Marat by Charlotte Corday, using his fellow inmates as actors. The director of the hospital, Monsieur Coulmier, supervises the performance, accompanied by his wife and daughter. Coulmier, who supports Napoleon's government, believes that the play will support his own bourgeois ideas, and denounce those of the French Revolution that Marat helped lead. His patients, however, have other ideas, and they make a habit of speaking lines he had attempted to suppress, or deviating entirely into personal opinion. The Marquis himself, meanwhile, subtly manipulates both the players and the audience to create an atmosphere of chaos and nihilism that ultimately brings on an orgy of destruction. ..."
Wikipedia - Film
W - Marat/Sade
Independent - Marat/Sade: The play that began a stage revolution
amazon
YouTube: Marat Sade Trailer
YouTube: Marat/Sade (1967) 1:58:01

Winter Songs - Art Bears (1979)

"Finding distribution on the Residents' Ralph Records label, the Art Bears' second album consists of 12 songs of various tensions: rest vs. speed, improv vs. pulse, space vs. density, Dagmar Kraus's vocals vs. everyone else. As usual, Chris Cutler's lyrics tell political allegories through medieval-tinged stories: slaves, castles, and wheels of fortune (and industry) dominate. Fred Frith explores discordance through his guitar, and European folk figures through his always enjoyable violin. Though not as confrontational as their other work, the centerpiece has to be the frantic 'Rats and Monkeys' with three minutes of teeth-gritting, out-of-control insanity as all three players are plugged into a wall outlet and let rip. A guaranteed lease breaker if played often enough. [Winter Songs was included in the Art Box box set along with Hopes & Fears and The World as It Is Today -- with all three in remastered form -- released by ReR in 2004.]"
allmusic
W - Winter Songs
Discogs, amazon
YouTube: Winter Songs (Full Album) 45:51

2010 February: Art Bears, 2012 July: The Art Box., 2013 July: Coda To "Man & Boy", 2013 October: Art Bears Songbook - 2010-09-19 - Rock In Opposition Festival, , 2016 November: Hopes and Fears (1978)

Soul Food Taqueria - Tommy Guerrero (2003)

Wikipedia - "Soul Food Taqueria is the third studio album by former professional skateboarder and Quannum Projects-member Tommy Guerrero, released April 8, 2003, on Mo' Wax Records. ... The album consists mostly of downtempo, instrumental and sample-based chill-out music with musical influences such as Latin soul, R&B, trip hop and lo-fi music. It also features only a few vocal contributions from guest artists, which include rapper Lyrics Born and singer Gresham Taylor. Its cover artwork, depicting a taquería that also serves soul food, was designed by artist Stephen Powers. The album was not promoted well, no radio singles were issued, and it did not chart. ..."
Wikipedia
Discogs
Tommy Guerrero: Soul Food Taqueria
amazon
YouTube: Soul Food Taqueria 53:31

Fred Tomaselli - Paper

Tomaselli Guilty, 2005
"There’s a saying that today’s news is tomorrow's fish and chip paper, one that’s largely redundant now that we consume so much news (real and 'fake') online. But it seems the tactility of print will never die: a relief to Harry Ramsden’s et al, and also to artist Fred Tomaselli. Since 2005, the artist has been working on a series called The Times, for which he uses front pages from The New York Times as the basis of photograms and collages. The project started under the Bush administration, and was used as a platform on which Tomaselli can creatively explore the global calamities and political nightmares of his lifetime.  ..."
Fred Tomaselli's beguiling artworks on New York Times covers highlight the world's global calamities and political nightmares
Fred Tomaselli
White Cube
vimeo: Fred Tomaselli: Drawing on New York Times Feb 9, 2016

As repression deepens, Turkish artists and intellectuals fear the worst

"After last year's failed coup, Turkey's massive crackdown on civil society is entering its eighth month. Here's why artists and intellectuals feel the latest wave of sackings in the country go one step further. The numbers keep growing - to a point that they're almost too large to grasp. According to data compiled by Turkey Purge, PEN International, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF), 128,398 people have been sacked, while 91,658 are being detained. Nearly seven months after the failed coup of July 2016, a new wave of purges led to the dismissal of 4,464 public servants on February 8. Among them were 330 academics. Many of these newly dismissed scholars - 184 of them - were signatories of a petition released in January 2016 calling for violence to end in south-eastern Turkey, where a majority of the Kurdish population is located. The signatories called themselves Academics for Peace. ..."
As repression deepens, Turkish artists and intellectuals fear the worst
Turkey widens post-coup purge
Turkey targets Dutch with diplomatic sanctions as 'Nazi' row escalates (Video)
Turkish Artist Zehra Doğan Sentenced to Prison for Painting of Kurdish Town Attack

2016 February: The Feminist, Democratic Leftists Our Military Is Obliterating -  Debbie Bookchin, 2016 May: Turkey’s Authoritarian Turn, 2016 July: How Turkey Came to This

Black Tickets - Jayne Anne Phillips (1979)

"Of the almost 30 short fictions collected here, there are about 10 beauties and 10 that are perfectly satisfying and then there are 10 ditties- some of them, single paragraphs- that are so small, isolated and mere exercises in 'good writing' that they detract from the way the best of this book glows. Jayne Anne Phillips is a wonderful young writer, concerned with every sentence and seemingly always operating out of instincts that are visceral and true- perceived and observed originally, not imitated or fashionably learned. ... Someone in a writing class would have liked the brilliant 'tone'; someone certainly would have loved the strangeness; and the careful prose would have been picked over, lovingly. As an occasional teacher of creative writing, I no doubt would have joined in the praise. But too many of these miniatures, these show-off pieces, mar the rougher and more wholly rendered stories in this book. ..."
NY Times: Stories With Voiceprints By JOHN IRVING
W - Black Tickets
amazon

Steve Reich’s Celebration of the Lineage of Minimalism

"The musical style so loosely called minimalism — or, in Philip Glass’s preferred term, 'music with repetitive structures' — is not an exclusively American product. There have long been foreign fellow-travellers (Louis Andriessen, Arvo Pärt) and deep influences from abroad (the musical cultures of India and West Africa). But during the past half century minimalism has spread across the world like a sonic Pax Americana, replacing twelve-tone composition as classical music’s ruling common tongue. Glass and Steve Reich have both turned eighty in the past year, so it seems like a good time for Carnegie Hall to celebrate the phenomenon. It does so in 'Three Generations,' a series of four concerts at Zankel Hall (March 30, April 6, April 19, and April 26) curated by Reich, Carnegie’s current composer chair. ..."
New Yorker
The Influence Engine: Steve Reich and Pop Music (Spotify)

2008 February: Steve Reich, 2010 October: Double Sextet, 2010 December: South Bank Show, 2011 February: Different Trains, 2011 June: Music for pieces of wood, 2011 October: Maximum Reich 2.0, 2011 November: A New Musical Language (documentary, 1987), 2012 May: Influences: Steve Reich

The Quad Cinema's Facelift Caps Off a New Golden Age of NYC Cinema

The Quad Cinema on West 13th Street in late 2013, almost two years before it closed for renovations that will soon be complete.
"... Things have, to understate it considerably, changed since those days. The Quad, which originally opened in 1972 as New York City's first multi-screen movie theater and survived in the heart of Greenwich Village for more than forty years, will reopen this April under new management, nearly two years after it closed its doors. The theater has undergone a total redesign — new programmers, new seats, new screens, new lobby, even a new wine bar next door. Listening to the new owner, Charles S. Cohen, a real estate developer and film buff who also owns the arthouse distributor Cohen Media Group, enthuse about the changes he's made, it's clear he's conceived of the project as a high-tech reinvention, with a video screen in the lobby, color-coordinated seats, and a fancy new logo designed by Pentagram; he likens the new theater, half-jokingly, to a '22nd-century experience.' ..."
VOICE
VOICE - Spring at the Movies: From the Quad Cinema to "The Lost City of Z"

Maps - John Taggart, Nos. 1–6 (1966–74)

Maps 6 (1974)
"'One draws a map to show where one is' reads the motto of Maps, edited by poet, translator, and critic John Taggart. Number 1 was issued from Chicago in 1966 and includes an editor’s note that defines the purpose of the magazine: 'In his Critique of Pure Reason, Kant writes of the need for making new maps of man’s consciousness now, and of the past as seen from that now. ...' The work of Paul Blackburn, Ken Irby, and Clayton Eshleman was featured in the first small issue. Issue 2 (1967), from New York City, was a homage to the sculptor David Smith with contributions from Jerome Rothenberg, Joanne Kyger, Hannah Weiner, Douglas Blazek, Larry Eigner, and others. Issue 3 (1970), from Newberg, Pennsylvania, printed poems for John Coltrane. Issues 4–6 were devoted to Charles Olson, Louis Zukofsky, and Robert Duncan, respectively, with works by and about the poets. ..."
From a secret location

Maps 3 [1970]. Poems for John Coltrane. Cover by Roger Shimomura.

Bob Dylan Turns Up For Woody Guthrie Memorial

"Bob Dylan finally emerged from 18 months of self-imposed seclusion at the Woody Guthrie Memorial Concert in Carnegie Hall on January 20. His appearance had been announced and the two performances were sold out weeks in advance. Scalpers were reportedly getting $25.00 per ticket, and at the concert itself people were standing on the sidewalk and in the lobby begging, 'Extra tickets? Any tickets for sale?' ... But Bob Dylan, in a gun-metal grey silk mohair suit, blue shirt with green jewels for cuff links and black suede boots as well as his new beard and moustache, was the center of attention. Most of the artists accompanied themselves on guitar while they sang, and the others played behind them. Dylan, however, sprawled in his chair with his eyes closed, seeming to be somewhere else entirely until it was his turn to play. ..."
Rolling Stone
The Band: Various Artists: A Tribute to Woody Guthrie, Part 1
Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan Hit Manhattan
Oxford Dictionaries: The language and influences of the early Bob Dylan
YouTube: The Grand Coulee Dam, Dear Mrs. Roosevelt, I Ain't Got No Home