1 day agoAI Will Not Replace Art“Etonne-moi!” — Serge Diaghilev, to Jean Cocteau Adam Gopnik, the prolific and brilliant writer whose work has appeared in The New Yorker for several decades, has a timely piece in The New York Times that anyone interested in storytelling (why we do it, how we do it, what happens when…Technology6 min readTechnology6 min read
May 301993 + 30 = Saturn (or, a Sun Ra Sampler)Thirty years ago, today, Herman Poole Blount, aka Sonny Blount, aka Le Sony’r Ra, aka SUN RA, left these spheres to (take your pick): return to Saturn, whence he came, or to travel the spaceways, or blaze new sonic trails in other galaxies or –the correct choice– all of the…Sun Ra6 min readSun Ra6 min read
May 26A Love Letter to the Inimitable Martin AmisStyle is not neutral; it gives moral directions. — Martin Amis Milan Kundera came to me too early. As a reader, it wasn’t soon enough, as what relatively inexperienced but enthusiastic amateur — fresh from the front lines of grad school and adjusting to no longer deconstructing texts with an…Writing6 min readWriting6 min read
May 12This Apostle’s Creed: East Broadway Run DownFall ’83 and, as if weekly church services weren’t insufferable enough, the Sacrament of Confirmation required mandatory tutelage, also once a week, on Sundays, which meant our soccer games (and football viewing, this being the glory days of the mighty NFC East and the tag-team of Madden/Summerall) were bookended by…Music7 min readMusic7 min read
Mar 5Why Wayne Shorter MattersWayne Shorter is, for my money, possibly the most underrated genius in any genre of music. To be sure, he certainly received plenty of props within jazz circles and the people who know really know. In his wise, humble way, he always seemed cool with that. He was, from start…Jazz6 min readJazz6 min read
Mar 1I’ll See You on the Dark Side of the Moon: Rock Music’s Apex at 50It doesn’t matter whether Pink Floyd’s masterpiece is the best rock album of all time (just as we can agree that there are other worthy contenders for the imaginary throne, including, of course, Sgt. …Music7 min readMusic7 min read
Jan 12Jeff Beck: Guitar GrandmasterAs impossible at it is to believe Jeff Beck has died (aged 78), it’s just as difficult to fathom that he was with us in the first place. If you’re not a fan or are unfamiliar, pay attention to what your favorite guitar players are saying right now. We live…Rock5 min readRock5 min read
Dec 30, 2022Pelé: Ambassador of JoyThere are two ways to describe what a big deal it was to receive this toy as a Christmas gift in 1970-something. First, it was high tech entertainment for the time when games, like the people who played them, were decidedly analog. It was an era when, if sleeping didn’t…Soccer3 min readSoccer3 min read
Dec 22, 2022The Fire Sermon: T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” at 100Art is long, and Time is fleeting, Longfellow wrote, and we’d already read it — words largely if not entirely lost on the average university freshman. It was 1989, and I was still laboring under the illusion that I’d soon be practicing L.A. Law. Thus, majoring in English was a…Literature5 min readLiterature5 min read
Oct 24, 2022Deliver Me From Nowhere: Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Nebraska’ at 40Perhaps because of what followed — the next album, the acclaim — Springsteen’s decision to make the ultimate lo-fi album seems even more prescient, appropriate, and perfect. …Rock3 min readRock3 min read
