Stone has issued an apology. Translation: he’s sorry for revealing to an interviewer that he’s essentially a far rightist, an apologist for dictators, a man without a shred of moral comprehension, an ignoramus who would presume to lecture us all.
It would be interesting to get the reaction of Tariq Ali, one of Stone’s screenwriters and a supposed man of the left.
Blogging these days is slow for many reasons, one being that I’ve accepted a position as adjunct lecturer in jazz history at the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College. My course begins August 30, and I’ve been hard at work preparing. Very hard at work. One consequence is the growing stack of new and unlistened-to CD releases near my desk. Sorry, but I’m spending much more time in the 1920s than the 2010s right now. Forget “mossy stone” — I think I might be a moldy fig.
Kidding.
Teaching jazz history is a heavy responsibility, made even heavier by the fact that Queens College administers the Louis Armstrong House Museum (pictured, in earlier days) and the Armstrong archives. I’m thus all the more honored to be involved with the school and its fine jazz faculty.
My textbook for the course will be Jazz by Gary Giddins and Scott DeVeaux. “Jazz history is in the making,” the authors write, and I can’t think of a better motto to guide us through the coming semester.
As much as I applaud the NAACP for calling out rampant racism within the Tea Party movement, the problem is this. The NAACP’s rhetorical strategy is a delicate one; they don’t want to alienate masses of blue-collar whites who might be drawn to the Tea Party’s brand of (I would argue phony) libertarianism. So the NAACP instead insists that the Tea Party must make clear there is “no place for racists” in its movement. But the fact is there is a place for racists in the movement. And there’s no delicate way to say that.
The problem is similar when it comes to antisemitism, the fringe left and the Palestine solidarity movement. Consider, for instance, the attempt of Socialist Worker to slink away from its association with Nazi sympathizer Gilad Atzmon. To his credit, Paul Heideman of Newark wrote in to denounce Atzmon and say that antisemitism “has absolutely no place in our movements.” But yes it does. Antisemitism does have a place in far-left movements at present, and that is because the far left has created a rhetorical culture attractive to antisemites. Just as the Tea Party has created a rhetorical culture attractive to white racists.
Yes, it is. So it’s good to see the fringe lefties at Socialist Worker retract and apologize for publishing an interview with a Nazi sympathizer. The fact that they felt no need to vet Gilad Atzmon beforehand speaks volumes, however. “Critics of Israel,” no matter how virulent, have come to be given the benefit of the doubt on the radical left.
If Socialist Worker is “the best publication on the U.S. left,” as Safia Albaiti of Boston declares, then this is a sad commentary on the U.S. left. But I already knew that. Still I’m grateful to Albaiti for speaking up and making short work of the lie — perpetuated by NJ-based jazz musician Rich Siegel and others — that Atzmon has been taken “out of context.” Here is Atzmon:
In the light of Israeli brutality, the conviction of gross swindler Madoff and the latest images of Rabbis being taken away by FBI agents, it is about time we stop discussing the rise of anti-Semitism and start to elaborate on the rise of Jewish Crime.
And here is Atzmon:
Jewish texts tend to glaze over the fact that Hitler’s March 28 1933, ordering [sic] a boycott against Jewish stores and goods, was an escalation in direct response to the declaration of war on Germany by the worldwide Jewish leadership.
Atzmon has not disavowed these remarks, nor has he explained the “context” that supposedly requires us to read these words for anything other than what they are.
Just in case you thought the term “kike” went out of use in the ’50s: here is Ben C. Slocum, who signs off here from South Orange, New Jersey, and who wrote the following in my comments field:
“Why all this hysteria over something as negligible as anti-Semitism. Jews are the richest and most privileged people in the world. Israel has over 200 nukes and has the 4th deadliest military in the world. Sn [sic] what’s this nonsense about anti-Semitism? Do the common folk have to bend down and lick the crack in a Jew’s ass so as not to be called an ‘anti-Semite’ today? Are they that neurotic and insecure? They own the world – isn’t that enough for these kikey little farts?”
Nels Cline Singers Wed., July 7, 8pm. $15 ($12 advance). With Richard Crandell, Good for Cows. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave. 215.739.9684 www.arsnovaworkshop.org
Long before he became Wilco’s lead guitarist in 2004, Nels Cline was already a leading West Coast avant-gardist, making dissonant garage-jazz with rock-n-roll edge and even a certain melodic tenderness. Last year he released the gripping solo disc Coward, titled for the person who murdered his friend and fellow guitarist Rod Poole. Since 2002, Cline has devoted much attention to the Nels Cline Singers, a power trio with no singers. They’ve given us Instrumentals, The Giant Pin, Draw Breath and now the brand new double-disc Initiate (studio and live). Congregating with bassist Devin Hoff and drummer Scott Amendola, Cline locates a space between thrashing punk attitude and contemplative sound sculpture. — David R. Adler
This review appears in the July 2010 issue of All About Jazz-New York.
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Yotam, Resonance(Jazz Legacy)
By David R. Adler
Israeli-born guitarist Yotam Silberstein has dropped his surname for performance purposes — he’s simply “Yotam” now. But the crisp and determined quality of his playing remains intact on Resonance, his third disc as a leader. All three outings have featured strong bands, but Resonance pushes the star power to another level with Christian McBride on bass, Aaron Goldberg on piano, Gregory Hutchinson on drums and special guest Roy Hargrove on trumpet. Their swing feel is furious, yet effortless, and it bursts forth from the first notes of John Lewis’ “Two Bass Hit,” a well-chosen opener.
Yotam still hasn’t topped his 2004 trio debut for Fresh Sound, The Arrival, which has a spark reminiscent of Barney Kessel’s Poll Winners discs with Ray Brown and Shelly Manne. On his 2009 Posi-Tone effort Next Page Yotam turned to organ quartet, favoring the trebly, somewhat old-fashioned guitar sound he also uses on Resonance, though it takes on a warmer, more satisfying quality in the piano-bass-drums environment.
In a word, Yotam loves the blues, and this is where Resonance shines most. From the blistering “Two Bass Hit” to Joe Henderson’s soul-jazzy “Mamacita” (featuring Hargrove) to Yotam’s own midtempo “Blewz,” Yotam does more than just hold his own in daunting company — he fosters a genuine band sound, a sense of listening rather than outdoing.
There are fireworks, to be sure, but calmer moments as well: Yotam offers a darkly romantic waltz called “Merav,” and adds a wistful vocal on top of McBride’s arco melody — a surprising touch — on the Shlomo Gronich number “A Fresh Love Song (Bo’i Yalda).” The contrast between “McDavid,” with its leaping, upbeat piano/guitar unison line, and “Bye Ya’ll,” a tense, lurching Latin piece, shows the ample range of Yotam’s writing. But it’s the blues cuts as well as Clifford Brown’s “Daahoud” (with Hargrove) that make the date snap into focus.
