The list of my favorite movies constantly evolves. Here is the list for today: 1) The Battle of Algiers, directed by Gillo Pontecorvo 2) African Queen, directed by John Huston 3) Avatar, directed by James Cameron 4) Spike of Bensonhurst, directed by Paul Morrisey 5) Baby Take a Bow, directed by Harry Lachman 6) […]
“We Get Requests” by the Oscar Peterson Trio
All jazz is avant-garde jazz. Oscar Peterson’s album We Get Requests (a wonderful title, both a boast and a complaint) is trio jazz: Oscar on piano, Ray Brown on bass, Ed Thigpen on drums (1964). But for moments in each song, Oscar travels beyond the piano. He transforms his instrument into a radio made of […]
Hilliard Greene, The Bassist
Hilliard Greene bends over his piccolo bass, tenderly. His face reminds me of Paul Robeson’s — a dignified sadness, tinged with anger. For some reason, I picture a purple shawl hanging from Hilliard’s shoulder. He seems to be singing with his body. Hilliard is performing at the "Projects Room" of the Vision Festival, 2010. […]
The Contemporaneous Beauty.
The Ancien Greeks had penned their art within a rule they called "the canon of beauty". As a matter of fact, Beauty that was natural had it’s origin in the paradigms from the utmost-sky, according to Plato, that is to say the canons or modello most idealized. For a woman to be considered beautiful she […]
Is the Recession Creating a Hipster Exodus?
Many of the young creative upstarts previously populating bohemian neighborhoods like Brooklyn’s Williamsburg are moving out because their parents can no longer support them. Lack of Cash Cramps Hipsters’ Style Many of the so-called hipsters in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood are from affluent backgrounds, although they do their utmost to conceal it. With the current economic […]
Diane di Prima’s Revolutionary Letters
Diane di Prima was writing and publishing controversial work on the subject of rape and incest when it was considered indecent for a young woman to live alone. She was taking drugs and having orgies when the rest of her peers were learning shorthand and awaiting marriage proposals. It comes as no surprise then, that […]