My new Nation colum is here https://www.thenation.com/article/trump-is-winning-the-war-on-truth/ and it’s called “Trump Is Winning the War on Truth.” The subhed is “Lying presidents aren’t new, but Trump’s mendacity stands apart,” but it is more about the how the Times covers his lies and how Sinclair and Murdoch and perhaps Peter Thiel are about to expand them to the point where truth will entirely disapper from the discourse.
Alter-reviews:
The Jazz@LC Orchestra paid tribute to the famous Benny Goodman 1938 concert at Carnegie Hall this past weekend. They were terrific, doing what they do best, which is making the old not just sound new but actually become new. Victor Goines directed this show with Wynton playing in the background and there was nary a false note played. This was, moreover, the only time I ever expect to hear five clarinetist playing lead at the same time (following five clarinet solos on a wonderfully expansive “Sing, Sing Sing” and what a pleasure it was to see and hear Anat Cohen with this (all male, let’s admit it) band. The 1938 concert has long been available on record and cd and his been cleaned up sufficiently that you can listen to it as music rather than as history, but it is truly both.
In the meantime, borrowed from their website jazz.org, here are five things you might want to know about that show:
1. This performance was the first time that jazz—hard-swinging, uncompromising jazz—took the stage in a concert hall, helping to further legitimize the genre as an art form.
2. Benny Goodman was worried the show wouldn’t sell because attendees would have to sit instead of dancing, as they were accustomed to doing at his shows. Ultimately, he was proved wrong when the concert sold out weeks in advance!
3. The performance featured differently sized ensembles including big band and a Dixieland quartet.
4. In addition to Goodman’s own big band, the evening featured members of the Count Basie and Duke Ellington orchestras. The members were featured during a jam session on “Honeysuckle Rose.”
5. Benny Goodman didn’t know the concert was recorded. After the performance, Goodman was given one of two copies of the recording, which he put away in his apartment and forgot about. Years later, the recordings were rediscovered, at which point Goodman had them released as The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert. It went on to become one of the best-selling live jazz albums of all time.
I have been an enormous booster of “The Marvelous Mrs. Masel,” (though the last episode of season one was unworthy of the show and, as good as it was, none of it lived up to the magnificent, “Mad-Men” level pilot,) and I had a thing for The Gilmore Girls (though not the reboot: I agree with the Washington Post writer who wrote “Rory Gilmore is a Monster”—and that makes me a big fan of Amy Sherman—Palladino, which sent me to her show about the ballet school on Hulu, “Bunheads.” and guess what? That’s just annoying. But it’s not the fault of Sutton Foster, who is actually profoundly underserved, given her talent, by that show and by “Younger” which I also think is just not quite good enough to have on, even if you’re not watching. All this is a long way of saying I was able to catch a PBS taping of Foster’s performance for the American Songbook Series at the georgous Appel Room at Jazz@LC recently and she’s really delightful in a way that can make you forget who’s president. This woman is going to be big, once she let’s us know she’s got a dark side somewhere. Anyway, I’m really excited about the Songbook schedule this season which has Randy Newman on it, Stew and the Negro Problem, Allison Moorer and Shelby Lynne and actual Altercation friend Rosanne Cash. The schedule is here http://www.lincolncenter.org/american-songbook. Also read this interview with Rosanne about her dad’s Folsom Prison show https://www.rollingstone.com/country/features/johnny-cashs-at-folsom-prison-rosanne-cash-on-dads-album-w515393
Springsteen releases from Nugs.net
The recent releases from Nugs.net of old—dare one say it—historic Springsteen shows are really wonderful choices. The most recent one from the Meadowlands in June of 1993 was a benefit for the Barbara Ann Carr fund, one of two he did that week, with Joe Ely and Terrance Trend D’Arby, and without the E Street Band, was Bruce at his loosest and most moving. It has a beautiful and rare “Satan’s Jewel Crown”and great stuff from Luckytown and Human Touch especially a killer “Living Proof,”—the song to which my 19 year old owns her existence, sort-of—as well as songs that, if you’re like me, you’ve probably forgotten about, (“Leap of Faith, Man’s Job, etc)
The other two new releases are no less historic; The much bootlegged Capitol Theater 1978 show which showed the world that the E Street Band was the best live band of all time when it was broadcast all over the East Coat (The Winterland show did it for the West Coast and the Agora show for the Midwest.) And then there is that famous post-Katrina show with the Seeger Sessions Band, which puts a new spin on old songs like “Johnny 99” and “Atlantic City” and shows why, like Dylan and the Beatles, this music is going to last forever. It’s amazing how so many places have adopted Bruce as their own. This was certainly the case the three times I’ve seen Bruce play Jazzfest. (And I don’t even blame him for the kidney stone the last time.)
Also, I am just dipping my proverbial toe into Acorn TV’s “THE COMMANDER: The Complete Collection. Here is what caught me from the press release: “Prime Suspect creator Lynda La Plante is the reigning expert on ambitious, reckless female cops. Her gritty crime drama introduces Clare Blake, the steely head of the elite Murder Review Team and the highest-ranking female officer in New Scotland Yard. Portrayed by Amanda Burton (The Level, Waterloo Road), she’s sexy, driven, and prone to taking risks. Letting her personal life bleed into her career, she always gets too close to her cases, making her vulnerable to those who wish to take her down. This DVD 7-Disc set features 17 episodes (five seasons, 2003-2008), plus bonus interviews with Amanda Burton, character retrospective with Lynda La Plante, a supporting cast featurette, and more.”