Serpico and Turning Black Friday into Good Friday
Sean MurphyLook at that dude. Pacino, clean-shaven and short-haired as the movie begins, sports the best 'stache of the decade, then goes goatee, then gets full facial (hair and head), all…
Let Us Give Thanks for the Guitar Solo (Revisited)
Let us give thanks for the guitar solo. This excercise is equal parts pointless and onanistic, which, of course, is the entire point. (Quick: what was your favorite orgasm? Thought…
The Intersection of Art & Innovation, cont’d: A Conversation with Kevin Calabro
Yesterday we wrapped another conversation for CEA's ongoing series "The Intersection of Art & Innovation." (Previous discussions can be found HERE, HERE HERE and HERE.) Kevin founded the record label The…
The Whiteness of the Whale: Remembering The White Album (Revisited)
Therefore, in his other moods, symbolize whatever grand or gracious thing he will by whiteness, no man can deny that in its profoundest idealized significance it calls up a peculiar…
If I Could Wave My Magic Wand… (Revisited)
(Editor's note: Rush's last great album (in my opinion), Presto, was released this week, in 1989. Almost a quarter-century ago. Yikes. Here is a piece I wrote in October,…
The Intersection of Art & Innovation, cont’d: A Conversation with Aram Bajakian
Yesterday we wrapped another conversation for CEA's ongoing series "The Intersection of Art & Innovation." (Previous discussions can be found HERE, HERE and HERE.) It was my pleasure to speak with…
Pete La Roca, R.I.P. (One Year Later)
It will be an ongoing, and very somber, progression, watching so many old-school jazz musicians (many of whom recorded on the epic Blue Note label during the glory years of…
Russell Brand, Revolution and The Audacity of Apathy
FIRST OFF, LET’S dispense with decorum and declare the obvious: Russell Brand is brilliant, and quite possibly a genius. In addition to his comedic and acting abilities, he is a…
The Holy Trinity, Part Two: Jethro Tull
I, like too many prog-rock fanatics to count, was delighted when Rush received their overdue induction into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. I still hold out hope that…
O’Connor and Coltrane: Two Saints of American Art
I never, until this week, made the explicit connection between John Coltrane and Flannery O'Connor. And why should I have? One was an introverted white woman, a southern writer who…