AJBlogs

Colin Asher, author of the critically acclaimed biography of Nelson Algren "Never a Lovely So Real," now focuses on five emblematic figures — Huddle Ledbetter, Elmo Hope, Johnny Cash, Ike White, and Tupac Shakur — as he explores the influence of incarceration on blues artists, jazz musicians, country singers, rock'n'rollers,

Their faces are so familiar there is no need to name them.

I’ve always been skeptical of the idea that simply engaging with a lot of narrative fiction will make people more ethical, or more generally empathetic (which is not the same thing), or will increase the depth of their political understanding. There isn’t any evidence for it, and too many counter-examples

The threat isn't that AI replaces artists. It's subtler and more coercive: that an algorithmically saturated environment erodes the capacity for the kind of thinking that we like to think art requires. Tolerance for ambiguity. Patience with difficulty. The willingness to be bored before a breakthrough.

Anna Weber, General Manager for Artistic and Operations at Carnegie Hall, shares the depth of their festival programming and focus on collaborative partnerships.

Boston’s “Arts Fuse” today carries my thoughts on “Furtwängler in Wartime” occasioned by Ian Buruma’s new book “Stay Alive.”  Excerpts follow. You can read the whole thing here. One learns from Ian Buruma’s Stay Alive: Berlin 1939-45 – an absorbing study of what it was like to live in the German

What a grift. It only exists to make folks feel worthless, angry, and divisive. As such, it’s the perfect tactic to sow national unrest.

The current Boston “Arts Fuse” carries my thoughts about the pertinence today of Henry Higginson, who invented, owned, and operated the Boston Symphony until 1919. You can access the full article here. Excerpts follow: About a dozen years ago I was invited, impromptu, to address a gifted youth orchestra at

John Milbauer, Dean of DePaul University’s School of Music, shares the three things he learned in policy school that he wished he learned in music school.

Here’s another reason for nonprofit arts organizations to make that scene change toward charitable activities.

As jazz — the music, business and culture of it — depends on an intricate and widespread network of activists, altruists and advocates to thrive, and celebrating local doers at least used to be a way to focus attention on the out-of-the-spotlight work necessary to make anything worthwhile happen, the

Maribeth Stahl, Chief Development Officer of The Cleveland Orchestra, shares why Data, Depth and Discovery are key ingredients for successful fundraising.

...while the attention to charity has evolved, the nonprofit arts behemoth class has not.

[A human named David Szalay]. Paul Bloom posted this note on Substack: I’ve always thought that I would never want to read an AI-written novel, no matter how objectively well-written it is. But I’m starting to question this. I’m on a real David Szalay kick these days; last night, I finished “London

Sidney Jackson, President & CEO of Chicago Sinfonietta, talks about their unique role and impact regionally and nationally.