James Brown’s rhythm-ecstasy, Paris 1971
Aug
6
2014
In the video: Fifteen minutes of free-form, ecstatic rhythm-rumination from the great James Brown performing at the Olympia auditorium in Paris in 1971. A re-creation of this amazing historic concert forms the high point of “Get On Up,” the touching James Brown bio-pic we saw tonight.
Pardon our French, but we’re loving “Hollywood Exiles in Europe” @ UCLA Film & Television Archive
Aug
5
2014
Whose good idea was this film series? One person, Rebecca Prime, author of the recent Hollywood Exiles in Europe: The Blacklist and Cold War Film Culture, certainly inspired it. Working with UCLA Film & Television Archive, Prime has co-curated a line-up of works by Jules Dassin, Joseph Losey, Cy Endfield, Ben and Norma Barzman, and ...
Live it at the Levitt! Boco do Rio @ MacArthur Park Saturday
Aug
5
2014
Okay, guys we’re in it, it’s official, it’s on. It’s August! Summer 2014 is a happening thing; you could call it a “fait accompli”! Or, of greater concern, soon to wane! So the time is right for the swinging samba rhythms that always sound good, but somehow better on a sultry summer evening. Which brings ...
Jack Cole’s “Hindu Swing” revisited by Namita Kapoor
Aug
5
2014
We have been delighted to be in touch with fellow Jack Cole fantatic Namita Kapoor, a talented American dancer/choreographer and graphic designer who has found cultural connection in an odd (but awesome) phenomenon of nightclub culture from the late 1930s – 1950s. That is, Jack Cole’s mash-up of classical Indian dance with American jazz rhythms. ...
Mozart @ 18 in Glyndbourne’s “La Finta”
Haven’t heard of La Finta? Not to worry, few people have. Written when the composer was but 18 years old and very (very) rarely performed, the anonymous text is primarily to blame: The Podesta (Mayor) is in love with his new gardener Sadrina, which is too bad for the servant Serpetta who more than fancies ...