Category Archives: Music
Reclaiming the past, owning the present
A terrible notion struck me Thursday during a performance by the Carolina Chocolate Drops — that a someone somewhere might look at them and not see a trio of superb musicians reviving a rich yet nearly forgotten slice of musical Americana, but see through race-tinted glasses a trio of country Negroes.
It was made even more […]
How polite should an audience be?
I was going to write something snarky about Tim Page, but I won’t. The Spoleto overview critic for the Post and Courier was in the audience tonight at a recital by avant-garde percussionist Gerry Hemingway. The concert started a little after 6 o’clock. Page was out of there by 6:17 p.m.
Perhaps he had another appointment. […]
Laurie Anderson’s political art
Laurie Anderson performs again tonight at 9 p.m. It’s the last of three Charleston shows for the pioneering performance artist. Last night, her husband Lou Reed showed up for a tune. Perhaps he’ll do it again tonight. At any rate, we saw the show, called Homeland, on Wednesday and like a couple of other performances […]
Is Wadsworth stepping down?
In today’s P&C, Charles Wadsworth, founder of Spoleto’s chamber music series and series director for more than 30 years, hints at it. The piece is about the appointment of Geoff Nuttall, violinist of the St. Lawrence String Quartet, as associate artistic director, the first time Wadsworth has needed an assistant.
“In recent years, it has been […]
Will Lou Reed show up tonight?
I just got a call from a spokesperson from Spoleto Festival. She said that tonight’s performance of Homeland by Laurie Anderson at Memminger Auditorium might feature a special guest.
I couldn’t discern who that special guest might be. I asked twice if it were Anderson’s husband Lou Reed. She said she couldn’t say.
Even so, Reed has […]
Chocolate art = black art = American art
I’m reposting this, because the Carolina Chocolate Drops open tonight. And I’m reposting, because I was just thinking about comments made by public officials in Charleston who are clearly racist. Racism really makes no sense. I’m not speaking of its moral nature. It’s clearly immoral to me. But it’s illogical, too, because it’s based on […]
Your moment(s) of Zen
John Kennedy must have a thing for stillness. For inner peace. For serenity. Many of the new works in his series Music in Time (the last of which is Tuesday at 5 p.m.) have reflected a longing for being in the moment, for “living in the sound,” as he said of Somei Satoh’s Glimmering Darkness.
Glimmering […]
Lovell Sisters play King Street
I posted this video over the weekend and then realized I didn’t know what I was doing. So . . . Now with a little tech support from our web guru Josh Curry, we now have video I took of the Lovell Sisters playing a free gig at Millennium Music on Friday night in advance […]
The cult of Wadsworth
People have asked for my opinion of Tim Page’s comment on the chamber music series. It ran Friday. Page said he would like to know what’s going to be performed at Memminger Auditorium before he gets to the theater. As it is, the program is announced on a chalkboard located at the theater’s entrance.
Some have […]
Whipping up interest
The Lovell Sisters surprised King Street last night with a free performance at Millennium Music, a move to whip up enthusiasm for their performance this afternoon at the Charleston Music Hall. People didn’t know what to make of the killer bluegrass music coming out of the open doors until they took a look. Inside were […]
