*It's taken every ounce of my willpower to repress the impulse to comment extensively on Dave Helling's damning story about the financial aftermath of the American Jazz Museum's tenth anniversary celebration. Plastic Sax readers know that I'm anything but a cheerleader. Yet it seems unfair to pile on, especially given how much I enjoyed the museum's street festival. I'll just say that Helling's piece is mandatory reading. The author of this letter points out just one of many problems the institution must overcome. And the consensus of the general public is reflected by these bitter perspectives.
*It's deeply discouraging that empty seats outnumbered live bodies for Dee Dee Bridgewater's revelatory performance Saturday at the Gem. In spite of tremendous advance notices and heavy advertising, only 250 people showed up. And almost as troubling was audience's median age of about fifty.
*Present Magazine offers a fine profile of Candace Evans.
*The paperback edition of Chasin' the Bird: The Life and Legacy of Charlie Parker was published in April. It's reviewed favorably at All About Jazz.
*The Pitch catches up with Megan Birdsall. The benefit performance for her forthcoming medical procedure is at Jardine's tonight.
*Lincoln Center is the site of a discussion titled "Charlie Parker: The Myth vs. the Reality" on November 8.
(Art by Sanford Biggers. His work is on display at Grand Arts.)
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