Friday , March 29 2024

Jon Sobel

Jon Sobel is Publisher and Executive Editor of Blogcritics as well as lead editor of the Culture & Society section. As a writer he contributes most often to Music, where he covers classical music (old and new) and other genres, and Culture, where he reviews NYC theater. Through Oren Hope Marketing and Copywriting at http://www.orenhope.com/ you can hire him to write or edit whatever marketing or journalistic materials your heart desires. Jon also writes the blog Park Odyssey at http://parkodyssey.blogspot.com/ where he is on a mission to visit every park in New York City. He has also been a part-time working musician, including as lead singer, songwriter, and bass player for Whisperado.

Concert Review: ‘Early Music of the Maghreb’ – Traditional Music of Northern Africa (NYC, 12 Dec 2017)

early music of the maghreb salon sanctuary concerts afro roots tuesdays

The phrase "Early Music" usually refers to early European music, while the term "Afro Roots" generally means music from sub-Saharan Africa. Salon/Sanctuary Concerts teamed with Afro Roots Tuesdays to challenge both those assumptions with a concert of tradition-rooted music from northern Africa.

Read More »

Theater Review (NYC Off-Broadway): ‘Downtown Race Riot’ with Chloë Sevigny

Chloë Sevigny and David Levi in Seth Zvi Rosenfeld’s “Downtown Race Riot,” directed by Scott Elliott. This Off-Broadway production by The New Group plays a limited engagement at The Pershing Square Signature Center, Nov 14 – Dec 23. For more, visit www.thenewgroup.org. Photo credit: Monique Carboni

Fashions may have changed and drugs become even more deadly since the 1970s milieu of 'Downtown Race Riot.' But with all its humor, the play bears a troubling message: Friendship and family, potent forces though they are, can't solve the conundrum of tribalism.

Read More »

Concert-Theater Review (NYC): ‘8980: Book of Travelers’ Composed and Performed by Gabriel Kahane

gabriel kahane 8980 book of travelers bam next wave festival

The singer-songwriter's deep trove of compositional talent and exquisite voice make his art songs ring with the excitement of the new even as they recall the glory days of lieder.

Read More »

Music CD/DVD Review: Richard Thompson Band – ‘Live at Rockpalast’ Box Set

richard thompson rockpalast

These 1983-84 concerts feature a mix of uptempo originals, dark ballads and slow rockers, and traditional folk numbers. Taken together, they showcase Thompson's brilliant songwriting and aggressive, sometimes psychedelic guitar wizardry.

Read More »

Book Review: ‘The Ghost Ship of Brooklyn’ by Robert P. Watson

hms jersey prison ship ghost ship of brooklyn

Severely underfed, beaten, deprived of food and water as punishment for infractions big and small, and afflicted with rampaging fevers, thousands of prisoners died on British prison ships off Brooklyn during the Revolutionary War. Robert P. Watson draws on the accounts of survivors to paint a lurid picture of this hellish but little-known aspect of the war.

Read More »