Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a couple of Ornette Coleman reissues from 1968: "New York is Now," and "Love Call." (Both on the Blue Note label). They include some alternate takes of tunes never before released in the U.S.
Reporter Lawrence Weschler. Weschler is a staff writer for the "New Yorker," where he writes on human rights, political, and cultural issues. Weschler's new book, "A Miracle, A Universe: Settling Accounts with Torturers," (published by Pantheon) looks at how victims of torture in Brazil and Uruguay worked to bring their captors activities to light (portions of the book ran as a five-part series in the New Yorker). Weschler's earlier books include "The Passion of Poland," and "Shapinsky's Karma."
Television critic David Bianculli reviews "Spy Magazine Presents How To Be Famous." It's a prime-time special by the same folks who put out the satire and humor magazine. It airs this Wednesday night on NBC.
British singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding. Born in the historical seaside town of Hastings, Harding has looked to the United States for his creative influences--from his Cambridge doctoral dissertation on the role of Jimmy Stewart in American films--to the songs of bluesman Robert Johnson, and folksingers John Prine and Jim Croce. His new album is called, "Here Comes the Groom."
Critic Laurie Stone reviews British performer and clown Geoff Hoyle. In his solo piece, "Feast of Fools," Hoyke uses physical and verbal comedy to portray a series of caricatures. Though Hoyle has training in classical theatre and mime, STONE says his performance is anything but refined. Hoyle is performing "Feast of Fools," in New York.
Journalist Robert Cullen. He's a former Moscow correspondent for Newsweek, and he writes regularly on Eastern Europe for The Atlantic and the New Yorker. An eyewitness to the fall of the Ceaucescu regime in Romania, Cullen discusses with Terry the difficulties that country faces in setting up a democracy after so many years under a dictatorship.
Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews "Stolen Wishes," the new album by a band called Shoes, a little-known group from Zion, Illinois, who happen to write great, and we mean GREAT, pop songs. (The record's on Black Vinyl Records, 2269 Sheridan Road, Zion, IL, 60099).
Political cartoonist Pat Oliphant. His jabs at the high and mighty are seen in more than 500 newspapers and numerous collections. Oliphant's depictions of American politics have earned him the anger of presidents and a Pulitzer Prize. The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, has just opened an exhibit of 41 of Oliphant's cartoons, as well as his lesser-known sculpture, lithographs, and color work. The exhibit runs through November 25th, then tours nationally.
Novelist Tom Robbins. His latest book "Skinny Legs and All," (Bantam Books) involves a young Virginia artist, Ellen Cherry, who moves to New York to pursue an art career and ends up a waitress at Isaac & Ishmael's, a restaurant owned by an Arab and a Jew which sits across the street from the United Nations. Other characters of note: Salome, the teenage belly dancer, and some magical objects: a conch, a stick, a sock, a can o'beans, and a spoon.
Critic Maureen Corrigan shares her thoughts on celebrity stars, thoughts generated by her recent trip from the East Coast halls of Academe to Hollywood.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a new reissue, "Uptown," featuring the Gene Krupa Orchestra with Roy Eldridge and singer Anita O'Day. It's on Columbia.
Book critic John Leonard reviews "Solomon Gursky Was Here," the new novel by Canadian writer Mordecai Richler. Richler's also the author of "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz" and "Joshua Then and Now."
Filmmaker John Waters. His latest film is "Cry Baby," a juvenile delinquent love story set in the 1950's, which brings together such performers as Patty Hearst, Johnny Depp (of Fox's tv show "21 Jump Street"), Ricki Lake, David Nelson, and Polly Bergen. Waters is known for his independent, off-beat films, such as "Pink Flamingos," "Female Trouble," and "Polyester." In 1988 Waters entered the mainstream with his popular film, "Hairspray."
Journalist Ernest Volkman. He and co-author John Cummings' new book "Goombata: The Improbable Rise and Fall of John Gotti and His Gang," chronicles the history of the mofia godfather once proclaimed the "Teflon Don." Since 1986, when Gotti took over the leadership of the Gambino crime family, he's been acquitted in three criminal trials. The latest was an assault and conspiracy trial in New York, in which he was acquitted February 9, 1990.
Television critic David Bianculli previews "Capital News," starring Lloyd Bridges as the head of a Washington DC newspaper. It premieres this week on ABC.
Critic-at-large Laurie Stone reviews the film "Camille Claudel," starring Isabelle Adjani as sculptor Camille Claudel and Gerard Depardieu as Auguste Rodin.
