Author Archives: Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi

National Endowment or the Arts (NEA)

Trump Fights to Destroy the Arts. Artists and Arts Activists Fight Back.

Text by Dawoud Kringle

Trump Fights to Destroy the Arts. For the third year in a row, the Trump Administration repeated its efforts to destroy the arts in the US. The White House has proposed a federal budget that would shutter the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (which supports PBS and NPR) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Like the two previous years under Trump, the plans diminishing appropriations for each agency are a clear attempt to facilitate its demise.

The cuts total $897 million of the $4.7 trillion 2020 spending plan.

In the beginning of his administration, Trump called for the complete elimination of these agencies. The Republican-led Congress funded them both times, with the NEA, NEH and IMLS each seeing small increases in 2019. The 2020 budget provides $29 million for the NEA and $38 million for the NEH, both funded at $155 million this year. The CPB would receive $30 million, down from $465 million, and the IMLS would receive $23 million, a $219 million cut. This translates to about $1.35 per citizen per year.

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CD Review: Pablo Aslan “Contrabajo. Works For Bass and String Quartet”

Pablo AslanArtist: Pablo Aslan
Title: Contrabajo
Label: Soundbrush Records
Genre: nu-tango/contemporary music/jazz
Available on: cdbaby, Discogs, itunes, Amazon and major streaming sites

Review by Fiona Mactaggart

This uplifting and luminescent new album from Argentinian born, Brooklyn based double bassist Pablo Aslan, is a real find.

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Concert Review: Beyond Django – Les Violons de Bruxelles and Rose Room

Date: February 2, 2019
Venue: The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland
Review by Fiona Mactaggart

The inaugural three-day long Thrill festival of Belgian and Scottish jazz, opened on this winter night with an uplifting evening entitled “Beyond Django”.

 Les Violons De Bruxelles First up were guests, Les Violons De Bruxelles (LVDB) led by inestimable Belgian Manouche virtuoso violinist, guitarist and singer, Tcha Limberger. Mirroring iconic 30s Quintette du Hot Club de France, but using just one guitar (played with brio by Renaud d’Ardenne), two violins (Limberger and Renauld Crols), a viola (Alexandre Tripodi) and a double bass (Hungarian Vilmos Csikos), their sound gave all respect to Django Reinhardt but in no way sounded dated.

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