Robert Caro, Salman Rushdie and Sandra Cisneros honored by Authors Guild
NEW YORK — Robert Caro , Salman Rushdie and Sandra Cisneros were honored Monday night at an Authors Guild dinner gala that celebrated the written word and its vital role in the preservation of democracy.
'The world we live in is a house on fire and people we love are burning,' said Cisneros, the fiction writer, poet and pacifist who was presented the Baldacci Award for Literary Activism. Caro, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, is this year's winner of the Preston Award for Distinguished Service to the Literary Community and Rushdie, the novelist and determined critic of censorship, received the Champion of Writers Award for his 'steadfast commitment to free expression.'
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Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
A tale of two eras: Terri Lyne Carrington pays tribute to the revolutionary spirit of Max Roach on ‘We Insist 2025!'
'The more things change, the more they stay the same,' French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Kerr said in 1849. Nearly 200 years later, that is sadly true of the greatest protest songs. In 2025, songs like Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War' and Sam Cooke's 'A Change Is Gonna Come' are as needed for their messages as they were when they were written more than 60 years ago. So when Grammy-winning jazz drummer Terri Lyne Carrington set out this year to pay homage to one of her stick-wielding idols, the legendary Max Roach, by revisiting his seminal 1961 album, 'We Insist!,' it turned out to be more than a musical tribute. In the process of recording the album 'We Insist 2025!,' Carrington took time to reflect on how issues of inequality, racism and more that Roach fought against in 1961 are unfortunately just as prevalent today. 'Wow, I can't believe that this stuff is still relevant,' Carrington says. 'When we look at these examples of how things have shifted in some ways, but not in other ways, it can be very depressing, especially right now. When we started this record, the election hadn't happened yet. I thought I knew what was going to happen during this election, and it was still relevant. But now it's even more relevant.' Now 59, Carrington, who also serves as Zildjian Chair in Performance at Berklee College of Music in Boston, is ready to pass along some of the fight for social justice to the younger generation. 'I do feel like it's a youthful game. I had an uncle that I would talk to when I was in my 20s, who has since passed. He would say that this is your fight now, and I would be mad at him, feeling like he wasn't doing more,' she recalls. 'And he would say, 'No, this is your fight now. I've done it, I've been there, I'm tired.' I get that sentiment too. I'm going to do whatever I do, but I'm relying on the younger generation and how pissed off I feel like they are and what that will do.' Among her many ventures to champion the jazz music she loves so much is A&R for iconic jazz label Candid Records, founded by the great jazz writer Nat Hentoff in 1960. So, she called on the younger generation to help share her vision of 'We Insist 2025!' 'I thought of calling the people that had been signed or were being signed to Candid Records because I do A&R for Candid. So I thought this would be a great opportunity to also shine a light on a lot of these artists, young people and progressive artists that are being signed right now to Candid. It's kind of like a family gathering; we all came together to pay tribute to this great artist and this great project,' she says. At the center of the next generation of jazz artists on the album is vocalist Christie Dashiell, with whom Carrington collaborates on the album. 'Somebody like Christie Dashiell was really important to the project, because I felt like the voice is so out front. It's what people relate to; the average ear relates to the voice the most,' Carrington says. 'I just feel like she perfectly embodies all these different areas of Black music traditions. That was really important, so I started there. What is the voice that's going to work with this idea?' Having toured with Herbie Hancock and played with giants as Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz, Carrington has a strong sense of jazz history and rightly sees herself as a bridge between the history and future of jazz. She made sure that bridge was strong on 'We Insist 2025!' by including trombonist Julian Priester on the record, who, at 89, is the last living musician who appeared on Roach's 1961 work. 'Jazz has always been about these kinds of bridges between generations. It's been such an important part of jazz. Mentorship, apprenticeships — it's an apprenticeship art form,' she says. 'So we did contemporary things with this music, but it wasn't so contemporary that there was no place for a Julian Priester. I think that the ability to be a bridge is important — pointing to past legacies, to the foundation of what we stand on, while trying to also point to the future or reflect the present is important.' As much as the album's original political message weighs in this turbulent current climate, and as much as Carrington wanted to make the record a vehicle for younger artists, the impetus for 'We Insist 2025!' was to pay tribute to Roach for the centennial anniversary of his birth. For Carrington, the heart of her interpretation was to honor the music and spirit Roach created on 'We Insist!' 'I had a history with reimagining projects in other people's work, and helping that legacy continue, but doing it in a way that also has my own identity involved in a way that really feels new, in a sense,' she says. 'The music is not new, but so many elements around those things are new. So I feel like it's reshaping these things a little, even though we didn't change the lyric content. By changing the music around the lyrics, it gives the lyric a different slant.' As one of the country's primary ambassadors of jazz music today, Carrington hopes the record will introduce new fans to Roach's considerable legacy while helping to revive the soul of protest music. To that end, she has discussed bigger plans with his family. 'I've talked to Max's son, Raul Roach, quite a bit about trying to collaborate by doing shows that would be expansive. Doing some of this music, maybe doing some other Max music, like some of the double quartet music,' she says. 'So we've talked about finding ways to continue this celebration of Max Roach and his artistry. There's a lot there as a foundation that can be expanded upon.'
Boston Globe
7 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Weinstein jury still has one charge to go after partial verdict in sex crimes retrial
The group was stuck on the third charge: a rape accusation involving a woman who also said she had a consensual relationship with the Oscar-winning producer. Under New York law, the third-degree rape charge carries a lesser penalty than the other two counts. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Weinstein denies all the charges. In an unusual exchange with the judge during some legal arguments before the partial verdict was disclosed Wednesday, he insisted it was unfair to continue the trial after two jurors came forward with concerns about the proceedings. Advertisement 'I can't be judged by a situation that's going on like this,' said Weinstein, 73, saying the judge was 'endangering' him. Jury-room strains started leaking into public view Friday, when a juror asked to be excused because he felt another was being treated unfairly. Then Monday, the foreperson complained that other jurors were pushing people to change their minds and talking about information beyond the charges. Advertisement The man raised concerns again Wednesday. In a closed-door discussion with prosecutors, defense lawyers and the judge, the foreperson said another juror was yelling at him for sticking to his opinion and at one point vowed, 'You going to see me outside.' 'I feel afraid inside there,' the foreperson told the judge and attorneys, according to a transcript. The judge sent the jury home for the day after the partial verdict, but the foreperson later asked to come back and recapped his concerns to Farber in court. The foreperson said he was willing to return Thursday, with Farber saying the man wouldn't be forced to go into the jury room if he didn't want to. It's unclear how deliberations could proceed if that happens, and it's equally uncertain what the court would then do. Weinstein's initial conviction five years ago seemed to cement the downfall of one of Hollywood's most powerful men in a pivotal moment for the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct. But that conviction was overturned last year, and the case was sent back for retrial in the same Manhattan courthouse. Weinstein's accusers said he exploited his Tinseltown influence to dangle career help, get them alone and then trap and force them into sexual encounters. His defense portrayed his accusers as Hollywood wannabes and hangers-on who willingly hooked up with him to court opportunity, then later said they were victimized to collect settlement funds and #MeToo approbation. Miriam Haley, the producer and production assistant whom Weinstein was convicted — twice, now — of sexually assaulting, said outside court Wednesday that the new verdict 'gives me hope.' Accuser Kaja Sokola also called it 'a big win for everyone,' even though Weinstein was acquitted of forcibly performing oral sex on her when she was a 19-year-old fashion model. Her allegation was added to the case after the retrial was ordered. Advertisement The third accuser, Jessica Mann, was still waiting for an outcome. The hairstylist and actor testified for days — as she did in 2020 — about the rape she said she endured in a Manhattan hotel room and about why she continued to see and have consensual encounters with Weinstein afterward. 'Rape can happen in relationships — and in dynamics where power and manipulation control the narrative," Mann said in a statement Wednesday. Weinstein also was convicted of raping another woman in California. He's appealing that conviction. The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted, unless they agree to be identified. Haley, Mann and Sokola did so.
USA Today
8 hours ago
- USA Today
Sabrina Carpenter sparks controversy with provocative 'Man's Best Friend' album cover
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