The Arts Fuse Newsletter, April 23
Reviews of a tribute to the Allman Brothers Band and the films "Sinners" and "The Shrouds", a commentary on the value of attending smaller venues, and an homage to the late jazz critic Francis Davis
From The Editor's Desk:
Cultural and artistic institutions like the Kennedy Center, PCAH, NEA, and NEH, along with other national, state, and local institutions across the United States, are under attack and, though it has taken a while, their partisans are beginning to fight back. But this lackluster resistance (at least so far) has been hampered by a puzzling reluctance to name names and target the enemy, perhaps because doing so might upset powerful business and political interests. Massachusetts’ defenders of the arts insist on their vital importance to education, entertainment, economic activity, and preserving cultural heritage. All well and good, but arts and culture can also stand as dissenting bulwarks against authoritarianism. Yet a blunt assertion of this stance — a commitment to defending democracy against tyranny — is damned hard to come by. The truth is, defeating Trump and his enablers is about more than just reversing deep cuts in funding. The country is in crisis: the exercise of a free imagination is in just as much danger as the Constitution.
Weirdly, recent statements about DOGE cuts from Mass Humanities and The Boston Foundation are tightlipped about the motives driving the demolition squad. A Boston Globe opinion piece penned by Brian Boyles, executive director of Mass Humanities, dares not mention MAGA or Trump, let alone allude to the specter of his kingship. A Mass Humanities email that advises readers on “How You Can Help” says nada about the admin’s goal of controlling and/or dismantling cultural institutions. A Creative Sector Day is set for April 30, where “members of the arts and cultural community from across the commonwealth will join together at the State House to celebrate the contributions of artists, cultural organizations, creative businesses and arts workers to Massachusetts.” How about protesting the administration’s radical reshaping of the Smithsonian, an attempt to eliminate what Trump described as “improper, divisive or anti-American ideology”? An invite to an upcoming Boston Foundation talk on The Future of Collective Action for the Arts & Culture Sector doesn’t mention the threats to creative freedom posed by oligarchy or monocracy. Instead, we are informed that this is an “unprecedented and challenging moment”. You don’t say!
The timidity can be rationalized, though not easily excused. It is fear and trembling masked by the diplomatic lingo of a cautious bureaucracy. It is the reluctance to place the arts and in any risky contexts, to stay within safe educational and economic borders. The latter is a particularly disturbing reason behind the hesitancy to speak out. In the past, assumptions of the independence of American arts and culture rested on the population’s confidence in the maintenance of democracy. Today, the ground on which creative liberty stands is being systematically undermined. Authoritarian states, such as Hungary, Turkey, and China, often fund obedient museums, theater and dance companies, music and film productions. Artists who refuse to self-censor either leave the country or struggle underground. Our cultural organizations should be about more than just demanding higher funding levels — the creative sector must call out a despotic enemy while there is still time to stop an autocratic coup.
—Bill Marx, Editor-in-Chief
Archive: From the Editor's Desk
Concert Review: The Brothers — Celebrating the Style and Songbook of the Legendary Allman Brothers Band
By Scott McLennan
The best way to honor all of those responsible for the Allman Brothers Band was to play like the Allman Brothers Band: be fierce, not nostalgic; be pleasing, not cloying; be generous, not self-indulgent. And The Brothers pulled it off.
Film Review: “Sinners” — Next to Godliness
By Michael Marano
It takes spine to mash things up this boldly, and the bravery of auteur director Ryan Coogler's storytelling is breathtaking.
Jazz Album Review: Freddie Hubbard — “On Fire: Live from the Blue Morocco”
By Michael Ullman
There are unplanned moments in this three LP collection, times when the musicians seem to be waiting to hear what is going to happen next. Something exciting usually does come out of their interactions.
Arts Remembrance: Francis Davis, 1946-2025
By Jon Garelick
There are few critics as worth re-reading as the late Francis Davis, whose writings are filled with musical and cultural insight, erudition, literary grace, and, most valued now, humor.
Film Review: “The Shrouds” – Casket Case
By Nicole Veneto
If you think the world’s gotten a lot colder in the last couple years, you’re not alone. David Cronenberg feels it too.
Arts Commentary: When it Comes to Concerts, Go Small
By Jason M. Rubin
An invaluable way to see live music: one that provides funds to artists who really need it and to the smaller venues that not only deserve support but that also drive business in the local community.
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Questions, comments, concerns?
Editor-in-Chief
Bill Marx
wmarx103@gmail.com
