the Providence String Quartet developed its innovative urban residency, Community MusicWorks (http://www.communitymusic works.org), over ten years ago in Providence, Rhode Island. Violinist/violist Sebastian Ruth founded Community MusicWorks on the conviction that musicians have an important public role to play in creating and transforming communit

This was mostly crass stuff, impressive for its single–minded pursuit of the lowest common denominator, but generally lacking any originality which could be traced through to later records as any kind of “influence”.

As Ross puts it, “Wagner was the original canceled artist;” his enduring reception tells us something about the way art resists and transcends bouts of political purification and vilification. Much to learn here in our own moment.

I remember once, when I was a kid, hearing Johnny Winter singing “Tired of Tryin’ ” with Muddy Waters on guitar, on the Nothin’ but the Blues album, and hearing him sing and liking what I heard and then looking at a picture of him on the album and double-taking, maybe triple-taking, and then wondering what it meant to be black (or white, or albino)