Habib Koite
In 1983 I saw King Sunny Ade and His African Beats at Soldier Field in Chicago–a whirlwind of melody, rhythm, and motion, watched and heard by tens of thousands of people. African music has never again reached that level...
Read MoreUncategorized
Joshua Breakstone
The electric guitar is probably the most common instrument in popular music in our time. But until the invention eighty or so years ago of the amplified version of the instrument guitarists worked mainly in the rhythm sections...
Read MoreJun Kaneko Sculpture on North Campus
“The relatively new sculpture,” says Cathy Behrendt of January’s I Spy image, is “in front of the Earl V. Moore building on U-M’s North Campus.” The paired, larger-than-life heads are the work...
Read MoreInvasion of the Drones
The skies will begin to thicken and swarm next year, when the Federal Aviation Administration opens up U.S. airspace to unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones. Initially developed and used by the military, drones are now being made...
Read MoreFlip your Field at UMMA
In a felicitous partnership of intellect and resources, the U-M Museum of Art is letting eminent U-M faculty members curate exhibitions of artworks drawn from UMMA’s vast collection. But there’s a catch: each faculty...
Read More
Choose the Slingshot
Malcolm Gladwell has built an enormous career explaining the obvious in interesting and accessible ways. That is not a criticism. For instance, his new book, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants,...
Read MoreGet Curious, Again
“Seeing some of my old shows, I make myself blush,” says Tanya Veilleux of her plans to once again invade community access cable. Back in the nineties, community access (now CTN) aired ninety-three no-holds-barred...
Read MorePhoto Bust
Glenn Bering has been doing photography for thirty years. Seven or eight years ago, he shot forty weddings a year on film. But the recession and the availability of cheap digital cameras forced him to cut his fees in half. Now,...
Read MoreSaxophonist Colin Stetson
Saxophonist Colin Stetson was raised in Ann Arbor and trained at the U-M. Although his university studies and broad range of performance experience have exposed him to music of every sort, from classical to jazz, Stetson’s...
Read MoreTim Haldeman
The Elks Lodge on Sunset is an imposing house perched on a hill overlooking the northern entrance to the city. Built as a private home over a century ago, it has since 1944 been the home of the Ann Arbor chapter of the Improved...
Read MoreArtrain’s New Wheels
For Polich and Jennifer Conlin, the time and place was a Christmas party at Marina and Bob Whitmans house. In the summer of 2010, Conlin and her husband, Daniel Rivkin, fled growing unrest in Egypt to move back to her hometown....
Read MoreAnn Arbor Art
Bill Martin says he just wanted to find a way to support local artists.Back in 1987, the developer worked with Marsha Chamberlin, then president of the Ann Arbor Art Center, to commission fourteen paintings of local scenes. A...
Read MoreThe New Hoosiers
“Zero!” the coach yells out with a tone of profound indignation. “Zero points in the fourth quarter! Zero! None! In eight minutes! Eight minutes! Eight minutes! Zero!” Thus begins “Medora,” a...
Read MoreTubaChristmas
In 1974, the great tuba player and educator Harvey Phillips organized a concert of tubas and euphoniums playing Christmas carols at the Rockefeller Center skating rink. It was the beginning of a tradition that’s been...
Read MoreHow did they do that?
The lobby of the Ann Arbor Ice Cube is overflowing with girls and young women dressed in matching athletic suits. They move in packs, the color of their bright scarves differentiating each team. Their hair pulled back severely,...
Read MoreKiana June Weber
As American schools de-emphasized music over the last decades, Chelsea and Saline high schools went in the other direction, forming and marshaling community support for fiddle ensembles that are a great deal of fun and get a lot...
Read MoreCaptain Ivory
For months, friends had been telling me to check out Captain Ivory, and, when I finally caught up with the band, it more than lived up to the hype. Formed in August 2012 from a series of Basement Tape-inspired jam sessions,...
Read MoreProudly humble
Regional poetry anthologies, like the beautifully produced new collection just issued by Western Michigan University’s New Issues Press and edited by essential Michigan poets William Olsen and Jack Ridl, are meant for a...
Read MoreSeeing Language
EMU’s current art exhibit, Non-Text, features an astonishing variety of works by sixteen local and national artists who employ text and type in nontraditional ways. In paintings, drawings, sculptures, and animation,...
Read MoreHidden Museum
“When I came for my interview, I got lost,” Shannon O’Dell says.The curator of the U-M’s Sindecuse Museum of Dentistry is the first to admit that it can be rather hard to find. On that first visit, she...
Read More