Poet Robert Pinsky. Pianist Laurence Hobgood. Text, music, and the moment — what we hear on the new POEMJAZZ recording is two giant artists making something greater than the sum of its parts. While Pinsky recites his lovely words with his unlovely (but weirdly attractive) voice, Hobgood, the longtime arranger and accompanist for Kurt Elling, improvises virtuoso themes and variations that sound meticulously prepared. No noodling. No absentminded atmospheric noise. Instead, genuine creation. POEMJAZZ is smart, strange, and hauntingly beautiful.
Originally posted April 25th, 2012
By Michael Konik
First time we saw JC Coccoli do her thing, she was wearing catwoman leather pants and making people laugh until they cried. The next time her hair had changed, but the voice, developed in Pittsburgh, was the same. And she still killed. JC is a shape-shifting, slightly strange, consistently funny comic. She’s smart, confident, and slyly subversive. Although her interesting Website has nice things to look at, the schedule hasn’t been updated since 2011. No worries. She hosts “Keep it Clean,” a free show at L.A.’s Public House every Monday night at 10PM. Go. Laugh. See what version of sexy and cool she is this week.
Originally posted April 10th, 2012
By Michael Konik
Thanks to the book leave of Los Angeles Times columnist Hector Tobar, readers have been treated to a remarkable upgrade: the occasional piece by investigative reporter cum essayist Gale Holland. Whether musing on lottery hangover or Santa Ana winds, she’s simulatenously poetic and precise, with the rhythm and grace of a serious writer. The smart move would be to give her a permanent home on Page 2.
Originally posted March 21st, 2012
By Michael Konik
Imagine an impressionist who was actually funny. And skilled at improvisation. And openly “out” about his radical politics and sexual preferences. Comic James Adomian is all that and more. You may have seen him on crappy TV shows like “Last Comic Standing” or not crappy comedy videos on “Funny or Die.” But experience him live. You’ll laugh. Often and heartily.
Originally posted February 22nd, 2012
By Michael Konik
For seven years, the Philippines International Jazz Festival has gathered some of the finest musicians on the planet for an annual fortnight celebrating soul, swing, and multi-cultural bridge-building. This year’s edition, February 15-29, features Acoustic Alchemy, Gretchen Parlato, and the Queen of Jazzipino (jazz + Filipino) Charmaine Clamor, as well as dozens of Filipino, Indonesian, and Malaysian virtuosos. The PIJF’s success reminds us that with a solid groove and the spirit of improvisation, maybe we really can all get along.
Originally posted February 7th, 2012
By Michael Konik
If all director Chris Smith did with his life was create American Movie, one of the funniest and most poignant documentaries of the 20th Century, he’d be assured of a place in the pantheon. With his latest film, Collapse, Smith outlines the obessive ideas of autodidact Michael Ruppert, a former LAPD cop whose powerful thesis — that growth-based economies reliant on fossil fuels are doomed – gets mocked by skeptics and dismissed as a radical conspiracy theory. The film is as mesmerizing as Ruppert’s thoughts are troubling. Watch it, and then see how you feel about the future.
Originally posted January 31st, 2012
By Michael Konik
Alternative comedy, comic books, and all things remotely geeky — live on stage! In less than a year, NerdMelt, a collaboration between Hollywood’s Meltdown Comics, “Geek Chic Daily,” and Chris Hardwick, impressario of “The Nerdist” podcast, has emerged as a performance sanctuary for some of the smartest (and dorkiest) folks in Los Angeles. Dana Gould, Doug Benson, Kumail Nanjiani and funny people like them perform here regularly. Turn off your video game, scrape up eight bucks and go.
Originally posted January 17th, 2012
By Michael Konik
Our greatest enemy isn’t radical Islam, climate change, or pugnacious Canadians. It’s corruption. In his infuriating yet somehow optimistic blockbuster “Republic Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress — and a Plan to Stop It,” law professor Lawrence Lessig outlines the nauseating rot within our Capitol, stripping away political pretensions and telling it the way it is. If everyone read this book, we’d have a bloody revolution. Don’t worry: We’re too busy paying off The Man.
Originally posted January 10th, 2012
By Michael Konik
He’s intensely energetic, but not manic, prone to rapid-fire improvisation yet not scatterbrained. Fierce and charming. Comic Justin Ian Daniels is in the midst of a month-long residency at Hollywood’s longest-running (and best) weekly comedy show, “What’s Up, Tiger Lily?” Don’t miss the opportunity to see him do his thing. It’s a kind of magic.
Originally posted December 21st, 2011
By Michael Konik
She’s weird in the most wonderful way: adorably peculiar weird, not creepy weird. People like her. She’s cute — and super funny. Melissa Villasenor is a singing comedian whose own natural voice is impression worthy — think Mickey Mouse an octave lower — yet specializes in excellent, knowing impressions of famous folks, mostly singers. You’ll be hearing more from her. And wanting it.
We're really sorry about our most recent trading loss. People will say we require more oversight, and, in this case, maybe they're right. It shouldn't have happened, and we'll take steps to make sure it doesn't happen for a third time.
The $4,000 or so ($4,882) of your money that we failed to bring back from our annual company trip to Hollywood Park Racetrack and Casino will in... Read More-->
If you’re reading this essay on MichaelKonik.com, you know that this is a reliable place to find “me,” the me who shares his ideas with the world, whether or not any part of the world is interested. This is where I unilaterally invade my privacy, allowing strangers...
North Korea is launching rockets, Syria is slaughtering its citizens, and the Filipino community is organizing a massive get-out-the-vote campaign for a crucial election (not for something boring and unimportant like a public office but a cause that’s got folks passionately engaged: the American Idol finals). So...
Sometimes our chaotic, unknowable, seemingly random Universe arranges itself with perfect symmetry. In these moments of bracing clarity, authored by a Creator (in whatever guise or nomenclature you prefer) whose sense of irony is matched only by her/his/its sense of wicked humor, our innate foolishness and learned...
Poet Robert Pinsky. Pianist Laurence Hobgood. Text, music, and the moment -- what we hear on the new POEMJAZZ recording is two giant artists making something greater than the sum of its parts. While Pinsky recites his lovely words with his unlovely (but weirdly attractive) voice, Hobgood, the longtime arranger and accompanist [...]
