5.29.11
This is an Archival Site
There is now a new Rogovoy Report home
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Weekend Preview May 19-24
Bob Dylan tributes, Deborah Voigt, Tom Paxton, Bill Kirchen, John Kirk and Trish Miller
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FILM REVIEW: In a Better World and Of Gods and Men
Review by Seth Rogovoy
5.17.11
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5.12.11
Deborah Voigt Headlines Mahaiwe Gala
Opera star to sing arias, show tunes on Saturday, May 21
5.15.11
Famed Spiritual Teacher to Speak on Nonviolence
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5.12.11
Special Effects Wizard to Be Honored by Film Festival
Doug Trumbull to be Feted by BIFF
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Weekend Preview May 12-16
Cultural Highlights of the Berkshire Weekend
6.4.09
Talk about a small world
Elaine and I grew up together, but only just recently met....
5.8.11
Berkshire Living to Cease Publication
A Farewell from Publisher Michael Zivyak
5.8.11
twiGs Branches Out
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5.8.11
[MUSIC REVIEW] Avalon Quartet in Close Encounters at Mahaiwe
Review by Seth Rogovoy
5.8.11
[MUSIC REVIEW] Avalon Quartet in Close Encounters at Mahaiwe
Review by Seth Rogovoy
5.7.11
[FILM REVIEW] Bill Cunningham New York
Review by Seth Rogovoy
5.7.11
[FILM REVIEW] Bill Cunningham New York
Review by Seth Rogovoy
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(Eagle Watch #8) Paper refuses to print letter critical of review
9.1.05
Back when I wrote for the Berkshire Eagle (all of about one year ago, which seems like ancient history given the changes at the paper since then), the paper prided itself, and rightly so, on printing just about every non-slanderous letter to the editor that it received, ESPECIALLY those that were critical of the paper itself.
Indeed, just last summer, the Eagle printed several letters from a Pittsfield concert promoter who took issue with the paper's reporting and several of my reviews of his concerts.
Apparently, that policy has changed. A very polite letter from Jeffrey Gaskill, the promoter responsible for the recent Rickie Lee Jones concert at the Berkshire Music Hall, never saw publication. But you can read the full text here:
'To the Editor of the Berkshire Eagle:
As a producer of the Rickie Lee Jones concert at the Berkshire Music Hall July 28, I appreciate that reviewers are entitled to their opinions. But in the future, when the Eagle reports on a popular music event, I hope it will be covered in a professional manner. (“Crying for Company,” July 30)
For a reviewer to smugly write that Rickie Lee Jones, a vanguard of singer-songwriters, “could walk into a club in nearly any city in this country, play those two songs at an open mic with no one knowing her or her music and never, ever, have anyone say, "Wonderful" ” and “Perhaps the people in the audience weren't there as much for the music as they were for the nostalgia of seeing someone they loved when they were younger” is not only disrespectful to the artist and audience, but more importantly, to the readers of the Berkshire Eagle.
Westenhook Arts was proud to present a vital American artist, of whom the Wall Street Journal (“Rickie Lee Jones and Her Restless Muse,”
August 3) said just today “it’s clear that Ms. Jones’s gift is worthy of extraordinary commendation… the force of her personality recalls Carmen McRae, Joni Mitchell and Miles Davis… [Her] songs are linked by quality and invention, both of which are the product of a strong overarching artistic vision.”
And again when referring to her new 25-year retrospective said “The anthology shows what can happen when a substantial artist sets her mind to do just what she wants as she wants. And such has been her growth that “Duchess of Coolsville” does something few career summaries do these days: It gives the listener the sense that her best may be yet to come.”
If popular music is to be a part of any Pittsfield arts renaissance, your readers will need better reporting. While the Eagle is not obligated to report favorably on every arts event, when an important artist of stature performs, it ought to feel obligated to send a qualified critic.
Jeffrey Gaskill
Executive Director, Westenhook Arts'
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