The Rogovoy Report

25/07/2024

Nothing Is Revealed: My take on the new teaser-trailer for the upcoming Bob Dylan biopic, "A Complete Unknown," starring Timothee Chalamet (for The Forward)

The trailer for Bob Dylan movie ‘A Complete Unknown' with Timothee Chalamet hypes up viewers but gives little away about the folk musician.

24/07/2024

What is the best trustworthy overall reference guide to films in book form? Something with basic production details plus critical assessment? Something kind of like IMDB + Metacritic in a book? Ideally including a global approach and covering at least through the end of the 20th century?

23/07/2024

The Rogovoy Report's Berkshire and Hudson Valley Weekend Cultural Preview this week includes Beck at Tanglewood, Regina Spektor in Albany, Richie Furay at Falcon Ridge Folk, Bobby Previte at Hudson Hall, plus a whole lot more....

Jul 23-30, 2024

18/07/2024

A new Criterion The Criterion Collection box set containing various versions of Sam Peckinpah's "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" -- including a fully restored and properly edited "50th anniversary edition" -- has me reexamining the enigmatic and essential role Bob Dylan played in the film (for The Forward)

Dylan had a key role in Sam Peckinpah's 'Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid," which is getting a new DVD box set release.

01/07/2024

Maya Beiser's new "In C" is both an intriguing conceptual achievement and a hypnotic, nearly ecstatic listening experience - my review for Chronogram

Seth Rogovoy reviews Maya Beiser's latest album Maya Beiser X Terry Riley: In C.

01/07/2024

I explored how Will Hermes' recent Lou Reed bio reveals new depths to Lou Reed's Jewish identity for The Forward

The legendary founder of the Velvet Underground, Reed filled his life and work with Jewish themes and collaborators.

21/06/2024

In my latest Substack column, I ask if the new narcissism is paving the way for an insurrection of the loudmouths, the haters, the egotists, and the bullies?

Are we experiencing an insurrection of the loudmouths, the haters, the egotists, and the bullies?

17/06/2024

Dick Van D**e's eponymous TV show was the brainchild of Jewish comedian/writer Carl Reiner. Was it also the inspiration for 'Seinfeld'?

Dick Van D**e's eponymous TV show was the brainchild of Carl Reiner — was it also the inspiration for 'Seinfeld?'

15/06/2024

James Taylor to be honored with Tanglewood Medal on the Third of July

by Noah Peretz (Rogovoy Report intern) (LENOX, Mass.) - James Taylor will receive the 2024 Tanglewood Medal from the Boston Symphony Orchestra in recognition of his extraordinary accomplishments as a singer-songwriter and performer as well as his many significant contributions to the BSO and Berkshi...

14/06/2024

The play-with-music 'Stereophonic' heads into Sunday night's Tony Awards with a record 13 nominations. I offer my thoughts on the play in this week's "Everything Is Broken" Substack column.

The hit play-with-music is up for a record thirteen Tony Awards. Maybe it just went over my head.

12/06/2024

Today's Rogovoy Report Weekend Cultural Preview recommends concerts by Kim Gordon; Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain; Arturo O’Farrill's Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra; Corrine Bailey Rae; Keb' Mo'; and many others.

Jun 12-16, 2024

25/05/2024

Splash page for new author site coming soon....

24/05/2024

Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward and Ladysmith Black Mambazo added to summer season at Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Mass.

by Noah Peretz (Rogovoy Report intern) (GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – The Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward (Fri, July 19) and Grammy Award-winning South African choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo (Fri, Aug 9) have been added to the summer concert calendar at the Mahaiwe. As the driving force beh...

16/05/2024

My thoughts on Peter Jackson's restoration of Michael Lindsay-Hogg's Beatles film, "Let It Be" -- and what it reveals about George Harrison's supposed desire to quit the band.

Peter Jackson's new restoration of Michael Lindsay-Hogg's original Beatles doc reveals the Fab Four (mostly) happy together -- including George

10/05/2024

at Roulette, Brooklyn, N.Y., Monday, June 3.

(NEW YORK, N.Y.) -- Composer/trumpeter and bandleader Frank London — the “mystic high priest of avant klez-jazz” (All About Jazz) — presents SPIRIT STRONGER THAN BLOOD: A Retrospective Celebration of Frank London’s Life & Works, at Brooklyn’s Roulette on June 3, 2024, at 8pm. The concert...

19/04/2024

My (mercifully brief) take on Taylor Swift's new album, in which she compares herself to Jesus and God

On her latest album, which name-checks Patti Smith and Dylan Thomas, Taylor Swift wrestles with the plight of being a 'tortured poet.'

17/04/2024

My review of Bruce Springsteen's triumphant concert in Albany, N.Y., on Monday, April 15, 2024.

At age 74, the Boss swaps athleticism for gravitas

11/04/2024

Another oldie but goodie by me from the The Forward - maybe it will make you feel slightly better while you are scrambling to file your taxes by April 15.

Turns out the idea of taxes is as old as the Torah. Seth Rogovoy traces its history from Abraham to the American Civil War.

09/04/2024

Beck returns to the Berkshires for the first time since his MASS MoCA concert ten years ago when he performs at Tanglewood on Tuesday, July 23.

(LENOX, Mass.) – Innovative alt-rock singer-songwriter Beck will make his Tanglewood debut on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, performing with the Boston Pops. The concert, to be conducted by Edwin Outwater, will feature unique arrangements of familiar favorites and seldom-heard deep cuts from the master o...

09/04/2024

Beck at Tanglewood, Tuesday, July 23

08/04/2024

An oldie (from 2017) but goodie I wrote for The Forward: What does Jewish tradition say about the solar eclipse? Alas, today is the last day it will be relevant (in North America) for several decades.

As we prepare for the next solar eclipse, we recall the biblical, literary and scientific explanations of this celestial event.

05/04/2024

My review of singer-songwriter and storyteller Robert Burke Warren's captivating and fun birthday concert at The Local in Saugerties, N.Y., last weekend.

The multi-talented singer-songwriter and storyteller celebrates his birthday with a generous, intimate set of original songs and covers at The Local in Saugerties, N.Y.

03/04/2024

This week's Berkshire and Hudson Valley Cultural Preview includes Richard Lloyd in Hudson, Colin Hay in Troy, Tom Papa in Poughkeepsie, Antonio Sanchez at MASS MoCA. and Woodstock's fabulous Simi Stone, performing at the Local in Saugerties, N.Y., on Friday night.

Apr 4-11, 2024

01/04/2024

In my latest 'Everything Is Broken' Substack column, I review "The Oppermanns," a 1933 German novel by Lion Feuchtwanger, a gripping, suspenseful page-turner that reads like today's headlines.

This gripping page-turner from 1933 reads like today's headlines.

27/03/2024

A very exciting project coming to Hudson, N.Y.

(HUDSON, N.Y, March 27, 2024) – At its meeting last night, the Hudson City School Board accepted an offer from the Hudson Development Corporation (HDC) to purchase and develop the John L. Edwards School as a centralized community hub for Hudson residents. The Hudson Development Corporation (HDC) -...

24/03/2024

In my latest Everything Is Broken Substack I review a live performance by downtown legend Penny Arcade and offer reflections on two great TV series: 'Better Call Saul' and 'Ted Lasso'

Some surprisingly offbeat theater and TV series offer a respite from life's harsher realities with no dumbing down of the stakes at play

24/03/2024

The place to be next Saturday night...

by Noah Peretz (Intern, the Rogovoy Report) (SAUGERTIES, N.Y.) - Singer-songwriter, author, and all-around Renaissance man Robert Burke Warren will present his Big Birthday Shindig: An Evening of Songs, Stories, and Celebration at The Local in Saugerties, N.Y., on Saturday,March 30, at 8pm. The Huds...

22/03/2024

My tribute to the recently departed Eric Carmen (of Raspberries and solo fame) in the The Forward

With and without his group 'Raspberries,' Carmen, whose forebears' name was Kaminkowitz, was a power-pop pioneer.

08/03/2024

Lyle Lovett, Ben Folds, Suzanne Vega, Keb’ Mo’, Lisa Loeb, and BoDeans Headed to Mahaiwe in 2024

(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – Singer-songwriters Lyle Lovett, Ben Folds, Keb’ Mo’, Suzanne Vega, and rootsy heartland-rockers BoDeans will perform at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Mass., between May and October 2024. Lyle Lovett, joined by singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb will perform in a collabo...

07/03/2024

The complete lineup for this summer's YIDSTOCK: The Festival of New Yiddish Music (July 11-14 at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Mass.) is now available online, and includes concerts by The Klezmatics, Levyosn, Socalled’s Gephilte, Frank London, Eleanor Reissa, Judy Bressler, Hankus Netsky, Daniel Kahn, Jake Shulman-Ment, Richie Barshay, Basya Schechter, Avi Fox-Rosen, and many more. Tickets are now on sale for YBC members.

July 11–14 at the Yiddish Book Center | Yidstock: The Festival of New Yiddish Music brings the best in klezmer and new Yiddish music to the stage at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts.