Double Hadidity
Each year, mid-Michigan art lovers and international observers wonder what direction the Michigan State University Broad Art Museum will take next. The Broad’s mission is to display …
By LAWRENCE COSENTINO's Latest Articles
In the black and giving back
Now in his fourth year as executive director of Michigan State University’s Wharton Center, Eric Olmscheid is not quite content — that would mean letting his guard down — but he is …
‘We have to speak up’
The last thing Barbara Roberts Mason wants is for people to make a fuss over her. All her life, she has focused on making life better for others, especially kids. Well, she’s got a …
‘A sweetheart of a man’
It’s hard to believe that Lansing had a newspaperman who was roundly admired, imitated and loved as a writer, as a human being and even as an editor, but there was such a person: Mark Nixon, …
The poet and the drain commissioner
No one likes to take a pop quiz after reading something, so let’s get it over with now. Which of the following two statements was made by Lansing’s poet laureate, and which was made …
Back to the old school
The return of a hometown musical hero, mellifluous saxophone master Tim Cunningham, will add extra zest and a bit of drama to Phil Denny’s Armory Smooth Jazz Fête this weekend. …
JazzFest Michigan: Acoustic, electric and eclectic
At an ox roast in rural Alcona County many years ago, the lady standing next to me asked, “Excuse me, do you serve anything besides ox?” Purists once bristled when a jazz festival …
496 West: ‘I’m feeling it!’
Like its namesake highway, high-energy Lansing jazz ensemble 496 West is built to move people. At a joyful, upbeat concert last Friday, July 25, a week ahead of …
The Pickle Mafia: Still not legitimate
A couple of years ago, New York-based “power trio” Pickle Mafia recorded a tune called “Flying Pineapple.” About a week later, they played a gig at a sunny venue where …
Jeff Haas: The age of confluence
There’s no shortcut to the mountaintop where Traverse City-based pianist and composer Jeff Haas finds himself these days. At 76, Haas is seeing his life’s work and fondest dreams …