Fred Kaplan

Jan 7, 2025 | foreignaffairs.com | Fred Kaplan |Lawrence Freedman |James M. Lindsay

As an experienced observer of the entanglements in Washington between policymakers and think tanks, Kaplan skewers the Beltway effectively in his satirical novel, a thriller and morality tale that affords some light relief in dark times. The defense consultant Serge Willoughby plays a prank on his host at a Georgetown party that completely backfires to the point that not only is the host arrested but also skirmishing between the United States and China begins and World War III looms.

Jan 6, 2025 | trackingangle.com | Fred Kaplan

The 1961 "Explorations" gets its best vinyl treatmentThe trio of pianist Bill Evans, bassist Scott LaFaro, and drummer Paul Motian is one of the most influential in jazz, yet the group recorded just three albums over the course of two days in the first half of 1961—a total of two hours of music, supplemented decades later by an hour-and-a-half of outtakes.

Dec 17, 2024 | trackingangle.com | Fred Kaplan

A grand 4-LP box set marking the great trumpeter's pivotal year When jazz aficionados see the phrases Miles Davis and Prestige Recordings in the same sentence, they think of the “marathon sessions” of 1956, where the trumpeter and his quintet (known in retrospect as his 1st Great Quintet: John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones) blazed through four albums’ worth of material (released over the next few years as Relaxin’, Steamin’, Workin’, and Cookin’) in just two days...

Dec 10, 2024 | trackingangle.com | Fred Kaplan

Plus sound quality bonus sectionMy main job in real life (to the extent any of our lives are real) is national-security columnist for Slate. Around this time every year, since 2003, its indulgent editors have let me write a piece on what I see as the year’s best jazz albums, usually the 10 best new recordings and the three best historical releases (which I have usually confined to music that for the most part hasn’t been issued before—in other words, excluding mere reissues).

Dec 9, 2024 | yahoo.com | Fred Kaplan

Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. The Middle East seems to be on the brink of a transformation—whether toward stability or fiercer mayhem is hard to say, all the more so with Donald Trump returning to the White House in six weeks.