The Klezmatics at JXJ

The Grammy-winning Klezmatics performed at the JXJ Festival at the EDCJCC.

Thanks to everyone in the band: Lorin Sklamberg, Matt Darriau, Paul Morissette, Frank London, Lisa Gutkin, and guest drummer Grant Smith, and to JXJ director Mardy Shauly and staff, especially Yaa Amoakohene. 

National Guard patrolling in DC (still...)

While on my way to a restaurant in the quiet upscale Woodley Park neighborhood of DC with friends we saw National Guard troops 'patrolling.' 

There are areas in the city that could seriously use well-trained community policing resources to aid in reducing violence and doing other good works, but I have never once seen any of these out-of-state military troops in those areas - Congress Heights, Simple City, Clay Terrace, etc. This is all about a certain leader's ego, providing no benefit for challenged communities - or for the soldiers deployed in this way for months as showpiece occupiers with nothing whatsoever to do.

Seth Kibel and the Kleztet

Seth Kibel and the Kleztet performed at a Mother's Day Klezmer Brunch as part of the EDCJCC's JXJ Festival. Photographs from my book A Joyful Noise: Klezmer on the Move (Klezmer Institute 2025) were projected behind the band during the performance

Thanks to Seth and his band, and JXJ director Mardy Shualy, and JXJ's staff member Yaa Amoakohene.

The musicians: Seth Kibel (woodwinds), Kristoffer Belgica (guitar), Zoë Jorgenson Speirs (bass), and Tim Jarvis (drums).

Clematis

 

TWI- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy - 2026 Conference

On assignment for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (TWI), covering their Weinberg Policy Conference. Presenters included the British and Israeli ambassadors, the President of Lebanon, the Emerati Foreign Affairs director, three-star American generals, numerous distinguished scholars, journalists, and other high-level experts on the region. A briefing held in the British Ambassador's residence was part of the week's highlights.