George De Stefano

Justin Adams and Mauro Durante serve a pre-Thanksgiving musical feast at Joe's Pub in New York

The Loves of My Life: A Sex Memoir by Edmund White book review. Click to read the full review of The Loves of My Life: A Sex Memoir in New York Journal of Books. Review written by George De Stefano.

George De Stefano talks with the artists about their new CD 'Sweet Release'

Disaster Nationalism: The Downfall of Liberal Civilization by Richard Seymour book review. Click to read the full review of Disaster Nationalism: The Downfall of Liberal Civilization in New York Journal of Books. Review written by George De Stefano.

Buy on Amazon Reviewed by: George De Stefano “Mariana Enriquez’s wild imagination, narrative mastery, and compassion for her haunted characters make A Sunny Place for Shady People consistently engrossing.” In Argentine author Mariana Enriquez’s new…

Buy on Amazon Reviewed by: George De Stefano “a thorough and candid assessment of a great actor’s life and enduring influence.” Marlon Brando: Hollywood Rebel, the new book by veteran Hollywood and pop culture chronicler Burt Kearns, isn’t a…

Buy on Amazon Reviewed by: George De Stefano To be young, blues-besotted, and touring with Muddy Waters, the great Mississippi-born singer and guitarist who electrified a Delta folk style and, on his own and through disciples like the Rolling Stones,…

With albums released in late 2023, two veteran and venerable artists, Robert Finley and Bobby Rush, affirm the vitality of the blues and their eminence as exemplars of an idiom often considered legacy, as influence, but not a living style. Finley,…

Since moving to New York from Naples, Italy twenty years ago, guitarist/composer/bandleader Marco Cappelli has made his mark as a leading figure of the "new music" scene. In 2023, he launched his own record label.

At 46, Rhiannon Giddens has released her first album of all original material. It's the most cohesive and enjoyable recording of her dazzling career.

“Lovecraft began writing when he was a teenager, crafting racist and politically reactionary poems and essays. He used the “n-word” with gleeful abandon and praised the Confederacy.” H.P. Lovecraft, the author known as the father of cosmic horror…

Three years after Mac “Dr. John” Rebennack died at 77 in 2019, Rounder Records released Things Happen That Way, a low-key, reflective album that favored country music over the piano-driven New Orleans R&B, funk, and jazz that had been his stock in…

A century ago, an immigrant community in New York became the target of politicians, the press, and the police because of the crimes committed by a small number of violent men among them. The community, whose rapid growth alarmed nativists, suffered…

Willy DeVille had all the goods to be a major rock star: striking looks and a theatrical yet streetwise stage presence; a powerful, soulful voice; songwriting chops; and a genre-transcending versatility that encompassed early ‘60s rock and R&B, the…

Buy on Amazon Reviewed by: George De Stefano “Long may she rock.” In her candid and engrossing memoir, Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You, the singer and songwriter Lucinda Williams writes that she has “held back from talking about my…

For 20 years, GlobalFEST has brought music acts from around the world to New York stages, introducing audiences to a dazzling array of talent from more than 80 countries. After a pandemic-induced turn to a virtual festival in 2021, it was supposed to…

Buy on Amazon Reviewed by: George De Stefano Ever since the music called jazz emerged in the Black and Creole communities of early 20th century New Orleans (as most histories of the music contend), the vast majority of journalists, authors, and…

Like countless Bob Dylan fans, I’ve been awaiting the sequel to Chronicles, the entertaining if embellished account of his early years that he published in 2004. Dylan subtitled the book Volume One, so when I read earlier this year that he had…

Two global pandemics, HIV and Covid-19, have exposed deep social divides. How people experience these two viruses depends on class, race, gender, sexuality, and other social categories and the interactions among them. The prominent AIDS activist,…

The legend of the Queen of Sheba’s encounter with King Solomon in Jerusalem appears in the Hebrew scriptures, the New Testament, the Quran, Ethiopian literature, and Yoruba lore. The meeting of the African and Hebrew sovereigns inspired composers…