Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Howard Davis
Scoop Arts Editor
Educated at Cambridge and UCLA; worked on several major Hollywood feature films and as a Kundalini Yoga instructor in Los Angeles; currently enjoying life in Wellington.
Howard Davis - Latest News [Page 9]
Never Too Old to Rock & Roll - Jethro Tull
Friday, 21 April 2017, 11:26 am | Howard Davis
As Greil Marcus recently observed in an NYRB review of Robbie Robertson's autobiographical Testimony , in rock and roll there is always an origin story. In the case of Jethro Tull founder Ian Anderson, he claims to have been influenced by his father's big ... More >>
Review: The Contemporary Relevance of Denial
Tuesday, 18 April 2017, 10:16 am | Howard Davis
Directed by Mick Jackson, from a screenplay by David Hare, based on Deborah Lipstadt's History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier , Denial has all the hallmarks of a riveting courtroom drama. More >>
Colin McCahon's 'On Going Out with the Tide' - Howard Davis
Monday, 10 April 2017, 11:43 am | Howard Davis
Now that the egregious excrescence of Cindy Sherman's cos-play has finally gone the way of all flesh, Wellington's City Gallery has mounted a extensive retrospective of Colin McCahon's work from the 1960s and 1970s. Curated by Wystan Curnow and Robert ... More >>
Rodger Fox Gets Out the Funk - Howard Davis
Thursday, 6 April 2017, 4:38 pm | Howard Davis
By now a living New Zealand legend, band leader and trombonist Rodger Fox has performed with some of the biggest names in the jazz business, including Louie Bellson, Bill Reichenbach, Chuck Findley, Randy Crawford, Bobby Shew, Lanny Morgan, Bruce Paulson, ... More >>
Unpresidented?
Monday, 27 March 2017, 1:20 pm | Howard Davis
The ascendancy of Donald Trump is not a new phenomenon. Populist demagogues have made sporadic and minatory appearances throughout history. The following is a highly random assortment of observations that demonstrate his appeal is by no means unprecedented. ... More >>
Review: The Baroque Fusion of L'arpeggiata
Monday, 20 March 2017, 1:26 pm | Howard Davis
Named after a toccata by German composer Girolamo Kapsberger, L'Arpeggiata produces its unmistakable sonority mainly from the resonance of plucked strings, creating a tightly-woven acoustic texture that is both idiosyncratic and immediately identifiable. ... More >>
Review: Dick Frizzell at the Solander Gallery
Thursday, 16 February 2017, 12:34 pm | Howard Davis
One of the most influential and celebrated contemporary Pop artists working in New Zealand, Dick Frizzell is mostly known for his appropriation of kitsch Kiwiana icons, which he often incorporates into cartoon-like paintings and lithographs. Not content ... More >>
Get It on, Bang a Gong, Pt II
Monday, 13 February 2017, 9:13 am | Howard Davis
Particle physics have identified the cosmos as we perceive it in terms of time and space, rhythmic patterns of light and sound or oscillating waves that vibrate at certain frequencies which Eastern mystics called the dance of Shiva. More >>
Get It on, Bang a Gong, Pt I
Friday, 10 February 2017, 11:34 am | Howard Davis
Several readers have recently inquired about the significance of the image that accompanies my by-line. While the man-bun is long gone, I still incorporate the sound of the gong in my Kundalini Yoga classes. More >>
Review: Te Rakau's 'The Undertow'
Thursday, 19 January 2017, 2:08 pm | Howard Davis
Written by Helen Pearse-Otene and produced by Jim Moriarty's Te Rakau Theatre, 'The Undertow' presents four dramatic episodes depicting the lives and loves of ordinary people from Wellington as they endure a series of historical hardships. Pivotal moments ... More >>
Album of the Year - Van Morrison's 'Keep Me Singing'
Friday, 16 December 2016, 3:42 pm | Howard Davis
2016 was a grand year for Van The Man - The Belfast Cowboy turned 71, received a knighthood, and reissued an expanded set of soul-fired live recordings from 1973 ('It's Too Late to Stop Now'). In the game for 53 years now, Morrison's albums consistently ... More >>
Review: Bernard Herrmann's Scores for 'Vertigo' & 'Psycho'
Monday, 28 November 2016, 9:52 am | Howard Davis
The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra reached out beyond their classical repertoire on Saturday night. Their adventurousness was richly-rewarded, as the deeply appreciative Wellington audience was given the opportunity not only to see a couple of Alfred ... More >>
Review: The Cosmic Dance of 'String Theory'
Thursday, 10 November 2016, 9:46 am | Howard Davis
Fly My Pretties sixth album is quite possibly their best yet - a concept album in the best sense, with superb arrangements, funky grooves, and some great vocalizing, all organized around the lyrical leitmotif of string theory. The initial inspiration ... More >>
Review: 'I, Daniel Blake' - Ken Loach's Bleak Masterpiece
Thursday, 27 October 2016, 11:15 am | Howard Davis
'I, Daniel Blake' is a bleak masterpiece, a chilling and moving story of two people striking up an unlikely friendship under extremely adverse circumstances. It is both a polemical indictment of a faceless benefits bureaucracy that strips claimants of ... More >>
Review: New Albums by Bic Runga & Anna Coddington
Thursday, 20 October 2016, 10:52 am | Howard Davis
What is it about the New Zealand climate that continuously produces such beautiful vocalists? From the superstardom of Kiri Te Kanawa and Lorde, to the more modest homespun musings of Mel Parsons and Moana Ete, extraordinary female singer/songwriters ... More >>
Review: A Girl Named Mo
Monday, 17 October 2016, 11:11 am | Howard Davis
Moana Ete brought her three-piece band A Girl Named Mo to Wellington's intimate and iconic Bats Theatre last week for a five-night residency. Each show was recorded and filmed live for the release of her debut album 'Platonic/Romantic' on Loop records ... More >>
Triple Echo - The Malevich/Reinhardt/Hotere Nexus
Monday, 19 September 2016, 4:27 pm | Howard Davis
'Jean Michel Massing, Towards a Global Art History,' co-edited by Mark Stocker, Curator of Historical International Art at Te Papa, is obviously a labour of love, handsomely produced with over 100 illustrations. It is a Festschrift to honour Massing's retirement ... More >>
Review: Henry Rollins Burning Down the House
Monday, 29 August 2016, 12:44 pm | Howard Davis
With his lantern jaw, close-cropped hair, and muscle-bound physique, Henry Rollins could not be further from the US Marine image his appearance might suggest. With a career spanning several decades and many different incarnations as a musician, ... More >>
Review: Steve Abel's Double Salto
Monday, 22 August 2016, 11:23 am | Howard Davis
Steve Abel's first musical venture was a bleak song called 'Hospice for Destitute Lovers,' which he contributed to Florian Habicht's art-noir feature film 'Woodenhead' in 2003, while his debut album had the equally inauspicious title 'Little Death.' ... More >>
Review: Phat Slabs & Funky Chunks - Fly My Pretties
Thursday, 18 August 2016, 1:35 pm | Howard Davis
Fly My Pretties is a collaboration of contemporary Aotearoa musicians who assemble periodically to record live albums in various locations, their diverse musical backgrounds consistently supplying an eclectic and unique blend of song stylings. The brainchild ... More >>
