I think I skimmed a Time Magazine article about Samuel Beckett’s play in the 1960s. Probably a black and white photo and a headline using the label “absurdist.” Yeah, the play where nothing happens. I had pushed my way through a Kafka and Camus or two long, long ago. No Beckett. So my expectations were fuzzy and not high. With some sense of adventure and a feeling that “this is something I should see, even if it is dreadful” I made plans with my English major friend, Mike. I decided to listen to two podcasts before seeing The Guthrie Theater’s production with Jason Strathairn this fall. They were both helpful to understanding, understanding of the context, the spirit of the play. Most importantly I was advised: “Don’t try to understand the play; just experience it.” What a great approach! I experienced great theater, though perhaps not a great play, not in the traditional sense, where plot, character development, action, language, beauty, humor and insight...
Milo Fine, Anthony Cox and Kyle Motl: Unimpeded Mutual Interpenetration; An Appreciation. On September 13 , 2026 Cox and Motl brought their double basses to Fine’s Studio Toile d’Angles in near north Minneapolis for two hours of intense, exciting improvisation, perhaps fitting the Free Jazz label. Fine rotated between playing clarinet, percussion and his Bosendorpher Imperial. This time I did not ask about planning vs. improvisation. When I first heard Fine and Cox a year ago, Fine affirmed that that two hour performance was 100% improvised and Cox reported that the two of them had been practicing their improvisation together for five decades. I suspect Motl, who teaches bass at the U of M, has not been playing bass for two decades, let alone five, but their answers to my question last fall would have been equally true this week. In my appreciation of the Cox Fine performance in 2025 I express my wonder in the up close experience of Fine’s ma...