I post occasionally on a range of subjects, including the contemporary blues scene, pop culture, race, politics, cars, and my past life as a Harlem street musician. Happily married (2004–) with a son (2006–) who, on euphonium, can play every low brass part on at least 25 of Sousa's marches. As Dave Ramsey is fond of saying, "Better than I deserve."
Fan of Pema Chodron, James Baldwin, Barbara and Karen Fields, Albert Collins, Leon Litwack, Thomas Chatterton Williams, Albert Murray, Pre, and Barack Obama.
My political orientation ranges from liberal centrist to moderately progressive. My natural inclination is to mistrust groupthink, whatever the group--which is to say, I strive to think critically about issues that provoke knee-jerk reactions from others and I am willing to be contrarian, even cranky, in ways and at moments that might surprise people who believe they know me.
My core values are invariate but not easily summarized in a meme. I believe in speaking freely and fearlessly, in an informed and conscience-driven way, and in honoring those who do likewise. I believe passionately in social justice, especially when racial iniquities are at issue, but I believe just as passionately in procedural justice: gathering and carefully adjudicating the facts rather than presuming a priori where and with whom justice must lie. I tend to side with underdogs and am reflexively leery of bullies and cheerleaders. Civility is a core value of mine, but intellectual honesty forces me to acknowledge that needed social change is sometimes catalyzed by loud, pushy, uncivil people.
To the extent that I have a life philosophy, it is anti-fundamentalism: I distrust people who believe that God, truth, justice, "real" blues, and the American way all fall on one side of a line over which they have sole governance. I'm an impurist, not a purist. (My late father, artist/environmentalist Alan Gussow, was a Jew; my mother, Joan Dye Gussow, 93, is a half-Dutch, half-W.A.S.P. foodie intellectual who doesn't play.) I play blues, love jazz, teach country music videos, don't know a damned thing about hip-hop or classical music, and drive my wife crazy when I turn on the Sirius XM bluegrass station for an occasional fix of that high lonesome sound.
