George De Stefano

My Works

Music Criticism
Levon Helm's Electric Dirt
The Band's drummer makes an Americana classic
The Beat Goes On
The ancient rhythms of Italy's pizzica thrive in the 21st century
Italian DOCS on the Cuting Edge
A review of a great gig by a new NYC band
The Hugh Tracey Recordings: Colonial Dance Bands and Bulawayo Jazz
Review essay of two African music compilations from the Hugh Tracey archives
non-fiction
Personal Choice, Political Act
The De-Baptism Movement
Nonfiction
An Offer We Can’t Refuse: The Mafia in the Mind of America
"Finally, a book that helps to explain America’s enduring fascination with the mythology of the Mafia."
--JOHN TURTURRO
Commentary
There He Goes Again
The Pope, Condoms, and Necessary Satire
Look for the Union Libel
GOP and Big Business Smear Labor
Magazine Article
"It's All 'Too Much'"
Labor journalist Sam Pizzigati on American inequality, corporate malfeasance, and Obama's economics
Essay
A 'Finook' in the Crew: Vito Spatafore, The Sopranos, and the Queering of the Mafia Gangster Genre
I presented this paper at "The Sopranos: A Wake," a conference held in New York City in May 2008
Gore Vidal's America
A review of Dennis Altman's book
Nativity Scene
My review of Tobias Schneebaum's final book, Secret Places: My Life in New York and New Guinea, from The Nation
Livin' La Vida Loca
Jaime Manrique's "Eminent Maricones," from The Nation
Music criticism
21st Century W.O.P.s: Roy Paci, Raiz, and the Cultural Politics of Migration
Presented at the EMP Pop Conference in Seattle, April 2008
News Analysis
Justice Denied?
Commentary on the police riot at the 2001 G8 conference in Genoa
History
“A Burning Hatred for the Ruling Class”: Frank Barbaro’s Radical Life, from the (Brooklyn) Docks to the (New York) Supreme Court
Veteran New York left-wing politico Frank Barbaro recalls his radical life

The Hugh Tracey Recordings:
Colonial Dance Bands and Bulawayo Jazz

This is a PDF file. Colonial Dance Bands and Bulawayo Jazz (47.9KB)
An Englishman who went to Rhodesia in 1920 to run his family's tobacco farm, Hugh Tracey was captivated by the songs his Shona-speaking African workers sang as they toiled in the fields. The songs piqued his interest in sub-Saharan indigenous music, and from 1929 until his death in 1977, he dedicated himself to seeking out and recording African musicians.