George De Stefano

My Works

Profile
"All I Ever Wanted to Do Was to Open an Italian Restaurant"
An Interview with Bob Giraldi
Music Criticism
Very Cellular Songs
Remembering the Incredible String Band
Mexican-Celtic Fusion, Joe Cuba's Nuyorican Soul
Two Reviews from PopMatters
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
The Hugh Tracey Recordings: Colonial Dance Bands and Bulawayo Jazz
Review essay of two African music compilations from the Hugh Tracey archives
Music Profile
The 'Lion' of Salsa
An appeciation of Oscar D'Leon
Music Criticsm
New Italian Routes
In Berlusconi Time, some Italian musicians sing of and for another Italy
Political Commentary
The Massa Meltdown
Why a Congressman's fall isn't (just) a laughing matter
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
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
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.