Quartet

A top PolyGram executive has been demoted after suggesting in a court deposition that if record companies were prevented from hiring people with criminal records, no African Americans would be working in the music industry. The remark triggered a furor within the Dutch-owned entertainment conglomerate that is expected to continue today with a meeting at PolyGram's New York headquarters between company Chairman Alain Levy and civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

In “The Pianist of Willesden Lane,” keyboard virtuoso Mona Golabek essentially channels her mother, pianist Lisa Jura, and strikes musical and emotional notes that transcend technical display or biographical sentiment. This elegant, heartfelt solo show, which opened at the Geffen Playhouse's intimate Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater on Wednesday, is an arresting, deeply affecting triumph. Based on Golabek's acclaimed book, "The Children of Willesden Lane," the narrative course reveals itself with almost casual assurance.

In his recent Calendar article on religiously tinged films ["Faith Makes a Hollywood Comeback," Dec. 30], critic Stephen Farber singles out Ang Lee's "Life of Pi," based on the like-named novel by Yann Martel, from a quartet that includes "Les Misérables," "The Sessions" and "Flight. " Although Farber rightfully zeros in on "Pi" as "the most intriguing of these current movies," from a religious standpoint, I believe he misses the mark on its most intriguing aspect. This, for Farber, consists of looking "beyond Christianity to encompass a broader view of religious commitment.

Whether she's decked out in a silver lame, space-age jump suit, an aluminum wrap tank top or her legendary plexiglass not-quite-see-through bikinis, Missing Persons' sultry vocalist Dale Bozzio always keeps her outfits to a minimum when she performs on stage. But whatever outrageous ensemble she's wearing is a lot more than what she has on in the February issue of Hustler magazine.

TORONTO -- Actor Dustin Hoffman has been trying to direct a movie for years. At the age of 75, he has finally done so, and if the audience reaction inside the Elgin Theatre on Sunday evening was any indication, it was well worth the wait. From the two standing ovations awarded to Hoffman and his 77-year old star, Maggie Smith, before the film even began, to a third handed out at the conclusion of the screening, it was evident that this older crowd at the Toronto International Film Festival was thrilled with Hoffman's film "Quartet.

Jamake Highwater, prolific award-winning Native American writer and host of educational television shows rooted in the culture of his heritage, has died. Although his precise birth date is unknown, he was believed to be 59. Highwater, perhaps best known for his books "Anpao: An American Indian Odyssey" and "The Sun, He Dies: A Novel About the End of the Aztec World," died Sunday in his Los Angeles home of a heart attack, said his friend Ruth Schwab.

Electric bassist Max Bennett doesn't have a high opinion of a lot of the jazz he hears nowadays--just what you'd expect from a guy who once played with Charlie Parker. But Bennett isn't a be-bop purist, by any means. He was an integral part of saxophonist Tom Scott's groundbreaking fusion outfit, the L.A. Express, back in the '70s and has recorded with the Crusaders, Joni Mitchell, Quincy Jones, Frank Zappa and the Four Tops.

Singer Andy Williams, who died Tuesday at age 84, was singing with his three older brothers as the Williams Brothers when the quartet arrived in Hollywood in 1944 and soon were signed by MGM. They were on loan to Warner Bros. when 16-year-old Andy landed his first solo singing role in the movies, although he did not appear on screen. A 19-year-old Lauren Bacall was also on the Warner Bros. lot, filming her first movie - - “To Have and Have Not” opposite Humphrey Bogart -- and the role required her to sing.

Because of an injury to a member of the Takacs String Quartet, the Angeles Quartet will perform instead at the UC San Diego Chamber Music Series at Mandeville Auditorium at 8 p.m. Saturday. The Los Angeles-based ensemble, formed in 1988, will play Beethoven's D Major String Quartet, Op. 18, No. 3; Janacek's First String Quartet ("Kreutzer Sonata"), and Ravel's F Major Quartet.