music clip of the day

jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
2010

Tuesday, 4/6/10

Act I: Playing for change on New York City street corners and subway platforms, without a regular home, for 20 years.

Act II: Performing at nightclubs, concert halls, and festivals around the world.

That’s a life story no one would believe. But it’s the one this guy has lived.

Charles Gayle Trio, live, Russia (St. Petersburg)

**********

lagniappe

The challenge of free jazz is to create coherent, compelling music without such obvious devices as melody, recurring chord sequences or a steady beat. It’s a challenge that has defeated many a virtuoso since the free-jazz heyday of the 1960’s. But Charles Gayle, a tenor saxophonist, is carving out a free jazz that is muscular, impassioned, clearly structured and wonderfully volatile. . . . Mr. Gayle’s trio made music to move mountains by.—Jon Pareles, New York Times

Leave a comment
2010

Monday, 4/5/10

Deaf?

That’s not something you think about with a musician.

But this guy, who’s celebrating his 85th birthday with a sold-out Carnegie Hall concert, is so deaf that as a child he was mistaken for retarded.

James Moody, saxophone & flute

**********

lagniappe

How were you able to become a musician?

Well, I hear what I hear. I can hear low pitches but I can’t hear high pitches. That’s why I don’t play high on the flute and I don’t play piccolo. I can’t hear them. I have to really listen for the high notes. And that’s why I sound like I have a lisp. But I don’t have a lisp, I mean a speech impediment. It’s ’cause I don’t hear S’s. I can’t hear them.—James Moody

Leave a comment