passings
Arthel Lane “Doc” Watson, singer, guitar player, songwriter
March 3, 1923-May 29, 2012
“Deep River Blues,” 1960s
Country musicians who love blues, blues musicians who love country (as I frequently encountered years ago working at Alligator Records): stories of race and music are often complex, resisting reduction to black and white.
old stuff
Fred Astaire (with Ginger Rogers), “I Won’t Dance”
Roberta, 1935
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lagniappe
radio
Driving around yesterday afternoon, I happened upon a new series on NPR’s All Things Considered, “Mom and Dad’s Record Collection.” “[M]usicians, writers, even politicians” talk about a “song they discovered through a parent and how it shaped them.” First up was singer and actress Audra McDonald, who can be heard here.
two takes
“Human Nature” (S. Porcaro & J. Bettis)
Vijay Iyer Trio (VI, piano; Stephan Crump, bass; Marcus Gilmore, drums), live (studio performance [KPLU-FM]), 2011
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Michael Jackson, recording (Thriller), 1982
Sometimes a drought lasts so long it ceases to be noticed.
What’s missing from our world?
Elegance.
Gene Kelly, Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
two takes
The Mighty Clouds of Joy (feat. Joe Ligon, lead vocals)
“Steal Away To Jesus”
TV show (TV Gospel Time), early 1960s
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Live, South Carolina (Charleston), 1996
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lagniappe
art beat: yesterday at Harvard’s Sackler Museum (Cambridge, Mass.)
Lyonel Feinenger, Black Ice and Fog on the Burgkuhnauer Allee, November 1928
John Luther Adams, “Red Arc/Blue Veil” (excerpt)
Live, University of Kentucky, 2008
Clint Davis, piano
Charlie Olvera, vibraphone, crotales
Jason Corder, Jordan Munson, video
(Originally posted on 2/10/11.)
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
One of the functions of music is to remind us how much more beautiful the world is than it needs to be.
two takes
“Kung Fu” (C. Mayfield)
The Dirtbombs, live, New York (Southpaw, Brooklyn), 2008
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Curtis Mayfield, recording (Sweet Exorcist), 1974
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lagniappe
found words
Yesterday, in Cambridge, Massachusetts (where I am for my son Alex’s college graduation), sitting on a brick sidewalk in Harvard Square, a panhandler with a sign:
OBAMA’S NOT THE ONLY ONE
WHO WANTS CHANGE
A high school girl in Reykjavik, an old man in Prague, a grieving widow in Sydney: no matter who you are, no matter where you are, these sounds are just a click away.
Franz Schubert, Piano Sonatas D. 958 (C minor), 959 (A major), 960 (B-flat major); Alfred Brendel, piano*
One of the delights of doing this blog is imagining the lives of the folks who stop by. In the past few days, for instance, there’ve been visitors from Germany, Netherlands, France, Syria, and Italy; Lithuania, Sweden, United Kingdom, and Mexico; Greece, New Zealand, Belgium, Israel, and Ethiopia; Colombia, Hungary, Slovakia, and Spain; Mongolia, Argentina, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Singapore, and the United States. To all: Welcome!
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*Here, courtesy of YouTube, is more detailed information about the program:
Sonata in C minor, D. 958
I Allegro
II Adagio
III Menuetto: Allegro — Trio
IV Allegro
Sonata in A major, D. 959
I Allegro
II Andantino
III Scherzo: Allegro vivace — Trio: Un poco più lento
IV Rondo. Allegretto — Presto
Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960
I Molto moderato
II Andante sostenuto
III Scherzo: Allegro vivace con delicatezza — Trio
IV Allegro, ma non troppo — Presto
sounds of Cuba
Live, Santiago de Cuba, 6/21/10
basement jukebox
Bobby “Blue” Bland, “That’s the Way Love Is” (Duke 1962)
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O.V. Wright, “That’s How Strong My Love Is” (Goldwax 1964)
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Jimmy Ruffin, “What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted” (Motown 1966)
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lagniappe
found words
You’ve got [Cubs left fielder] Alfonso Soriano out there with Mickey Mantle’s knees. I’m not talking metaphor here. I think he really has Mickey Mantle’s knees.
—Jim Memolo, WGN Radio, Sunday’s post-game call-in show, following the Cubs’ third straight loss to the White Sox
music clip of the day 