Monday, January 11th
passings
Friday: “what’s new.”
Saturday: the guys who back him on his new album.
Today: “passings.”
David Bowie, singer, songwriter, January 8, 1947-January 10, 2016
“Blackstar,” 2015
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Month: January, 2016
2016
Sunday, January 10th
passings
Otis Clay, singer, February 11, 1942-January 8, 2016
“When the Gates Swing Open,” live, Chicago (Christian Tabernacle Church)
*****
My life always has been a combination of things musically. . . . Every Saturday night I listened to the Grand Ole Opry. . . . During the day, later on, you listened to (radio) coming out of Memphis. During the noonday, at 12 o’clock, we listened to (blues pioneer) Sonny Boy Williamson, coming out of Helena, Ark. (And) I’m listening to Vaughn Monroe and Rosemary Clooney and listening to Hank Williams and Roy Acuff.
***
Chicago is just a suburb of Mississippi.
—Otis Clay (Chicago Tribune obituary, January 9, 2016)
2016
Saturday, January 9th
These guys back David Bowie on his new album.
Donny McCaslin Quartet (DM, tenor saxophone; Jason Lindner, keyboards; Tim Lefebvre, bass; Mark Guiliana, drums), “Fast Future,” New York, 2015
2016
Friday, January 8th
what’s new
David Bowie, “Lazarus,” 2016
*****
lagniappe
reading table
The World – feels Dusty
When We stop to Die –
We want the Dew – then –—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), #491 (Franklin), beginning
2016
Thursday, January 7th
passings
Paul Bley, pianist, November 10, 1932-January 3, 2016
Live, 1970s?
***
With Charlie Haden (bass), live, New York, 2000
***
With John Gilmore (tenor saxophone), Gary Peacock (bass), Paul Motian (drums; or Billy Elgart, side 2, tracks 2-3), Turning Point, rec. 1964/1968
Side 1
Side 2
***
Live, Norway (Oslo), 2008
**********
lagniappe
reading table
I held a Jewel in my fingers –
And went to sleep –
The day was warm, and winds were prosy—
I said ”Twill keep” –I woke – and chid my honest fingers,
The Gem was gone –
And now, an Amethyst remembrance
Is all I own –—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), #261 (Franklin)
2016
Wednesday, January 6th
sounds of Nigeria
Wizkid, “Ojuelegba,” 2014 (audio) – 2015 (video)
*****
Remix featuring Drake and Skepta, 2015
2016
Tuesday, January 5th
sounds of Cameroon
Jovi, “Zélé,” 2015
**********
reading table
Maybe you go looking for one thing and find another.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616), Don Quixote (translated from Spanish by Edith Grossman; internal quotation marks omitted)
2016
Monday, January 4th
more sounds of Kinshasa*
Mbongwana Star, “Malukayi” (feat. Konono No. 1), 2015
*****
*Democratic Republic of Congo.
2016
Sunday, January 3rd
Aretha’s daddy
One of these days, the cloud will be lifted . . .
—Rev. C. L. Franklin
Rev. C. L. Franklin, live, Detroit
**********
lagniappe
reading table
The sea is not less beautiful in our eyes because we know that ships are sometimes wrecked.
—Simone Weil (1909-1943), “The Love of God and Affliction” (translated from French by Richard Rees)
*****
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
the beat goes on
2,200 posts—and counting.
2016
Saturday, January 2nd
sounds of Chicago and Switzerland
Need a jolt?
Easel (Christoph Erb, tenor saxophone [Switzerland]; Fred Lonberg-Holm, cello, electronics [Chicago]; Michael Zerang, drums [Chicago]), live, Moscow, 2015
**********
lagniappe
musical thoughts
Note to self: Listen, always, as if it was the first time—and the last.
*****
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
music clip of the day 