more
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Partita in A minor for Solo Flute; Sandra Miller (flute), live, New York, 2013
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lagniappe
radio
Bach Festival, WKCR-FM (see 12/22/16 post): Day Nine (alas, the last).
*****
reading table
The only response
to a child’s grave is
to lie down before it and play dead—Bill Knott (1940-2014)
only rock ‘n’ roll
What a way to close out a life—with some of the strongest work of your career.
David Bowie (January 8, 1947–January 10, 2016), Blackstar (January 8, 2016)
“Lazarus”
***
“Blackstar”
more
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Cello Suite No. 6 in D major, excerpt (Sarabande); Paolo Pandolfo, viola da gamba
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lagniappe
radio
Bach Festival, WKCR-FM (see 12/22/16 post): Day Seven.
*****
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
more
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Goldberg Variations (excerpt); Glenn Gould (1932-1982), piano, live (studio performance), 1981
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lagniappe
radio
Bach Festival, WKCR-FM (see 12/22/16 post): Day Six.
After all the holiday bustle, how about something that begins slowly, quietly?
Nikhil Banerjee (1931-1986), sitar (with Zakir Hussain [1951-; tabla], et al.), Raag Shyam Kedar, Raag Pilu, live, San Francisco, 1985
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Agnes Martin (1912-2004), Untitled #12 (detail), 1977
old white men
Rolling Stones, live, England (Glastonbury Festival), 2013
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), Number 17A (1948)
The painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through.
—Jackson Pollock
Merry Christmas
Blind Lemon Jefferson, “Christmas Eve Blues,” 1928
*****
Victoria Spivey (with Lonnie Johnson, guitar), “Christmas Morning Blues,” 1928
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Bessie Smith (with Joe Smith, cornet; Charlie Green, trombone; Fletcher Henderson, piano), “At the Christmas Ball,” 1925
*****
Leroy Carr, “Christmas In Jail—Ain’t That A Pain,” 1929
*****
Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers (feat. Charles Brown, vocals, keyboards), “Merry Christmas, Baby,” 1947
*****
Lowell Fulson, “Lonesome Christmas (I & II),” 1950
*****
Sonny Boy Williamson II, “Sonny Boy’s Christmas Blues,” 1951
*****
John Lee Hooker, “Blues For Christmas,” 1959
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lagniappe
art beat
Helen Levitt (MCOTD Hall of Fame), New York, early 1940s
only rock ‘n’ roll
Hasil Adkins, “She Said” (H. Adkins), live, Westwood, Calif., mid-1990s
***
Another take.
Cramps, live, Boston, 1983
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), Interchanged, 1955
more
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, Mstislav Rostropovich (1927-2007), cello
If I had to list a dozen recordings I couldn’t live without, surely a set of Bach’s cello suites would be among them. I first heard them in the early ’70s, when I was in college—and I’ve been living with them ever since.
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lagniappe
radio
Bach Festival, WKCR-FM (see yesterday’s post): Day One.
never enough
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D Minor, Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987), violin
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lagniappe
radio
One of the year’s truly great musical events begins Friday at 1 a.m. (EST)—the annual Bach Festival on WKCR-FM (Columbia University). All Bach, all the time, until midnight New Year’s Eve. If, after the last few months, you just can’t take any more clarity and light, you might want to skip it.
music clip of the day 