basement jukebox
Little Johnny Jones (vocals, piano; 1924-1964), “Big Town Playboy,” 1950
**********
lagniappe
art beat: other day, Whitney Museum of American Art (New York)
Diane Arbus (1923-1971), A young man and his pregnant wife in Washington Square Park, NYC, 1965
basement jukebox
J.B. Lenoir (vocals, guitar; 1929-1967), “Mama Talk to Your Daughter,” 1954
back to church
Choir Rehearsal, “Walk Through the Streets,” White Hill AME Zion Church, Rock Hill, S.C., 2007
**********
lagniappe
reading table
Picasso would be incomprehensible to Rembrandt, but Nijinsky would understand Michael Jackson.
—Zadie Smith, Swing Time
A handful of pieces I never tire of, no matter how many times I hear them. This is one.
Morton Feldman (1926-1987; MCOTD Hall of Fame), For Bunita Marcus (1985); Stephen Drury (piano), live, Boston, 2016
**********
lagniappe
art beat: other day, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Jasper Johns (1930-), In Memory of My Feelings—Frank O’Hara, 1961
sounds of New York
Jim Campilongo Trio (JC, guitar; Chris Morrisey, bass; Josh Dion, drums, vocals) with Nels Cline (guitar), live, New York, 12/5/16*
**********
lagniappe
art beat: yesterday, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Merce Cunningham: Common Time (through April 30th)
*****
*Set list (courtesy of YouTube):
Hot ‘Lanta 00:00
Heaven Is Creepy 08:20
Politician 18:06
Cock and Bull Story 26:12
passings
Walter “Junie” Morrison, keyboard player, singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, etc., 1954-January 21, 2017
Keyboards and vocals, with Parliament-Funkadelic, “Into You,” live, Passaic, New Jersey, 1978
***
Questlove, Instagram post:
The Great Junie Morrison. So inspirational. All the #OhioPlayers westbound era funk that birthed #Voodoo & #BlackMessiah: #Junie. Those adlibs on Hov’s “#BrooklynsFinest & #Tribe‘s #ScenarioRemix is Junie. All the Warner Era #Funkadelic songwriting wizzardry #OneNationUnderAGroove & #UncleJamWantsYou (he co-wrote #NotJustKneeDeep) even #Parliament‘s #MotorBootyAffair & #Gloryhallastoopid. His ideas birthed and ushered in the G-Funk era (all that synthy #FunkyWorm synth yall associate w gangsta rap/Dre’s sound? That’s #JunieMorrison. Even his #SuzieThundertussy in its tales of “Lost Angeles” were the backdrop on Ye’s bright light for #TLOP‘s #NoMorePartiesInLA. Solange even gave him props on #Junie (“jump on it” for those that call it the “Jump on it song Dre3000 sings on)—this man was an uncelebrated unsung unchampioned whose ideas we just took and took and took. I regret so much not having a “proper” conversation about his journey. His songwriting. His technology innovations. Man. This STINGS. Rip #Junie.
more
Miranda Cuckson, violin; Michael Hersch (1971-), Fourteen Pieces for unaccompanied violin, excerpt; live, 2009
passings
Clyde Stubblefield, drummer, April 18, 1943-February 18, 2017
“Funk Thing” (with Fred Wesley, trombone; John Scofield, guitar; John Medeski, organ; Fred Thomas, bass), 1999
***
“Funky James Brown” (with John “Jabo” Starks, drums)
Yesterday, in Chicago, at the Art Institute, I heard this woman play the violin. She played for well over an hour, by herself, without intermission. She performed seven pieces: the earliest, by Pierre Boulez (Anthèmes 1), was composed in 1992; the latest, by Steve Lehman (En Soi), this year. When a performer surrenders to the music wholeheartedly, she invites you, the listener, to do the same. And I did, gratefully.
Miranda Cuckson, violin
Ralph Shapey (1921-2002), Etchings (1945; excerpt), 2009
**********
Playing and talking, 2015
passings
Al Jarreau (aka Alwin Lopez Jarreau), March 12, 1940-February 12, 2017, singer
“Take Five” (P. Desmond), live (TV performance), Germany, 1976
(Taking a break—back in a while.)
music clip of the day 