Friday, September 20th
what’s new
Anderson .Paak, “Old Town Road” (Lil Nas X cover), live (studio), London, 9/16/19
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Month: September, 2019
2019
Thursday, September 19th
sounds of New York
day four
Nicolas Jaar (1990-, DJ), live, New York, 2013
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lagniappe
reading table
What is the language using us for?
—W. S. Graham (1918-1986), from the poem so titled
2019
Wednesday, September 18th
sounds of New York
day three
Tomas Fujiwara’s 7 Poets Trio (TF, compositions, drums; Patricia Brennan, vibraphone; Tomeka Reid, cello), live, New York, 6/10/19
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
2019
Tuesday, September 17th
sounds of New York
day two
Sam Pluta (1979-), Broken Symmetries (2011-12); Wet Ink Ensemble (Sam Pluta, electronics; Joshua Modney, violin; Erin Lesser, piccolo; Alex Mincek, tenor saxophone; Eric Wubbels, piano; Ian Antonio, percussion), live, New York, 2016
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Bellwood, Ill.
2019
Monday, September 16th
sounds of New York
day one
Jason Kao Hwang Human Rites Trio (JKH, compositions, violin, viola; Ken Filiano, bass; Andrew Drury, drums), live, New York, 7/16/19
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lagniappe
reading table
Today is very nothing like / Any other day that once soared / In this place.
—W.S. Graham (1918-1986), from “The Don Brown Route”
2019
Sunday, September 15th
timeless
What singers did Al Green listen to before he became “Al Green”?
Swan Silvertones (feat. Claude Jeter, 1914-2009), “That Day on Calvary” (C. Jeter), 1957
2019
Saturday, September 14th
Some artists dim over time; others continue to glow.
Neneh Cherry (1964-), “Natural Skin Deep” (N. Cherry, et al.), 2018 (audio, Broken Politics), 2019 (video, directed by Akinola Davies, shot in Beirut)
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
2019
Friday, September 13th
I can’t listen to this just once: the moment it ends I want to hear it again.
Womack & Womack, “Teardrops” (C. Womack, L. Womack), 1988
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lagniappe
art beat
Robert Frank, photographer, November 9, 1924–September 9, 2019
Today, remembering him, we revisit some of our favorite images.
Cafe—Beaufort, South Carolina, 1955
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Funeral—St. Helena, South Carolina, 1955/56
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View from Hotel Window—Butte, Montana, 1955/56
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Rooming house—Bunker Hill, Los Angeles, 1955/56
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US 285, New Mexico, 1955
2019
Thursday, September 12th
This song was released in 2011; the words were written in 1861.
David Sylvian (1958-), “I Should Not Dare” (Emily Dickinson [1830-1886]),* 2011 (Died in the Wool)
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lagniappe
reading table
I look at my father and mother and Vinnie, and all my friends, and I say no – no, can’t leave them, what if they die when I’m gone.
—Emily Dickinson, letter to friend Jane Humphrey (L86), 1852
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*Poem 234 (Franklin):
I should not dare to leave my friend,
Because – because if he should die
While I was gone – and I – too late –
Should reach the Heart that wanted me –
If I should disappoint the eyes
That hunted – hunted so – to see –
And could not bear to shut until
They “noticed” me – they noticed me –
If I should stab the patient faith
So sure I’d come – so sure I’d come –
It listening – listening – went to sleep –
Telling my tardy name –
My Heart would wish it broke before –
Since breaking then – since breaking then –
Were useless as next morning’s sun –
Where midnight frosts – had lain!
2019
Wednesday, September 11th
It was, I recall, a cloudless morning in Chicago, as it was in New York. I had a hearing scheduled in federal court, but then, after the second plane hit, court was cancelled. We sat in front of the television, unable to turn away.
William Basinski (1958-), “Disintegration Loop 1.1,” 2001
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lagniappe
reading table
Photograph from September 11
by Wislawa Szymborska (1923-2012, MCOTD Hall of Fame), translated from Polish by Clare Cavanagh and Stanislaw Baranczak
They jumped from the burning floors—
one, two, a few more,
higher, lower.
The photograph halted them in life,
and now keeps them
above the earth toward the earth.
Each is still complete,
with a particular face
and blood well hidden.
There’s enough time
for hair to come loose,
for keys and coins
to fall from pockets.
They’re still within the air’s reach,
within the compass of places
that have just opened.
I can do only two things for them—
describe this flight
and not add a last line.
music clip of the day 