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Month: December, 2020

2020

Thursday, December 31st

string quartet festival
day three

Mivos Quartet, Bronx Community College Online Concert Series, 11/30/20: Michaela Catranis, Luminous Animal (2020); Linda Caitlin Smith, String Quartet No. 6 (2013); George Lewis, String Quartet 2.5: “Playing with Seeds” (2017)

 

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lagniappe

random sights

yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.

*****

reading table

Old age is
a flight of small
cheeping birds
skimming
bare trees
above a snow glaze.

—William Carlos Williams (1883-1963), from “To Waken an Old Lady”

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2020

Wednesday, December 30th

string quartet festival
day two

JACK Quartet (with Conrad Tao, piano), Library of Congress Virtual Event, 12/3/2020*

 

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lagniappe

random sights

yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.

*****

*Program:

1. Rodericus (fl. late 14th century)/Christopher Otto, Angelorum psalat (c. 1390s).

2. Elliott Carter (1908-2012), Duo for Violin and Piano (1973-4).

3. Tyshawn Sorey, Everything Changes, Nothing Changes (2018).

4. Ruth Crawford [Seeger] (1901-1953), String Quartet 1931 (1931).

5. Tyshawn Sorey, For Conrad Tao (2020).

6. Elliott Carter (1908-2012), String Quartet no. 3 (1971).

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2020

Tuesday, December 29th

string quartet festival
day one

Thomas Adès (1971-), Arcadiana (1994); Danish String Quartet, live, New York, 2015

 

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lagniappe

random sights

other day, Oak Park, Ill.

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2020

Monday, December 28th

Why not begin the last week of a dark year with sounds of joy?

Paul Motian Trio (PM, drums; Joe Lovano, tenor saxophone; Bill Frisell, guitar), “Misterioso” (T. Monk), live, New York (Village Vanguard), 2005

 

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lagniappe

random sights

yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.

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2020

Sunday, December 27th

sounds of Chicago

Pastor DeAndre Patterson, “To God Be the Glory,” live (Rev. Clay Evans’ funeral), Chicago, 12/7/19

 

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lagniappe

random sights

yesterday, Chicago

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2020

Saturday, December 26th

alone

Need more air?

Mitsuko Uchida (piano), live, London, 12/16/20: Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Piano Sonatas in C major (“Reliquie,” 3:40-) and G major (“Fantasy,” 42:00-)

 

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lagniappe

random sights

yesterday, Chicago (Columbus Park)

*****

reading table

Listening deeply,
sometimes—in another—you can hear
the sound of a hermit, sighing
as he climbs a mountain trail to reach
a waterfall
or a Buddhist nun reciting prayers
while moonlight falls through the window
onto an old clay floor,
and once in a while, a child
rolling a hoop through the alleyways of Tokyo,
laughing,
or a farmer pausing in a rice field to watch
geese fly,
the thoughts on his lips he doesn’t think to say.

—Dick Allen (1939-2017), “Listening Deeply”

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2020

Friday, December 25th

How about some blues for Christmas?

Bessie Smith (1894-1937) with Joe Smith (cornet), Charlie Green (trombone), Fletcher Henderson (piano), “At the Christmas Ball,” 1925

 

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Blind Lemon Jefferson (1893-1929), “Christmas Eve Blues,” 1928


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Victoria Spivey (1906-1976) with Lonnie Johnson (guitar), “Christmas Morning Blues,” 1928


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Leroy Carr (1905-1935), “Christmas in Jail—Ain’t That a Pain,” 1929


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Sonny Boy Williamson I (1914-1948), “Christmas Morning Blues,” 1938

 

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Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers with Charles Brown (1922-1999, vocals, keyboards), “Merry Christmas, Baby,” 1947


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Lowell Fulson (1921-1999), “Lonesome Christmas (I & II),” 1950


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Sonny Boy Williamson II (AKA Alex or Aleck Miller, 1912-1965), “Sonny Boy’s Christmas Blues,” 1951


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John Lee Hooker (1917-2001), “Blues for Christmas,” 1959

 

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Hop Wilson (1921-1975), “Merry Christmas Darling,” 1961

 

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lagniappe

random sights

yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.

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2020

Thursday, December 24th

sounds of Chicago

Saturday I posted the first of these two (wonderful) performances; here’s the second.

Mars Williams presents: An Ayler Xmas Vol. 4 (Night 2) (Mars Williams, tenor saxophone, toy instruments; Josh Berman, cornet; Jim Baker, piano, viola, ARP synthesizer; Krzysztof Pabian, bass; Brian Sandstrom, bass, guitar, trumpet; Steve Hunt, drums; Peter Maunu, violin), live (performance begins at 5:15), Chicago (Constellation), 12/19/20

 

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lagniappe

random sights

other day, Oak Park, Ill.

*****

reading table

An empty day without events.
And that is why
it grew immense
as space. And suddenly
happiness of being
entered me.

I heard
in my heartbeat
the birth of time
and each instant of life
one after the other
came rushing in
like priceless gifts.

—Anna Swir (1909-1984), “Priceless Gifts” (translated from Polish by Czesław Miłosz and Leonard Nathan)

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2020

Wednesday, December 23rd

sounds of New Orleans

The Meters (with Lowell George, slide guitar), “Just Kissed My Baby” (Z. Modeliste, A. Neville, L. Nocentelli, G. Porter Jr.), 1974

 

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lagniappe

random sights

yesterday, Chicago (Columbus Park)

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2020

Tuesday, December 22nd

more

Hamid Drake (drums, percussion; MCOTD Hall of Fame), Michael Zerang (drums, percussion), Joshua Abrams (bass, gumbri), Ayako Kato (movement), live, Chicago (Constellation), last night

 

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lagniappe

random sights

yesterday, Chicago

*****

reading table

Don’t say my hut has nothing to offer:
come and I will share with you
the cool breeze that fills my window.

—Ryokan (1758-1831), translated from Japanese by John Stevens

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