can’t wait
Monday night, Chicago—Millenium Park.
Amadou & Mariam (feat. Manu Chao), “Senegal Fast Food,” 2004
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lagniappe
random thoughts
The story we tell ourselves of who we are is just that—a story we tell ourselves of who we are.
sounds of Tunisia (and all over)
Dhafer Youssef (composer, singer, oud player), documentary about making Diwan of Beauty and Odd (2016)
(Thanks for the tip to John Balmes.)
sounds of Mali
Salif Keita, live, Germany (Stuttgart), 1995
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lagniappe
reading table
[C]ommunication is an undependable but sometimes marvelous thing.
—Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), letter to Randall Jarrell, December 26, 1955
sounds of Ethiopia
Hailu Mergia, live, New York, 2016
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lagniappe
reading table
summer heat—
today, all day
the playful clouds—Kobayashi Issa, 1763-1827 (translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue with assistance from Sakuo Nakamura)
what’s new
Oumou Sangaré, “Kamelemba,” 2017
what’s new
Oumou Sangaré (feat. Tony Allen, drums), “Yere Faga,” 3/30/17
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lagniappe
reading table
First cherry blossoms
just came out
pretty good day!—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), translated from Japanese by David Young
sounds of Mali
Salif Keita, live, London, c. 2002
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lagniappe
reading table
What one seems to want in art, in experiencing it, is the same thing that is necessary for its creation, a self-forgetful, perfectly useless concentration.
—Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), letter
sounds of Kinshasa*
Konono No. 1, live, London, 2015
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, The Guggenheim (New York)
Vasily Kandinsky (1866-1944), Small Pleasures, 1913
*****
*Democratic Republic of Congo.
sounds of Kinshasa*
Baloji with Konono No. 1, “Karibu Ya Bintu,” 2011
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lagniappe
reading table
One needs to keep a clear head when facing pirates in the Amazon.
—Hubert Kinski, 43-year-old Polish explorer, quoted in “‘There’s No Law on the Amazon’: River Pirates Terrorize Ships by Night,” New York Times, 11/18/16
*****
*Democratic Republic of Congo.
sounds of Mali
Toumani Diabate (kora), live, Switzerland (Geneva), 2013
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lagniappe
reading table
like clouds drifting apart,
a wild goose separates, for now,
from his friend—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), translated from Japanese by David Landis Barnhill
