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
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*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
more
Habib Koite, “Wassiye,” live
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Whitney Museum of American Art (New York)
Stuart Davis (1892-1964), “Swing Landscape,” 1938
sounds of Mali and South Africa
Twelve strings, two voices—that’s it.
Habib Koite (Mali; lead vocals, guitar), Vusi Mahlasela (South Africa; vocals, guitar), “Africa,” live (studio performance), Seattle, 2016
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lagniappe
reading table
Deep autumn—
my neighbor,
how does he live, I wonder?—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), translated from Japanese by Robert Hass
sounds of Mali
Salif Keita, live, Switzerland (Winterthur), 2013
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lagniappe
reading table
she keeps the nest
nice and neat . . .
widow bird—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827; translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue)
No matter how I’m feeling—up, down, whatever—he makes me feel better.
Tony Allen (1940-), drummer
Live, Paris, 2015
#1
#2
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Live (with Oghene Kologbo & World Squad), Brussels, 2014
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Interview, 2015
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill. (Roscoe, my granddog)
what’s new
Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra (Tony Allen, drums, et al.)
“Bade Zile,” 2016
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lagniappe
reading table
We don’t want him thinking too much.
—Cubs pitcher John Lackey on rookie catcher Wilson Contreras’s first start tonight, following last night’s home run in his first big-league plate appearance—on the first pitch
Mozart one day, another day this—how lucky to live in a world so various.
Konono No. 1, “Yaya Mikolo,” live, France (Saint-Nazaire), 2009
sounds of Morocco
Mourad Belouadi, “Mawama,” live, Morocco (M’hamid), 2014
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lagniappe
random thoughts
Note to self: Let your mind be occupied, fully, by the Other.
passings
Getatchew Mekurya, saxophonist, March 14, 1935-April 4, 2016
Live with The Ex (music begins at 2:25), Netherlands (Nijmegen), 2011
music clip of the day 