The last time I heard a trumpeter this quiet, this subtle, this interesting was . . . hmmm . . .
Ambrose Akinmusire (ah-kin-MOO-sir-ee) Quintet,* live, Luxembourg (Dudelange), 2014
*****
*AM, trumpet; Charles Atura, guitar; Sam Harris, piano; Harish Raghavan, bass; Justin Brown, drums.
only rock ‘n’ roll
More of Tenement.
Live, Madison, Wis., 1/15/16
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lagniappe
my back pages
On a cold, snowy night thirty-nine years ago, at a church outside Chicago, tenor saxophonist Von Freeman (MCOTD Hall of Fame) and pianist John Young performed at a wedding ceremony. Both are now gone. All of what they played that night – “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “It Never Entered My Mind,” “More” (before); “In a Sentimental Mood” (unaccompanied saxophone, as the bride walked down the aisle); “My Favorite Things,” “Song for My Father” (after) – may be heard here (0:15-).
generous-souled
Salim Washington/Darius Jones Quintet (SW, tenor saxophone; DJ, alto saxophone; Yayoi Ikawa, piano; Mark Helias, bass; Tyshawn Sorey, drums), live, New York, 2012
only rock ‘n’ roll
Tenement, “Rock Eating People,” live, Milwaukee, 2014
sounds of New York
More from the drummer on the new David Bowie album.
Mark Guiliana Beat Music (MG, drums; Stu Brooks, bass; Yuki Hirano, keyboards; with guests Steve Wall [tape recorder], Jeff Taylor [vocals]), live, New York, 2014
*****
lagniappe
reading table
Unknown –
—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), #778 (Franklin), last line
passings
Friday: “what’s new.”
Saturday: the guys who back him on his new album.
Today: “passings.”
David Bowie, singer, songwriter, January 8, 1947-January 10, 2016
“Blackstar,” 2015
These guys back David Bowie on his new album.
Donny McCaslin Quartet (DM, tenor saxophone; Jason Lindner, keyboards; Tim Lefebvre, bass; Mark Guiliana, drums), “Fast Future,” New York, 2015
passings
Paul Bley, pianist, November 10, 1932-January 3, 2016
Live, 1970s?
***
With Charlie Haden (bass), live, New York, 2000
***
With John Gilmore (tenor saxophone), Gary Peacock (bass), Paul Motian (drums; or Billy Elgart, side 2, tracks 2-3), Turning Point, rec. 1964/1968
Side 1
Side 2
***
Live, Norway (Oslo), 2008
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lagniappe
reading table
I held a Jewel in my fingers –
And went to sleep –
The day was warm, and winds were prosy—
I said ”Twill keep” –I woke – and chid my honest fingers,
The Gem was gone –
And now, an Amethyst remembrance
Is all I own –—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), #261 (Franklin)
Why start the new week with the same old stuff?
Julia Wolfe (1958-), Believing (2001); Bang on a Can All-Stars, live, South Korea (Tongyeong International Music Festival), 2014
lagniappe
art beat
Regular readers may recognize this drawing, which was posted last year. The artist is a client of mine, Walter Unbehaun, a seventy-something bank robber whose story is told in the January issue of GQ magazine (Kathy Dobie, “The Curious Case of the Homesick Bank Robber”). This drawing makes an appearance:
[H]e’d created a strong bond with his lawyer. He considered ‘Rich’ a friend, giving him two finely wrought pencil sketchings. One was of an ancient and deeply wrinkled Peruvian woman, the other of a plump African woman wearing glasses.
Walter Unbehaun, African Preacher (Kankakee County Jail, 2014)
sounds of Chicago
And more.
Left Hand Frank and His Blues Band, “Linda Lu”
Living Chicago Blues, Vol. 1, 1978
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lagniappe
art beat
Marc PoKempner, Chicago (Divorced Women’s Club), 1988
(I’m taking a break—back in a while.)
