Thursday, December 3rd
sounds of the 1940s
Cecil Gant (1913-1951, piano, vocals), “What’s on Your Worried Mind,” “I Gotta Gal,” 1945
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lagniappe
random sights
a while ago, Maine (Monhegan Island)
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Category: blues
2020
Thursday, November 26th
basement jukebox
J. B. Lenoir (1929-1967), “Mama Talk To Your Daughter,” 1955
*****
Magic Sam (aka Samuel Maghett, 1937-1969), “All Your Love,” 1957
*****
Otis Rush (1934-2018), “All Your Love (I Miss Loving),” 1958
*****
Junior Wells (1934-1998), “Little by Little,” 1960
*****
Buddy Guy (1936-), “First Time I Met the Blues,” 1960
*****
Sonny Boy Williamson II (aka Alex [or Aleck] Miller, 1912-1965), “Help Me,” 1963
*****
Fenton Robinson (1935-1997), “Somebody (Loan Me a Dime),” 1967
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
2020
Monday, August 10th
two takes
“Cold, Cold Feeling” (J. M. Robinson)
T-Bone Walker (1910-1975, vocals, guitar), 1952
*****
Albert Collins (1932-1993, vocals, guitar), 1978
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my back pages
The other day, on Spotify, I saw that this track—something I co-produced in another life—had over 4 million plays. If someone had told me, when we were working on this album, that someday it would “stream” to millions of listeners, I would have wondered: What are you smoking?
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
2020
Wednesday, July 29th
basement jukebox
Otis Rush (1934-2018, vocals, guitar), “All Your Love (I Miss Loving)” (O. Rush), 1959
If you take the words from ‘Black Magic Woman’ and just leave the rhythm, it’s ‘All Your Love’—it’s Otis Rush.
—Carlos Santana
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
Roads run forever
Under feet forever
Falling away
Yet, it may happen that you
Come to the same place again
Stay! You could not do
Anything more certain—
Here you can wait forever
And rejoice at your arrival—Samuel Menashe (1925-2011)
2020
Thursday, April 30th
basement jukebox
Sonny Boy Williamson II (aka Alex [or Aleck] Miller, 1912-1965, vocals, harmonica), “Help Me” (S. Williamson, et al.), 1963
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
2020
Sunday, March 29th
sounds of New York
Reverend Gary Davis (1896-1972), “Death Don’t Have No Mercy,” live
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago (Columbus Park)
*****
reading table
Clear skies ring with the honk of wild geese
On deserted hills, leaves whirl in the wind
Twilight on a smoky village road
Carrying an empty begging bowl and walking home alone—Ryōkan (1758-1831), translated from classical Chinese by Ryūichi Abé and Peter Haskel
2020
Friday, March 6th
sounds of Chicago
Junior Wells (1934-1998, vocals, harmonica), Buddy Guy (1936-, guitar), et al., “Cryin’ Shame” (AKA “Country Girl”), live, Chicago, c. 1970
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
All day long, singing,
yet the day’s not long enough
for the skylark’s song—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), translated from Japanese by Sam Hamill
2020
Friday, February 28th
sounds of Chicago
Buddy Guy (1936-), “First Time I Met the Blues,” live, Chicago, c. 1970
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
2020
Friday, January 10th
tonight in Chicago
He’s playing at Buddy Guy’s club, opening for Buddy himself.
Kingfish (AKA Christone Ingram, 1999-), “Hey Joe,” live, Tupelo, Miss., 2017
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langiappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
*****
reading table
a lovely night lit
with oil lamps . . .
croaking frogs—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue
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radio
Today WKCR (Columbia University) is celebrating the birthday of jazz drummer Max Roach (1924-2007), playing his music all day.
2019
Wednesday, December 25th
Merry Christmas
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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Bessie Smith (1894-1937) with Joe Smith (cornet), Charlie Green (trombone), Fletcher Henderson (piano), “At the Christmas Ball,” 1925,
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Leroy Carr (1905-1935), “Christmas in Jail—Ain’t That a Pain,” 1929
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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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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
music clip of the day 