Thursday, March 18th
alone
Thelonious Monk (1917-1982, piano), “‘Round Midnight” (T. Monk), 1954
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Category: Chicago
2021
Monday, March 15th
Suppose that, for the rest of your life, you could listen to only one piece of music. What would you choose? For me it might be this.
Morton Feldman (1926-1987; MCOTD Hall of Fame), Piano and String Quartet (1985); Kronos Quartet with Aki Takahashi (piano), 1993
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), Number 17A, 1948 (detail)
2021
Sunday, March 14th
sounds of Chicago
Gospel Songbirds (featuring Otis Clay [1942-2016], 1:55-), “Help Me Run This Race,” live (TV show [Jubilee Showcase]), Chicago, 1964
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Grapes, Lemons, Pears, and Apples, 1887 (detail)
*****
reading table
He walks on, northwards, toward the snow
and things unseen, unknown.
Slowly the imperfect cities’ sounds grow still,
only streams hold forth chaotically
while white clouds play at nothingness.
He hears an oriole’s song, delicate,
uncertain, like a prayer, like weeping.—Adam Zagajewski (1945-), from “The Great Poet Basho Begins His Journey,” translated from Polish by Clare Cavanagh (The Threepenny Review, Spring, 2021)
2021
Monday, March 8th
More beauty?
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), String Quartet in F major (1903); Sacconi Quartet, live, London, 2015
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
*****
reading table
The snow is melting
and the village is flooded
with children.—Kobayashi Issa, 1763-1827 (translated from Japanese by Robert Haas)
2021
Saturday, March 6th
sounds of Chicago
Avreeayl Ra (drums), Dave Rempis (saxophones), live, Chicago (Constellation), last night
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lagniappe
random sights
a while ago, Ireland (Dingle Peninsula)
2021
Monday, March 1st
Why not begin the week with something beautiful?
Claude Debussy (1862-1918), String Quartet in G minor (1893); Parker Quartet, live, Cambridge, Mass., 2019
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Dish, Hellenistic or early Roman; eastern Mediterranean; mid-2nd/early 1st century BC; glass, mosaic glass technique (detail)
2021
Monday, February 15th
Why not begin the week with one of the most beautiful—and moving—pieces I know?
Morton Feldman (1927-1986, MCOTD Hall of Fame), Rothko Chapel (1971); Markus Creed (cond.), SWR Vokalensemble (Vocal Ensemble), et al., live, Germany (Cathedral of Speyer, Schwetzinger), 2017
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lagniappe
art beat: yesterday, Art Institute of Chicago
Mark Rothko (1903-1970), No. 2 (Blue, Red and Green) (Yellow, Red, Blue on Blue), 1953 (detail)
2021
Sunday, February 14th
more
Blind Willie Johnson (1897-1945), “Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed” (trad.), 1928
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
*****
reading table
Mingling with the wind
the snow comes falling;
mingling with the snow
the wind comes blowing;
by banked coals
I stretch my legs,
idle, idle,
in this grass hut
a shut-in,
and counting, find
that the second month too
like a dream
has come and gone—Ryokan (1758-1831), translated from Japanese by Burton Watson
2021
Saturday, February 13th
timeless
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951), Five Pieces for Orchestra (1909, revised 1949); Vienna Philharmonic (Bernard Haitink, cond.), live, Tokyo, 1997
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lagniappe
art beat: yesterday, Art Institute of Chicago
Joan Mitchell (1925-1992), City Landscape, 1955 (detail)
2021
Monday, February 8th
Why not start the week with something small, quiet, beautiful?
Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), “Solar” (P. Brennan), live (studio), New York, 2018
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
*****
reading table
Only thing
the thief left behind—
moon in my window.—Ryokan (1758-1831), translated from Japanese by Kazuaki Tanahashi
music clip of the day 