sounds of New York
Joel Ross Quartet (JR, vibraphone; Immanuel Wilkins, saxophone; Rashaan Carter, bass; Marcus Gilmore, drums), live, New York, 12/9/20
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago (office, Monadnock Building, painting by Gerard Fortuné)

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reading table
cartography is the strangest science today
as morning alters the fittings of the hour to form
shapes wholly new.–Xiao Yue Shan, from “in love as in tourism” (Poetry, 4/21)
basement jukebox
Otis Clay (1942-2016), “That’s How It Is (When You’re In Love)” (M. Dollison, M. Bland), 1967 (Billboard R&B chart, #34)
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Cash McCall (aka Morris Dollison Jr.), “When You Wake Up” (M. Higgins, M. Dollison), 1966 (Billboard R&B chart, #19)
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
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)
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)
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)
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)