Friday, February 21st
what’s new
Agnes Obel, “Camera’s Rolling” (A. Obel), 2/20/20
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Category: Chicago
2020
Wednesday, February 5th
sounds of Chicago and Wuppertal (Germany)
Peter Brötzmann (1941-, saxophone) and Hamid Drake (1955-, MCOTD Hall of Fame, drums), live, Chicago (Hideout)
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lagniappe
random sights
other morning, Chicago (Columbus Park)
2020
Tuesday, January 28th
tonight in Chicago
They’re playing at Elastic Arts.
Dave Rempis (alto saxophone), Brandon Lopez (bass), Ryan Packard (drums, electronics), live, New York, 2019
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
*****
reading table
How many traits
must a thing have
in order to be singular?—Rae Armantrout (1947-), from “Two, Three”
2020
Wednesday, January 22nd
voices I miss
Von Freeman (1923-2012), tenor saxophonist, MCOTD Hall of Fame
“Oleo” (S. Rollins) with Clifford Jordan (tenor saxophone), Willie Pickens (piano), Dan Shapera (bass), Robert Shy (drums), Chicago (Chicago Jazz Festival), 1988
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With John Young (1922-2008, piano), et al., live (radio broadcast), late 1970s
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“A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” (E. Maschwitz & M. Sherwin) with Jodie Christian (piano), Rufus Reid (bass), Jack DeJohnette (drums), live, Harrisburg, Penn., 1994
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“I Can’t Get Started” (V. Duke, I. Gershwin), live, Belgium, 1992
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“Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” (R. Rodgers, L. Hart) with Mike Allemena (guitar), Matt Ferguson (bass), Michael Raynor (drums), live, Chicago (Mandel Hall, University of Chicago), 2011
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lagniappe
my back pages
On this night forty-three years ago, at a church thirty miles north of Chicago, my wife, Suzanne, and I were married. Outside it was cold and snowy; inside Von Freeman was playing, with pianist John Young. All of what they played that night, before, during, and after the ceremony, can be heard here (0:15-) (before: “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “It Never Entered My Mind,” “More”; during [as Suzanne walked down the aisle]: “In a Sentimental Mood”; after: “My Favorite Things,” “Song for My Father”).
2020
Tuesday, January 14th
what’s new
One-word review: Wow!
Fay Victor (vocals), Baba Israel (vocals), Marc Ribot (guitar), Ingrid Laubrock (tenor saxophone), Kris Davis (piano), live (Celebration of the Life of Steve Dalachinsky), New York (Winter Jazz Fest), 1/11/19
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
*****
reading table
I speak across the vast
Dialogues in which we go
To clench my words against
Time or the lack of time
Hoping that for a moment
They will become for me
A place I can think in
And think anything in,
An aside from the monstrous.***
This is no other place
Than where I am, between
This word and the next.—W. S. Graham (1918-1986), from “The Dark Dialogues”
2020
Saturday, January 11th
timeless
This I could listen to all day.
Erik Satie (1866-1925), Gnossiennes 1-6 (1889-97); Reinbert de Leeuw (piano), live, Netherlands (Utrecht), 2018
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
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
*****
radio
Today WKCR (Columbia University) is celebrating the birthday of jazz drummer Max Roach (1924-2007), playing his music all day.
2020
Thursday, January 9th
27 years later
Art Ensemble of Chicago (Roscoe Mitchell, 1940-, reeds, flute, percussion; Famadou Don Moye, 1946-, drums, percussion) and Guests (Hugh Ragin, trumpets, flugelhorn; Tomeika Reed, cello; Silvia Bolognesi, bass; Jaribu Shahid, bass; Dudu Kouate, percussion), live, Italy (Cormòns), 2018
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
2020
Monday, January 6th
like nobody else
Art Ensemble of Chicago (Roscoe Mitchell, 1940-, reeds, flute, percussion; Joseph Jarman, 1937-2019, reeds, flute, percussion; Lester Bowie, 1941-1999, trumpet, flugelhorn, MCOTD Hall of Fame; Malachi Favors, 1927-2004, bass, percussion, vocals; Don Moye, 1946-, drums, percussion), live, Germany (Hamburg), 1991
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
Culture’s beginnings:
from the heart of the country
rice-planting songs—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), from Narrow Road to the Interior (translated from Japanese by Sam Hamill)
2019
Tuesday, December 24th
never enough
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Violin Sonata No. 1 in G minor; Shunske Sato (violin), live, Netherlands (Haarlem), published 10/24/19
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lagniappe
radio
One of my favorite musical events begins today: the annual Bachfest on WKCR (Columbia University); all Bach, all the time, until midnight New Year’s Eve.
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random sights
other day, Chicago (Monadnock Building)
music clip of the day 