Sunday, March 19th
old school
Soul Stirrers (feat. R.H. Harris), “Canaan Land,” 1947
Ever tire of the 21st century?
Me, too.
**********
lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906), The Bathers, 1899/1904
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Category: Chicago
2017
2017
Wednesday, March 15th
more
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Piano Sonatas 9 (D major; K. 311) and 12 (F major; K. 332); Friedrich Gulda (1930-2000), live
**********
lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago (Rookery Building)
2017
Monday, March 13th
Saturday night, in Chicago, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, I heard the Spektral Quartet. They performed a single piece, this one, which lasted not one, or two, or three, or four, but five hours. Awash in sounds and silences, I got up out of my metal chair, I looked at my watch, I checked my text messages, my email, not once.
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame*), String Quartet No. 2 (excerpt), Flux Quartet, live, 2013
**********
lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
***
*****
*With saxophonists Von Freeman and Henry Threadgill; trumpeter Lester Bowie; drummer Hamid Drake; gospel singer Dorothy Love Coates; poets John Berryman, William Bronk, and Wislawa Szymborska; and photographer Helen Levitt.
2017
Monday, March 6th
basement jukebox
Junior Wells (vocals, harmonica; 1934-1998), “Little by Little,” 1960
**********
lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago (Columbus Park)
2017
Tuesday, February 28th
basement jukebox
Little Johnny Jones (vocals, piano; 1924-1964), “Big Town Playboy,” 1950
**********
lagniappe
art beat: other day, Whitney Museum of American Art (New York)
Diane Arbus (1923-1971), A young man and his pregnant wife in Washington Square Park, NYC, 1965
2017
Monday, February 27th
basement jukebox
J.B. Lenoir (vocals, guitar; 1929-1967), “Mama Talk to Your Daughter,” 1954
2017
Monday, February 20th
Yesterday, in Chicago, at the Art Institute, I heard this woman play the violin. She played for well over an hour, by herself, without intermission. She performed seven pieces: the earliest, by Pierre Boulez (Anthèmes 1), was composed in 1992; the latest, by Steve Lehman (En Soi), this year. When a performer surrenders to the music wholeheartedly, she invites you, the listener, to do the same. And I did, gratefully.
Miranda Cuckson, violin
Ralph Shapey (1921-2002), Etchings (1945; excerpt), 2009
**********
Playing and talking, 2015
2017
Sunday, February 5th
back to church
“Who Will Be a Witness,” live, St. Paul Baptist Church, Lowrys, S.C., 2002
**********
lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Chicago (Columbus Park)
2017
Saturday, February 4th
never enough
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Partitas No. 1 (B minor), 2 (D minor), and 3 (E major) for solo violin; Gidon Kremer (violin), live, Austria (Lockenhaus), 2006
**********
lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Grapes, Lemons, Pears and Apples, 1887
2017
Friday, February 3rd
keep on dancing
Frankie Knuckles (1955-2014) remix: Michael Jackson, “Rock with You”
**********
lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), Landscape with Waterfall
music clip of the day 