Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy (LB, trumpet; Malachi Thompson, trumpet; Steve Turre, trombone; Phillip Wilson, drums, et al.), “I Only Have Eyes For You” (H. Warren & A. Dubin), 1984
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lagniappe
this just in
Lester Bowie, whose singular playing and presence have often been celebrated here,* has just been inducted, posthumously, into the ultra-exclusive MCOTD Hall of Fame, joining tenor saxophonist Von Freeman and poets Wislawa Szymborska and William Bronk.
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*Here (Art Ensemble of Chicago). Here (with Digable Planets). Here (Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy). Here (Art Ensemble of Chicago). Here (with Sun Ra All Stars). And here (Lester Bowie Brass & Steel Band).
Julius Hemphill (alto saxophone), with Abdul Wadud (cello), Baikida E.J. Carroll (trumpet), Phillip Wilson (drums), “Dogon A.D.” (Dogon A.D.), 1972
The drumming is genius—he’s like the Zigaboo Modeliste of free-jazz. . . . Any musician who doesn’t like this should just stop—this is what it’s all about. It’s such a raw sound, right up in your face. This is the perfect introduction to someone who’s never heard free-jazz before. I wouldn’t mind if this piece went on for a couple hours.
Dorothy Love Coates (1928-2002), “The Lord Will Answer Prayer,” 1981
More? Here. And here. And here.
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lagniappe
Were gospel to be more publicly acclaimed, she [Dorothy Love Coates] might have the stature of a Billie Holiday or a Judy Garland. Instead, for thousands of black people, she is the message carrier.
—Anthony Heilbut, The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times (6th ed. 2002)
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[I]t was obvious that Keith [Richards] and Gram [Parsons] enjoyed spending time together. . . . [W]e just all cared deeply about the same things. We just loved, for instance, to sit and listen to Dorothy Love Coates, the gospel singer.
(Quotes originally posted 3/28/10.)
two takes
Robert Glasper Experiment, “Always Shine” (feat. Lupe Fiasco & Bilal)
TV show (David Letterman), 2/29/12
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Recording, Black Radio (2012)
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Jazz, classical, R&B: so much great music, no matter the genre, shares a particular quality—density.
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reading table
It’s as if your body were itself a person
And the person wasn’t you.—Frederick Seidel, “Track Bike” (excerpt), London Review of Books, 7/19/12
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art beat: yesterday at the Art Institute of Chicago (between court hearings at the nearby federal court building)
Willem de Kooning, Untitled XI (1975)
only rock ’n’ roll
The Wrens, “Happy”
Live, New York (Knitting Factory), 2007
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Recording, The Meadowlands, 2003
One of the best albums of all time.
—my (24-year-old) son Alex, the other day, while playing this track
only rock ’n’ roll
A reader writes:
An old friend sent me this Youtube clip of a concert we attended back in high school. At the time I had never heard of Fleetwood Mac or Peter Green. They were the opening act and, not surprisingly, I have now forgotten who we went to see.
Fleetwood Mac, “Black Magic Woman,” live, Boston (Boston Tea Party), 1970
sounds of the Congo
Kasai Allstars, “Kabuangoyi,” Congotronics 2: Buzz ’n’ Rumble in the Urb ’n’ Jungle, filmed in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo), 2000
two takes
“Dirt” (D. Alexander, S. Asheton, I. Pop, R. Asheton)
The Stooges
Live, Detroit, 2003
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Neneh Cherry & The Thing
Recording (The Cherry Thing), 2012
Post-holiday blues?
Not for long.
Rahsaan Roland Kirk (saxophones), with McCoy Tyner (piano), Stanley Clark (bass) and Lenny White “drums,” “Pedal Up,” TV show (introduced by Quincy Jones), 1975
(Later note: When I posted this clip, I didn’t know there’d be all these commercials. You can skip the junk here.)
music clip of the day 