A lot of musicians sound like they’re perfectly happy to be right where they are. Not this guy—he seems intent on getting somewhere else.
Art Pepper (alto saxophone), with Milcho Leviev (piano), Tony Dumas (bass), Carl Burnett, drums; “Caravan,” conversation, and more; Norway, 1980
back to church
“Sending Up My Timber,” Male Choir, Macedonia Baptist Church, North Carolina, c. 2008
summer in the city
The Black Keys, Lollapalooza, Chicago (Grant Park), 8/3/12
“Howlin’ For You”
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“Little Black Submarines”
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“Lonely Boy”
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
What, if anything, does it mean that, in the year 2012, not one but two of the headliners at Lollapalooza—Jack White and the Black Keys—are deeply influenced by blues?
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reading table
Life had begun to demand lies in order to be workable.
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At the crest of the hill where the road went up, was an abandoned house, and beyond it the road disappeared off into the blue sky.
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It’s odd, though, what makes you think about the truth. It’s so rarely involved in the events of your life. I quit thinking about the truth for a time then. Its finer points seemed impossible to find among the facts. If there was a hidden design, living almost never shed light on it.
—Richard Ford, Canada (2012)
favorites
“La-La (Means I Love You)” (T. Bell & W. Hart)
Bill Frisell (guitar) with Tony Scherr (bass) & Kenny Wollesen (drums), live, Rochester (NY), 2007
(Originally posted 5/28/10.)
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The Delfonics, 1968
(Originally posted 2/14/12.)
summer in the city
Jack White, “Take Me With You When You Go”
Lollapalooza, Chicago (Grant Park), 8/5/12
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)
