Tuesday, January 3rd
sounds of New York
This guy’s one of my favorite alto players and composers.
Tim Berne’s Almost Human (TB, alto saxophone, composition; Matt Mitchell, piano; Dan Weiss, drums), live, New York, 12/14/16
#1
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#2
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Category: drums
2017
2017
Monday, January 2nd
joy of serendipity
Empirical, live, London, 2016
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More.
“Card Clash,” live, Southhampton, England, 2015
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lagniappe
reading table
hole in the wall
pretty
my year’s first sky—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue
2016
Monday, December 26th
old white men
Rolling Stones, live, England (Glastonbury Festival), 2013
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), Number 17A (1948)
The painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through.
—Jackson Pollock
2016
Saturday, December 24th
only rock ‘n’ roll
Hasil Adkins, “She Said” (H. Adkins), live, Westwood, Calif., mid-1990s
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Another take.
Cramps, live, Boston, 1983
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), Interchanged, 1955
2016
Wednesday, December 21st
sounds of New York
Pulverize the Sound (Peter Evans, trumpet; Tim Dahl, bass; Mike Pride, drums), live, New York, 2013
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lagniappe
reading table
Jackie Evancho, a 16-year-old singer who became famous after appearing on “America’s Got Talent,” announced last week that she would sing the national anthem at the inauguration.
—“Andrea Bocelli Won’t Be Singing at the Trump Inauguration,” New York Times, 12/20/16
2016
Friday, December 16th
Chicago blues
day four
Magic Sam (AKA Samuel Maghett, 1937-1969)
“All Your Love,” “Lookin’ Good,” live (TV broadcast), Germany, 1969
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“All Your Love,” 1957
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“Love Me with a Feeling,” 1957
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“Everything Gonna Be Alright,” 1958
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“21 Days In Jail,” 1958
2016
Thursday, December 15th
Chicago blues
day three
Otis Rush (1935-; vocal, guitar) with Fred Below (1926-1988; drums), et al., “I Can’t Quit You Baby,” live, East Berlin, 1966
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Here’s the original 1956 recording.
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lagniappe
reading table
On the first page of the course syllabus [for the class, taught at Columbia, on “The American Radical Tradition”], I always included the words of Max Weber, a rebuke to those who believe that critics of society should set their sights only on “practical” measures: “What is possible would never have been achieved if, in this world, people had not repeatedly reached for the impossible.”
—Eric Foner, “American Radicals and the Change We Could Believe In,” The Nation, January 2-9, 2017 issue
2016
Wednesday, December 14th
Chicago blues
day two
Junior Wells (1934-1998; vocal, harmonica), Buddy Guy (1936-; guitar), et al., “Cryin’ Shame” (AKA “Country Girl”), live, Chicago, 1970
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lagniappe
reading table
winter wind—
he can’t find his roost
the evening crow—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue
2016
Monday, December 12th
Chicago blues
day one
Howlin’ Wolf (AKA Chester Burnett, 1910-1976), with Hubert Sumlin (guitar), Willie Dixon (bass), et al., “Somestack Lightning,” live, England, 1964
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lagniappe
random sights
last night, Oak Park, Ill.
2016
Saturday, December 10th
more
R.L. Burnside (and family), live, Independence, Miss., 1978
“When My First Wife Left Me”
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“Boogie Instrumental”
music clip of the day 