Friday, April 11th
sounds of Chicago
Oshwa, “Old Man Skies,” live (recording session), Chicago, 2013
sounds of Chicago
Oshwa, “Old Man Skies,” live (recording session), Chicago, 2013
only rock ’n’ roll
The War On Drugs, “Under the Pressure”
Live, Philadelphia, 3/14/14
***
Recording (Lost in the Dream), 3/14
**********
lagniappe
reading table
Now, unlike then—sixty years ago—we know so much more about others . . . . [t]hough, of course, we know not much more of the important things—what’s in others’ hearts; and if their hearts are broken or damaged or full.
—Richard Ford, “A Symposium on Magic,” The Threepenny Review, Spring 2014
sounds of Chicago
Chicago Underground Duo (Rob Mazurek, cornet, electronics, voice; Chad Taylor, drums, mbira, electronics), live (music begins at 4:30), Italy (Venice), 2013
(This clip, alas, has some glitches: at 56:15 both the sound and the picture drop out, returning, with just one of two audio channels, at 58:46.)
sounds of New Orleans
Brass band, live, New Orleans (Frenchmen Street), 2013
MVP? Without a doubt, it’s the snare drummer. Not only does he hold everything together, he pushes, pushes, pushes.
sounds of New York
Peter Evans’ Zebulon Trio (PE, trumpet; John Hebert, bass; Kassa Overall, drums), “Air Train,” live, New York (Jazz Gallery), 2013
**********
lagniappe
random thoughts
Note to self: cultivate lightness.
alone
Günter “Baby” Sommer, live, Germany (Dresden), c. 2007
**********
musical thoughts
Who has more fun than drummers?
*****
lagniappe
reading table
Back to Mandrake the Magician,
The man of mystery often seen
In the company of swells and
Denizens of the underworld,
While mother kneads pie dough
And sways her hips to the radio,
And the fat, bow-legged dog
Drools over a red rubber ball,
When there is a flash of lightning
Followed by a roll of thunder
And sudden darkness upon us all.—Charles Simic, “Memory Train” (New Republic, 3/24/14)
like nobody else
Nina Simone (“Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair” [Trad.], “To Love Somebody” [B. Gibb, R. Gibb], “Suzanne” [L. Cohen], “Save Me” [A. Franklin], “Porgy, I Is Your Woman Now”/”Today Is A Killer”/”I Loves You Porgy” [G. Gershwin, D. Heyward]), live, Rome, 1969
**********
lagniappe
art beat
Helen Levitt (1913-2009), New York, 1940s
passings
Scott Asheton, drummer (Stooges), August 16, 1949-March 15, 2014
Live (rehearsal), Tribute to the Stooges (SA, drums; Ron Asheton, guitar; J Mascis, guitar; Mike Watt, vocals, bass), “1970,” Belgium (Hasselt), 2002
***
Live, Iggy and the Stooges, “Now I Wanna Be Your Dog,” France (Clisson), 2011
***
Live, Stooges, “1970,” Michigan (Goose Lake Festival), 1970
**********
lagniappe
reading table
What do the sky and gardens know
of such disappointments?—August Kleinzahler, “September” (fragment)