Friday, June 7th
only rock ’n’ roll
The Stooges (1967-)
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Category: drums
2013
Thursday, June 6th
Most musicians are no more able than anyone else to talk about what they do in ways that are fresh and absorbing. This guy, to these ears, is something rare: a compelling player who is, as well, a provocative thinker and talker.
Vijay Iyer (piano), playing and talking, 2010
2013
Wednesday, June 5th
kinetic
Rudresh Mahanthappa (alto saxophone), Rez Abbasi (guitar), Rich Brown (bass), Rudy Royston (drums), “Killer,” “Playing with Stones,” Washington, D.C., 2012
2013
Thursday, May 23rd
Some singers are so distinctive that when you’re in the mood for them no one else will do.
Blossom Dearie (1924-2009), “They Say It’s Spring,” 1958*
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lagniappe
reading table: Albion Beatnik Bookstore, Oxford, England
*****
*BD, vocals, piano; Herb Ellis, guitar; Ray Brown, bass; Jo Jones, drums.
2013
Wednesday, May 22nd
sounds of Chicago
Want to hear a great solo? You’ve come to the wrong place. This isn’t about solos; it’s about interplay.
The Rempis Percussion Quartet,* live, Chicago (Hideout), 2010
#1
#2
*Dave Rempis, saxophones; Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, bass; Tim Daisy, drums; Frank Rosaly, drums.
2013
Tuesday, May 21st
only rock ’n’ roll
Rolling Stones (with Katy Perry), “Beast of Burden,” live, Las Vegas, 5/13
Seeing Mick perform these days makes me queasy. When Muddy was nearing seventy, he seemed, onstage, entirely at home in himself. Mick seems like an old guy—he turns seventy in July—who wishes he were still twenty.
2013
Monday, May 20th
two takes
“Take Five” (P. Desmond)
Ceramic Dog (Marc Ribot, guitar; Shahzad Ismaily, bass & percussion; Ches Smith, drums), live, Netherlands (Amsterdam), 2013
***
Dave Brubeck Quartet (DB, piano; Paul Desmond, alto saxophone; Eugene Wright, bass; Joe Morello, drums), live, Germany, 1966
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lagniappe
art beat: yesterday at the Art Institute of Chicago
Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Bullfinch and Weeping Cherry Tree, 1834
2013
Wednesday, May 15th
tonight
I’m going, with my son Alex, to hear a quartet led by this Chicago-based saxophonist at the Hideout, a small club on the city’s northwest side.
Nick Mazzarella Trio (NM, alto saxophone; Anton Hatwich, bass; Frank Rosaly, drums), live, “Do Not Disturb,” live, Asheville, N.C., 2011
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Make the drummer sound good.
2013
Friday, May 3rd
only rock ’n’ roll
Wax Idols
“All Too Human,” 2011
*****
“When It Happens,” 2013
music clip of the day 