sounds of New York
day two
Sam Pluta (1979-), Broken Symmetries (2011-12); Wet Ink Ensemble (Sam Pluta, electronics; Joshua Modney, violin; Erin Lesser, piccolo; Alex Mincek, tenor saxophone; Eric Wubbels, piano; Ian Antonio, percussion), live, New York, 2016
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Bellwood, Ill.
MCOTD Hall of Fame
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), For Christian Wolff (1986); Eberhard Blum (flute), Nils Vigland (piano, celesta), 1992
It can be hard to recall, after an hour or two, what the world sounded like before this began.
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lagniappe
listening room
Clear, open, luminous: pianist Aki Takahashi’s recently released recording of For Bunita Marcus (1985), available on Spotify, is one of the finest renderings of Feldman’s unique sound-world that I’ve ever heard.
MCOTD Hall of Fame
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), For Philip Guston (1984); S.E.M. Ensemble, 2000
sounds of Chicago
John Cage, Solo for flute, from Concert for Piano (1958); Eric Lamb, flute (International Contemporary Ensemble), Chicago, 2012
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Music is theater for the ear. Take this performance. The phrasing, the interplay between sound and silence—this unfolds like something by Beckett.
This I could listen to all day.
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), For Philip Guston (1984); Claire Chase (flute, alto flute, piccolo), Steven Schick (percussion), Sarah Rothenberg (piano, celesta), live, Houston (Rothko Chapel), 2013
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lagniappe
random sights
today, Oak Park, Ill.
In a country that continues to coarsen, delicacy grows ever more precious.
John Luther Adams (1953-), there is no one, not even the wind (2017); Emerald City Music, live (world premiere), Seattle, 9/15/17
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
voices I miss
Ed Blackwell (drums, 1929-1992) with Mal Waldron (piano), Charles Rouse (tenor saxophone, flute), Woody Shaw (trumpet, flugelhorn), Reggie Workman (bass), live (“The Git Go,” “All Alone,” “Fire Waltz”), New York (Village Vanguard), 1985
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), Irises at Horikiri, 1857
timeless
Rahsaan Roland Kirk (1935-1977), “Haunted Feelings,” 1971
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lagniappe
reading table
secluded house—
the drunk hired hand
in the autumn dusk—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue
What we need—now more than ever.
Clickety Clack! Clickety Clack!
What is this madness that Nixon has put upon us?
Clickety Clack! Clickety Clack!
Won’t someone bring the spirit back?—Rahsaan Roland Kirk (1935-1977), 1973
Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Bright Moments, recorded live (San Francisco), 1973*
*****
*Track list (courtesy of YouTube):
A1. Introduction
2. Pedal Up
3. You’ll Never Get To Heaven
4. Clickety Clack
5. Prelude To A Kiss
6. Talk (Electric Nose)
7. Fly Town Nose Blues
B1. Talk (Bright Moments)
2. Bright Moments Song
3. Dem Red Beans And Rice
4. If I Loved You
5. Talk (Fats Waller)
6. Jitterbug Waltz
7. Second Line Jump
more
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Partita in A minor for Solo Flute; Sandra Miller (flute), live, New York, 2013
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lagniappe
radio
Bach Festival, WKCR-FM (see 12/22/16 post): Day Nine (alas, the last).
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reading table
The only response
to a child’s grave is
to lie down before it and play dead—Bill Knott (1940-2014)
