sounds of New York
Robert Dick (bass flute), Stephanie Griffin (viola), Gamin (piri), live, New York, 2/29/20
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
Now spring has arrived
on a mountain with no name
in early morning haze—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), translated from Japanese by Sam Hamill
alone
Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996), Air for solo flute (1995); John McMurtery (flute), live, 2007
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
what’s new
Brian Blade & Life Cycles (BB, drums; Myron Walden, woodwinds; John Hart, guitar; Jon Cowherd, piano; Doug Weiss, bass; Monte Croft, vibraphone, voice; Rogerio Boccato, percussion), “My Joy,” “Slow Change,” “Hello to the Wind,” “The Final Four,” live (studio), Seattle, published 1/10/20 (recorded 9/27/19)
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lagniappe
random sights
other morning, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
The moon disappears
into darkening treetops
collecting the rain—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), translated from Japanese by Sam Hamill
27 years later
Art Ensemble of Chicago (Roscoe Mitchell, 1940-, reeds, flute, percussion; Famadou Don Moye, 1946-, drums, percussion) and Guests (Hugh Ragin, trumpets, flugelhorn; Tomeika Reed, cello; Silvia Bolognesi, bass; Jaribu Shahid, bass; Dudu Kouate, percussion), live, Italy (Cormòns), 2018
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
like nobody else
Art Ensemble of Chicago (Roscoe Mitchell, 1940-, reeds, flute, percussion; Joseph Jarman, 1937-2019, reeds, flute, percussion; Lester Bowie, 1941-1999, trumpet, flugelhorn, MCOTD Hall of Fame; Malachi Favors, 1927-2004, bass, percussion, vocals; Don Moye, 1946-, drums, percussion), live, Germany (Hamburg), 1991
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
Culture’s beginnings:
from the heart of the country
rice-planting songs—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), from Narrow Road to the Interior (translated from Japanese by Sam Hamill)
Why not begin the week with something new?
Nathalie Joachim (vocals, flute, electronics) with the Spektral Quartet and a Haitian children’s choir (recorded), “Suite pou Dantan: Prelid” (Fanm d’Ayiti [Women of Haiti]), 10/8/19
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
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.
