passings
Seiji Ozawa, conductor, September 1, 1935–February 6, 2024
Vienna Philharmonic (Seiji Ozawa, cond.) with Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin), live, Tokyo, 2020; Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996), Nostalghia: In Memory of Andrei Tarkovsky (for violin and orchestra), 1987
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
two takes
“Just As Long as We’re in Love” (Terry Callier, Larry Wade)
Terry Callier, 1972
*****
The Dells, 1972
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
sounds of all over
Ali Sethi (vocals) & Nicolás Jaar (electronics), “Muddat” (Lyrics by Mirza Ghalib, 1797-1869), 2023
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
two takes
Carlos Simon (1986-), “Between Worlds” (2019); Miranda Cuckson (1972-), violin
#1 (1/21)
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#2 (9/21)
*****
About “Between Worlds”
Bill Traylor was born a slave in Alabama in 1853 and died in 1949. He lived long enough to see the United States of America go through many social and political changes. He was an eyewitness to the Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction, Jim Crow segregation and the Great Migration. As a self taught visual artist, his work reflects two separate worlds— rural and urban, black and white, old and new. In many ways the simplified forms in Traylor’s artwork tell of the complexity of his world, creativity, and inspiring bid for self-definition in a dehumanizing segregated culture. This piece is inspired by the evocative nature as a whole and not one piece by Traylor. Themes of mystical folklore, race, and religion pervade Traylor’s work. I imagine these solo pieces as a musical study; hopefully showing Traylor’s life between disparate worlds.
—Carlos Simon
*****
Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts (2023)
(quietly) stunning
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), Palais de Mari (1986); Igor Levit (1987-, piano), 2020
*****
Igor Levit, playing and talking
sounds of Jamaica
Rocksteady classical love songs (7 inch vinyl mix), Soul Skankin’ (DJ), 2015
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lagniappe
my back pages
On a cold, snowy night forty-seven years ago, at a church thirty miles north of Chicago, my wife, Suzanne, and I were married. Tenor saxophonist Von Freeman (1923-2012) and pianist John Young (1922-2008) provided the music, playing before the ceremony (“Over the Rainbow,” “It Never Entered My Mind,” “More”); during (Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood” [unaccompanied saxophone], as Suzanne walked down the aisle), and after (“My Favorite Things,” “Song for My Father”). All of what they played that night can be heard here (0:14-).
what’s new
Moor Mother, “GUILTY” (feat. Lonnie Holley, Raia Was), 1/19/24
sounds of New York
James Francies (keyboards) with Immanuel Wilkins (alto saxophone), Tyshawn Sorey (drums), “My Favorite Things” (R. Rodgers), live, New York, 6/23/23
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
like nobody else
Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou (1923-2023, piano), “The Homeless Wanderer” (T. Guèbrou), from Éthiopiques 21: Piano Solo (anthology), 2006
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
sounds of Chicago
Jamila Woods, “Tiny Garden,” 2023
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lagniappe
random sights
other night, outside Chicago
music clip of the day 