Wednesday, February 22nd
more
Miranda Cuckson, violin; Michael Hersch (1971-), Fourteen Pieces for unaccompanied violin, excerpt; live, 2009
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Category: hard-to-peg
2017
Monday, February 20th
Yesterday, in Chicago, at the Art Institute, I heard this woman play the violin. She played for well over an hour, by herself, without intermission. She performed seven pieces: the earliest, by Pierre Boulez (Anthèmes 1), was composed in 1992; the latest, by Steve Lehman (En Soi), this year. When a performer surrenders to the music wholeheartedly, she invites you, the listener, to do the same. And I did, gratefully.
Miranda Cuckson, violin
Ralph Shapey (1921-2002), Etchings (1945; excerpt), 2009
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Playing and talking, 2015
2017
Monday, February 13th
passings
Al Jarreau (aka Alwin Lopez Jarreau), March 12, 1940-February 12, 2017, singer
“Take Five” (P. Desmond), live (TV performance), Germany, 1976
(Taking a break—back in a while.)
2017
Friday, February 10th
Quiet, beauty—sometimes they seem to have all but disappeared.
Valentin Silvestrov (piano), live, Ukraine (Kiev), 2012
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lagniappe
random thoughts
I’ve been a criminal defense lawyer for over 30 years. Week in and week out, I’m in federal and state courts. I have deeply mixed feelings about our legal system. But last night, as I read the Ninth Circuit’s 29-page ruling, I felt enormous gratitude for the one branch of government that currently seems capable of—or even interested in—thoughtful analysis.
2017
Thursday, February 9th
what’s new
Craig Taborn, Daylight Ghosts, 2017
The other day I bumped into this guy in New York, at The Guggenheim, where we were both seeing the Agnes Martin exhibit. We talked for a moment—I told him how much I like his music. Then our eyes went back to the paintings.
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, The Guggenheim (New York)
Agnes Martin (1912-2004), Happy Holiday, 1999
2017
Wednesday, February 8th
not the same old stuff
Maja S. K. Ratkje, live (performance begins at 1:30), Norway (Kristiansand), 2013
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lagniappe
reading table
Happy (106th) Birthday, Elizabeth
From the few states I have seen I should now immediately select Florida as my favorite. I don’t know whether you have been here or not—it is so wild, and what there is of cultivation seems rather dilapidated and about to become wild again. On the way down we took a very slow train from Jacksonville here. All day long it went through swamps and turpentine camps and palm forests and in a beautiful pink evening it began stopping at several little stations. The stations were all off at a tangent from the main track and it necessitated first going by, then stopping, backing up, stopping, starting again—with many puffs of white smoke, blowing of the whistle, advice from the loiterers around the station—all to throw off one limp bag of mail.
—Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), letter to Marianne Moore, January 5, 1937
2017
Tuesday, February 7th
not the same old stuff
Éliane Radigue (1932-), L’Île re-sonante (2000)
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lagniappe
random sights
last night, Oak Park, Ill.
2017
Monday, February 6th
not the same old stuff
Dana Jessen (bassoon), Points Against Fields (Sam Pluta), live, Chicago, 2016
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
So many sounds, made by so many people, we’ll never hear, no matter how much we listen.
*****
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
2017
Wednesday, February 1st
more
Wet Ink Ensemble, Pendulum V (Alex Mincek), live, New York, 2009
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langiappe
reading table
in such an ugly time the true protest is beauty
—Phil Ochs (1940-1976), Pleasures of the Harbor (1967), liner notes
2017
Tuesday, January 31st
Sunday night, in Chicago, I heard these folks perform at Constellation. Afterward, as I walked out the door, the night air seemed clearer, lighter, as if it had just been washed.
Wet Ink Ensemble, Pendulum VII (Alex Mincek), live, New York, 2013
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, High Line (New York)
Tony Matelli (1971-), Sleepwalker, 2014
music clip of the day 