The only thing hard about listening to this is letting go of everything else.
John Luther Adams (1953-), Dream in White on White (1992); Virtuoso String Orchestra (Joaquin Valdepenas, cond.), Sanya Eng (harp), live, Toronto, 2014
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lagniappe
reading table
Barn’s burnt down—
now
I can see the moon.—Mizuta Masahide, 1657-1723 (translated from Japanese by Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto)
Why start the new week with the same old stuff?
Julia Wolfe (1958-), Believing (2001); Bang on a Can All-Stars, live, South Korea (Tongyeong International Music Festival), 2014
lagniappe
art beat
Regular readers may recognize this drawing, which was posted last year. The artist is a client of mine, Walter Unbehaun, a seventy-something bank robber whose story is told in the January issue of GQ magazine (Kathy Dobie, “The Curious Case of the Homesick Bank Robber”). This drawing makes an appearance:
[H]e’d created a strong bond with his lawyer. He considered ‘Rich’ a friend, giving him two finely wrought pencil sketchings. One was of an ancient and deeply wrinkled Peruvian woman, the other of a plump African woman wearing glasses.
Walter Unbehaun, African Preacher (Kankakee County Jail, 2014)
alone
Georg Friedrich Haas (1953-), Hommage a Steve Reich (1982)
Hans Ludemann (piano), live, Germany (Cologne), 2012
Each time I listen to this, it sounds different.
lucid, adj. translucent, pellucid, clear. E.g., Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians.
Steve Reich (1936-), Music for 18 Musicians (1974-76)
Ensemble Intercontemporain with Synergy Vocals, live, Paris, 2014
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lagniappe
reading table
the door latch
rusting scarlet . . .
winter rain—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue
*****
random sights
this morning, Chicago (Columbus Park)
Hearing this voice, from a gone world, gives me goosebumps.
Vera Hall, “Death Is Awful,” live, Livingston, Ala., 1939
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
what’s new
Joanna Newsom, “Leaving the City,” live (TV show), 12/8/15
alone
Toshimaru Nakamura (no-input mixing board), live, England
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
Why God made “repeat.”
Morton Feldman (1926-1987; MCOTD Hall of Fame), Coptic Light (1986); Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Peter Eotvos, cond.), live, Amsterdam, 1998
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lagniappe
art beat
William Eggleston (1939-)
like nobody else
Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915-1973), “That’s All,” live, France, 1960
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Chicago (Columbus Park)
Thurston Moore (guitar), Okkyung Lee (cello), Ikue Mori (laptop)
Live, New York, 2009
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Music, too, is a continually expanding universe.
music clip of the day 