Monday, March 3rd
what you simply cannot do
Listen to this drummer without feeling lighter, livelier.
Tony Allen (drums, vocals) & Band, live, Luxembourg, 2011
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Category: hard-to-peg
2014
Thursday, February 27th
sounds of Chicago
Klang (James Falzone, clarinet; Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone; Jason Roebke, bass; Tim Daisy, drums), live (studio performance), 2009
**********
lagniappe
art beat: the other day at the Art Institute of Chicago
Mark Rothko (1903-1970), Untitled (Purple, White, and Red), 1953
This painting and I have been getting together, several times a year, for decades. Admittedly, our relationship is rather one-sided. But, if anything, its indifference to me only deepens my feelings for it.
2014
Monday, February 24th
what’s new
Neneh Cherry, live (studio performance), New York, 2014
“Blank Project”
***
“Weightless”
***
These songs are on her new album, Blank Project, as is this track.
“Out of the Black” (feat. Robyn)
2014
Saturday, February 22nd
A pianist plays the piano.
A violinist plays the violin.
A percussionist plays . . . how much time have you got?
Augusta Read Thomas (1964-), Resounding Earth (2012); Third Coast Percussion
1st Movement
***
2nd Movement
***
3rd Movement
***
4th Movement
**********
lagniappe
musical thoughts
Augusta Read Thomas, talking about Resounding Earth:
2014
Thursday, February 20th
what’s new
Vijay Iyer (pianist, composer, bandleader, Harvard professor, MacArthur “genius” grant winner, etc.), Mutations, 2014
2014
Wednesday, February 19th
sounds of Chicago
Mike Reed’s People, Places & Things (MR, drums; Jason Roebke, bass; Greg Ward, alto saxophone; Tim Haldeman, tenor saxophone), “Wilbur’s Tune,” live, Paris, 2010
***
Mike Reed’s Myth/Science Assembly (MR, drums; Tomas Fujiwara, drums; Josh Abrams, bass; Greg Ward, alto saxophone; Ingrid Laubrock, tenor saxophone; Taylor Ho Bynum, trumpet; Mary Halvorson, guitar; Tomeka Reid, cello; Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone; Nick Butcher, electronics), live (rearranging a found Sun Ra fragment [excerpt]), Chicago (Chicago Jazz Festival), 2011
***
Mike Reed’s Loose Assembly (MR, drums; Josh Abrams, bass; Greg Ward, alto saxophone; Tomeka Reid, cello; Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone), live (studio performance), Chicago, c. 2009
*****
If other Chicago musicians are “busy,” what’s Mike Reed? In addition to leading various groups, he owns and operates Constellation, a performing arts center. Then there’s the Pitchfork Music Festival, which this summer will feature, over the course of three days, Beck, Giorgio Moroder, Kendrick Lamar, Grimes, et al. He books and produces it.
2014
Tuesday, February 11th
alone
Ran Blake (1935-), pianist, composer, teacher, MacArthur “genius” grant winner
Above the Sadness (trailer), 2011
***
Live, “Over the Rainbow,” Portugal (Lisbon), 2010
***
Live (at home), 2001
**********
lagniappe
reading table
‘[L]ife holds thee; not thou it.’
—Herman Melville (1819-1891), Moby Dick
2014
Saturday, February 8th
a gathering of birds
Evan Parker Quartet (EP, soprano saxophone; Peter Evans, trumpet; John Russell, guitar; John Edwards, bass), live, London, 2009
**********
lagniappe
musical thoughts
Music offers a way out of our little cluttered closet.
2014
Saturday, February 1st
sounds of Chicago
Michael Zerang and the Blue Lights (MZ, drums; Mars Williams, alto saxophone; Dave Rempis, baritone saxophone; Josh Berman, cornet; Kent Kessler, bass), live, Chicago (Hideout), 2013
**********
lagniappe
reading table
Now, in general, Stick to the boat, is your true motto in whaling; but cases will sometimes happen when Leap from the boat, is still better.
—Herman Melville (1819-1891), Moby-Dick
music clip of the day 