two takes: “Vana Vasesi”
Mancingelani (South Africa), 2010
***
Theo Parrish Remix, 2011
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lagniappe
found words
I love America but America don’t love me.
—a guy sitting in front of me on the ‘L’, over and over
alone
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 Samuel Beckett.
*****
taking a(nother) break
Back in a while.
Lord, have mercy . . .
Rev. Gary Davis, “Death Don’t Have No Mercy,” c. 1970
serendipity
Something I just bumped into.
Trio WAZ (Ed Wilkerson, tenor saxophone; Tatsu Aoki, bass; Michael Zerang, drums), live, Michigan (Lakeside, concert presented by Portoluz), 2010
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Color.
Texture.
Density.
Sometimes they’re more important than melody, or harmony, or rhythm.
*****
reading table
“The Snow Man”
by Wallace Stevens (1879-1955)One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitterOf the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare placeFor the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.
keep on dancing
Moodymann (AKA Moody), “Anotha Black Sunday” (2009)
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lagniappe
random thoughts
One benefit of getting older, I’ve found, is that you develop a keener appreciation for just how much you have to be humble about.
This seems, somehow, to these ears, anyway, to fit a day when the ashes of my mother-in-law are being buried.
Revolutionary Ensemble (Leroy Jenkins, violin; Sirone, bass; Jerome Cooper, drums), “Chicago” (Live at Moosham Castle, 1977)
basement jukebox
Magic Sam (AKA Samuel Maghett, 1937-1969), Cobra Records, Chicago
“All Your Love,” 1957
***
“Love Me with a Feeling,” 1957
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“Everything Gonna Be Alright,” 1958
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“21 Days In Jail,” 1958
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taking a break
I’m taking some time off—back soon.
a week in New Orleans: day five
Big Freedia
“Na Who Mad,” 2011
***
Talking, walking around town, performing, etc.
Pitchfork TV, 2013
a week in New Orleans: day four
Mardi Gras Indians (Fat Tuesday, 2012)
Wild Magnolias
***
Two Indian Tribes Meet in Treme
a week in New Orleans: day two
Bon Mardi Gras
Professor Longhair, December 19, 1918-January 30, 1980
“Mardi Gras in New Orleans” (AKA “Go to the Mardi Gras”), 1950
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“Big Chief”
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“Tipitina” (with the Meters)
