Peter Brötzmann, reed player, composer, bandleader
German Blues, performances 1999-2002, interview 2000
You can have the blues even if you’re German . . .
—Peter Brötzmann
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lagniappe
found words: AOL Headlines
Autistic Cheerleader Inspires Her Squad
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Kayaker Drowns After Swan Attack
Happy (70th) Birthday, Han!
Han Bennink, drummer, percussionist, visual artist, etc.
Han Bennink (drums) & Guus Janssen (piano), “One Bar”
Live, Japan (Chiba), 2010
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You’ve got to hand it to WKCR-FM. There are a few stations, here and there, that might spin a track or two in honor of the Dutch drummer’s 70th birthday. Somebody might even give him an hour or two. But who, other than a station deeply in tune with Bennink’s own inspired lunacy, would stage a five-day marathon?
two takes
This is a woman’s world . . .
Neneh Cherry, “Woman”
Live, c. late 1990s (?)
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This is a man’s world . . .
James Brown, “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World”
Live, Paris, 1966
Boi Akih (Monica Akihary, vocals; Niels Brouwer, guitar) with guest Wolter Wierbos (trombone), live, Netherlands, 2008
Instruments, too, are often stereotyped. Take the trombone. Loud? Blustery? Bull in a china shop? Not here.
Shabazz Palaces, live (studio performance, KEXP-FM), 2011
These guys—their mix of drums, mbira, electronics—call to mind the AACM’s* tagline: ancient to the future.
*Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (Art Ensemble of Chicago, Anthony Braxton, Fred Anderson, Leroy Jenkins, et al.).
The tree of country music has lots of eccentric branches.
The Handsome Family, “My Friend” (2009)
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lagniappe
reading table
The Everyday Enchantment of Music
by Mark Strand
(Almost Invisible [2012])
A rough sound was polished until it became a smoother sound, which was polished until it became music. Then the music was polished until it became the memory of a night in Venice when tears of the sea fell from the Bridge of Sighs, which in turn was polished until it ceased to be and in its place stood the empty home of a heart in trouble. Then suddenly there was sun and the music came back and traffic was moving and off in the distance, at the edge of the city, a long line of clouds appeared, and there was thunder, which, however menacing, would become music, and the memory of what happened after Venice would begin, and what happened after the home of the troubled heart broke in two would also begin.
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Happy Birthday, Billie!
Welcome to the maelstrom.
Miles Davis Group,* live, Berlin, 1973
Part 1: Turnaroundphrase
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Part 2: Turnaroundphrase, cont.; Tune in 5
*MD, trumpet; David Liebman, saxophone; Pete Cosey, guitar, percussion; Reggie Lucas, guitar; Michael Henderson, bass; Al Foster, drums; Mtume, percussion.
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lagniappe
reading table
Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that a spring was breaking
out in my heart.
I said: Along which secret aqueduct,
Oh water, are you coming to me,
water of a new life
that I have never drunk?Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that a fiery sun was giving
light inside my heart.
It was fiery because I felt
warmth as from a hearth,
and sun because it gave light
and brought tears to my eyes.Last night as I slept,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that it was God I had
here inside my heart.—Antonio Mochado (1875-1939), “Last Night As I Was Sleeping” (translated from Spanish by Robert Bly)
One singer’s garbage is another’s gold.
Nina Simone, “Ain’t Got No/I Got Life” (adapted from Hair)
Live, New York (Harlem Cultural Festival), 1969
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yesterday
Listening to the radio, where they were talking about post-war modernist architecture, I learned a new term for people my age: “mid-century.”
Erlend Viken, “Storpolsdansen,” live
This guy I stumbled upon the other day, as I do so many things, listening to the radio (Transpacific Sound Paradise, WFMU-FM, Sat., 6-9 p.m. [EST]). His studio performance, and interview, can be heard here.
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lagniappe
random thoughts
Does life become more understandable as you get older—or less?
music clip of the day 