clear, adj. bright, luminous, transparent. E.g., Wadada Leo Smith’s trumpet playing.
Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet), live, London (Cafe Oto), 9/5/11
A performance like this opens up, I’ve found, once you quit trying to find
a foothold.
Happy (Belated) 70th Birthday, Lester!
Lester Bowie, October 11, 1941-November 8, 1999
trumpet player, bandleader, irrepressible spirit
Lester Bowie Brass & Steel Band, Umbria Jazz Festival (Italy), 1996
Part 1
***
Part 2
***
Part 3
***
Part 4
More? Here. And here. And here. And here. And here.
**********
lagniappe
musical thoughts
Jazz is neither specific repertoire nor academic exercise . . . but a way of life.
—Lester Bowie
No one could convince me, when I’m listening to the clarinet, that any instrument is more beautiful.
Shabaka Hutchings, clarinet, with Kit Downes, keyboards; John Edwards, bass; Mark Sanders, drums; Leafcutter John, electronics; live, London (St. Sepulchre-without-Newgate), 7/14/11
Vodpod videos no longer available.Melody?
Just little fragments now and then.
Harmony?
None in the usual sense.
Rhythm?
Ditto.
What is there?
A sonic space you inhabit the way you would a dream.
Olivia Block, composer, sound artist, performer; “field recordings on damaged cassette tapes,” “controlled feedback from small speakers/contact mic,” “amplified autoharp” (YouTube post); Chicago (Saki Records), 2010
Vodpod videos no longer available.You’ve got to be bold, or nuts, or both to do what these Saki folks did last year in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood—open a new record store.
**********
lagniappe
reading table
summer moon—
there is no such thing
as a flawless night—Kobayashi Issa, 1812 (trans. David G. Lanoue)
serendipity
The other day, while I was listening to the radio,* this popped out.
Derek Bailey (guitar) & Tony Oxley (percussion, electronics)
“Sheffield Phantoms,” The Advocate, Tzadik, 2007 (rec. 1975)
Rarely do you hear something that’s both this “out” and this intimate.
*Afternoon New Music, WKCR-FM (broadcasting from Columbia University), Mon.-Wed., 3-6 p.m. (EST)
serendipity
The other night, as I listened to the radio,* this (“Patient Observation”) floated out of the speakers.
Falling From Trees, Neon Productions, music by Peter Broderick
Premiered at The Place, London, 1/09
Excerpt, Part 2, “Patient Observation”
Vodpod videos no longer available.***
Full Length
Vodpod videos no longer available.***
Falling From Trees is a 30-minute production set in a psychiatric hospital that delves into the mind of a resident patient. The piece explores how a neurological disease can alter your sense of self and relationship to the world and people around you. Peter Broderick’s score has been created solely on piano and strings; it is also the first time Broderick has created music specifically for dance.
*Mudd Up! with DJ/Rupture, WFMU-FM, Monday, 8 p.m. (EST), archived shows here
Mardi Gras Indians, New Orleans
Young Wild Magnolias, St. Joseph’s Night, 3/19/09
Vodpod videos no longer available.
*****
United Indian Practice, Handa Wanda, 1/2/11
Vodpod videos no longer available.
*****
Indian Practice, 7th Ward, 11/22/10
Vodpod videos no longer available.
*****
Spy Boy Demond, Seminoles, c. 2010
Vodpod videos no longer available.
*****
With some forms of musical expression, value is tied to scarcity: the smaller the number of people who can do something, the more highly it’s prized. But with others, the opposite is true: the more readily other folks can join in, the greater the value.
Today, in celebration of my son Alex’s 24th birthday, we revisit a few of the many posts he’s inspired.
**********
I’ve got a song for you to listen to . . .
—my (23-year-old) son Alex
tUnE-yArDs, “Bizness,” live, Austin (SXSW), 3/18/11
Vodpod videos no longer available.(Originally posted 4/30/11.)
**********
I’ve got a song for you to listen to . . .
—my (23-year-old) son Alex
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, “Say No To Love” (2010)
Vodpod videos no longer available.(Originally posted 12/28/10.)
**********
The other night, after falling asleep, my older son Alex (now 22) had an unexpected visitor—this guy showed up and began to play.
Vijay Iyer Trio (VI, piano; Marcus Gilmore, drums; Stephan Crump, bass)
“Galang,” recording session (Historicity), New York (Systems Two Studios), 2009
(Originally posted 6/30/10.)
**********
Someday, just as I sometimes do with my own father, who’s been gone for over thirty years, my older son Alex, now twenty-three, will recall occasions, after I’m gone, when he and I went out to hear live music together, like, for instance, last night, when we saw this group, from Africa, who are on their first U.S. tour.
Group Doueh, live, San Francisco, 7/1/11
Vodpod videos no longer available.(Originally posted, with a different clip, 6/27/11.)
Charisma needs no translation.
Mahmoud Ahmed & Badume’s Band, live, France (Festival de Sete), 2008
“Belomi Benna”
Vodpod videos no longer available.***
“Atawurulegn Lela”
Vodpod videos no longer available.
music clip of the day 