music clip of the day

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Category: hard-to-peg

2011

Monday, 6/6/11

sui generis, adj. A person or thing that is unique, in a class by itself. E.g., Anthony Braxton, composer, reed player, professor, MacArthur “genius” grant winner, one-time professional chess hustler.

Happy (Belated 66th) Birthday, Anthony!
(born June 4, 1945)

Anthony Braxton with his 12+1tet, Ghost Trance Music
New York (Iridium), 2008

Vodpod videos no longer available.

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lagniappe

musical thoughts

I wanted to live. I wanted to be alive. This experience goes by very quickly. Part of the radiance of a moment, in my opinion, involves that which we call music.

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Suddenly, Coltrane solos become the “it” of music, when in fact, the records and the notated solos are the sonic footprints, the bone structure of what actually happened in the music.

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I wanted a system that would be equal to the dynamics of curiosity. I wanted to have a music where I could have some fun.

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There is the wonderful discipline of music and the ability of music to keep on opening up fresh prospects. I must say, what a discipline!

—Anthony Braxton

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2011

Sunday, 6/5/11

Some folks sing when they speak.

Bishop Robert Manley, Jr., Bethesda Temple Church of the Living God, Frankfort, Kentucky, 2008

Part 1

Vodpod videos no longer available.

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Part 2

Vodpod videos no longer available.

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lagniappe

musical thoughts

I think there are certain aspects of music which do not have any equivalent in speech, in particular the pulse of music, the steady rhythm, and its synchronization with movement.

—Oliver Sacks, M.D.

With all due respect to Dr. Sacks (whom I admire greatly), I think maybe he should get out more often—to, for instance, churches in Harlem.

*****

listening room: what’s playing

• Professor Longhair, Crawfish Fiesta (Alligator); House Party New Orleans Style (Rounder); No Buts, No Maybes: The 1949-1957 Recordings (Hoodoo Records)

• Arthur Russell, Calling Out Of Context (Audika)

• Theo Parrish, Sound Sculptures Volume 1 (Sound Signature)

• Eddie Jefferson at Ali’s Alley with Rashied Ali Quintet (Blue Music Group)

• Wadada Leo Smith’s Golden Quartet, Tabligh (Cuneiform)

• Henry Grimes & Rashied Ali, Going To The Ritual (Porter Records)

• Paul Motian, Lost In A Dream (ECM) (with Chris Potter, Jason Moran); Rarum (ECM); Garden of Eden (ECM); Time and Time Again (ECM) (with Joe Lovano, Bill Frisell)

• Jason Moran, Ten (Blue Note)

• Various Artists, Gospel Music (Hyena Records)

• The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi: 1947-1954 (Acrobat)

• Brother Claude Ely, Ain’t No Grave (Dust-to-Digital)

• The Skatalites, Ball of Fire (Island)

• Tinariwen: Imidiwan: Companions (World Village)

• Ali Akbar Khan, Peerless (Navras)

• Bach: Cello Suites, Nos. 1-3, Jean-Guinen Queyras (Harmonia Mundi)

• Dmitri Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 15, Borodin Quartet (BMG Classics/Melodiya)

• Music of Stefan Wolpe: Volume Six, David Holzman (Bridge Records)

• Gyorgy Ligeti: String Quartets and Duets, Arditti String Quartet (Sony)

• Morton Feldman: For Bunita Marcus, Stephane Ginsburgh (Sub Rosa); John Tilbury, Morton Feldman, All Piano (London HALL)

• WKCR-FM (broadcasting from Columbia University)
—Bird Flight (Phil Schaap, jazz [Charlie Parker])
—Out to Lunch (Various, jazz)
—Afternoon New Music (Various, classical and hard-to-peg)
—Eastern Standard Time (Carter Van Pelt, Jamaican music)

• WFMU-FM
—Mudd Up! (DJ/Rupture, “new bass and beats”)
—Sinner’s Crossroads (Kevin Nutt, gospel)
—Give The Drummer Some (Doug Schulkind, sui generis)
—Reggae Schoolhouse (Jeff Sarge)
—Transpacific Sound Paradise (Rob Weisberg, “popular and unpopular music from around the world”)
—Daniel Blumin (sui generis)
—Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona (live sets)

*****

mail

Richard:

Thanks and despite its brevity it is quite touching.

David [Holzman, in response to an email letting him know that he was featured here yesterday]

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2011

Friday, 6/3/11

scenes from New Orleans
an occasional series

Neville Brothers (with Irvin Mayfield, trumpet)
“Indian Red,” live, New Orleans (Jazz Fest), 5/8/11

Vodpod videos no longer available.

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lagniappe

art beat

Lance Rosenfield, New Orleans, 2/5/08 (young Mardi Gras Indian preparing for his first Mardi Gras with the Wild Magnolias)

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2011

Tuesday, 5/31/11

favorites
(an occasional series)

She’s going to be a big star someday.

Nneka, live

Vodpod videos no longer available.

(Originally posted 2/15/11.)

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It used to be that music came from a particular place. No more. Whether it’s Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi (the Iranian saxophonist who’s lived in Germany, in Japan, and now in New York City [2/18/10]), or Burkina Electric (whose members come from Burkina Faso, from Germany, and from New York City [by way of Austria] [2/22/10]), or this singer, who’s lived (and has homes) in Nigeria and in Germany, much of today’s most intriguing music has its ears and heart and feet on more than one continent.

Nneka, “Heartbeat”

Take 1: recording/video

*****

Take 2: live, Philadelphia, 2009

*****

Take 3: J. Period Remix, featuring Talib Kweli

(Originally posted 2/27/10.)

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2011

Monday, 5/30/11

Today we remember him with a mix of new clips and old favorites.

Gil Scott-Heron, April 1, 1949-May 27, 2011

new clips

“The Bottle,” live, Jamaica (Montego Bay, Reggae Sunsplash), 1983
Cool Runnings: The Reggae Movie (1983)

*****

“We Almost Lost Detroit,” live, Austria (Vienna), 2010

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Interview, England (London), 2010

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old favorites

Here’s a voice I didn’t know if I’d ever hear again.

Gil Scott-Heron, I’m New Here (out this week)

“Where Did The Night Go” (Gil Scott-Heron)

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“Me And The Devil” (Robert Johnson)

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lagniappe

I’ve had bad times in my life when I’d rather be somewhere else doing something else, for sure. But you get to my age, that shit happens. You get in trouble; you maybe lose some folks—a parent or a friend. Maybe your marriage breaks up, you lose your wife, lose touch with your kid. But what life does not have those things in it?—Gil Scott-Heron (in yesterday’s Guardian)

(Orignially posted 2/8/10.)

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I’m the person I see least of over the course of my life, and even what I see is not accurate.

—Gil Scott-Heron (New Yorker, 8/9/2010 [Alec Wilkinson, “New York Is Killing Me”])

Gil Scott-Heron, “I’m New Here” (2010)

(Originally posted 8/24/10.)

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It’s a remix world.

Gil Scott-Heron, “New York Is Killing Me” (2010), Chris Cunningham remix

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lagniappe

Here’s the original track, followed by a couple more remixes.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

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With Nas

Vodpod videos no longer available.

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With Mos Def

Vodpod videos no longer available.

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langiappe

musical thoughts

In the dark times, will there also be singing? Yes, there will be singing. About the dark times.

—Bertolt Brecht

(Originally posted 12/16/10.)

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langiappe

remembrances

Alec Wilkinson (New Yorker)

Richard Russell (XL Recordings; produced and released GSH’s last album)

Eminem, Chuck D, Cee Low Green, Talib Kweli, et al.

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2011

Saturday, 5/28/11

Tired of the same ol’ same ol’?

Glenn Branca Ensemble, live, New York (The Kitchen), 1995; Symphony No. 8 (“The Mystery” [1992]), Symphony No. 10 (“The Mystery, Part 2” [1994])

Got some headphones? This should be played loud.

More? How ’bout a (terrific) live performance, recorded yesterday at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound Festival? Go to WFMU-FM; click, under “Recently added archives” (lower left corner), “5/27/11: Live Broadcasts and Special Events”—Branca starts at 2:05.

Still more? Here.

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2011

Wednesday, 5/25/11

Happy National Tap Dance Day!

Nicholas Brothers (Fayard & Harold)

Pie, Pie Blackbird (1932)

*****

“Lucky Numbers”
The Black Network (1936)

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“Chattanooga Choo Choo” (with Dorothy Dandridge, Glenn Miller Orchestra)
Sun Valley Serenade (1941)

More? Here.

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2011

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Happy (70th) Birthday, Bob!

Being young—that’s so twentieth century.

What’s hot now?

Old age.

Bob Dylan, London, 1965 (65 Revisited [2007])

Vodpod videos no longer available.

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lagniappe

radio

All Dylan, all day, every day—The World’s Only Bob Dylan Radio Station.

*****

reading table

More about Bobby D than you could ever want to read.

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2011

Friday, May 20, 2011

Who else (besides, of course, Bob Dylan) has played so many different roles so brilliantly?

Miles Davis (with Robben Ford & guest Carlos Santana, guitars), “Burn”
Live, Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, 6/15/86

Listen to stuff long enough and it changes—or you do, anyway. Once I might have faulted this for being repetitive. But that’s a bit like faulting roast beef for being meat. Of course it’s repetitive. That’s part of what makes it soar.

More? Here.

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lagniappe

listening room: what’s playing

• Rashied Ali Quintet, Live In Europe (Survival Records)

• Paul Motian (with Chris Potter, Jason Moran), Lost In A Dream (ECM)

• Charlie Parker, The Complete Royal Roost Live Recordings on Savoy, Vol. 3 (Columbia Japan)

• Eric Dolphy At The Five Spot, Vol. 2 (with Booker Little, Mal Waldron, Richard Davis, Ed Blackwell; Prestige)

• Various Artists, Fire In My Bones: Raw + Rare + Other-Worldly African-American Gospel (1944-2007) (Tompkins Square)

• Reverend Charlie Jackson, God’s Got It: The Legendary Booker and Jackson Singles (CaseQuarter)

• Group Doueh, Guitar Music from the Western Sahara (Sublime Frequencies)

• Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 8 in A Minor, Helene Grimaud, Resonances (Deutsche Grammophon)

• Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 (“Appasionata”) and No. 29 (“Hammerklavier”), Solomon, The Master Pianist (EMI Classics)

• Anton Webern: String Quartet, Six Bagatelles for String Quartet, String Quartet Op. 28, LaSalle Quartet (Brilliant Classics)

• Arnold Schoenberg: String Quartet in D major, LaSalle Quartet (Brilliant Classics)

• Roger Sessions: String Quartet No. 2, Julliard String Quartet (Composers Recordings)

• Morton Feldman: For Bunita Marcus, John Tilbury, Morton Feldman, All Piano (London HALL)

• WKCR-FM (broadcasting from Columbia University)
—Bird Flight (Phil Schaap, jazz [Charlie Parker])
—Morning Classical (Various)
—Amazing Grace (Various)

• WFMU-FM
—Mudd Up! (DJ/Rupture, “new bass and beats”)
—Sinner’s Crossroads (Kevin Nutt, gospel)
—Give The Drummer Some (Doug Schulkind, sui generis)
—Fool’s Paradise (Rex, sui generis)
—Transpacific Sound Paradise (Rob Weisberg, “popular and unpopular music from around the world”)

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2011

Thursday, 5/19/11

scenes from New Orleans
(an occasional series)

DJA-Rara, live, New Orleans (Jazz Fest), 5/1/11

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lagniappe

“It’s a fascinating time for Haitian music,” said Ned Sublette, author of “The World that Made New Orleans.” “Haitians voted for the music ticket [electing kompa singer Michel Martelly president]. You cannot deny the importance of communication through music in Haiti. And this is something New Orleanians know well.”

—Katy Reckdahl, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans), 4/29/11

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