serendipity
This morning I stumbled upon this after encountering the phrase “the crowded air” in an Emily Dickinson poem (229 [Franklin], “Musicians wrestle everywhere –”) and googling it. The moment it ended, I wanted to hear it again.
Milton Babbitt (1916-2011), The Crowded Air (1988); Boston Modern Orchestra Project, 2013
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
soundtrack to a dream I’d love to have
Jon Hassell (1937-, trumpet), “Sketches of the Mediterranean” (with Paolo Fresu, trumpet, flugelhorn; Rick Cox, guitar; Kheir-Eddine M’Kachiche, violin; Peter Freeman, bass), live, France (Junas), 2013
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
*****
reading table
a knotwood-eating bug
likes what it likes . . .
evening dew—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue
Why not begin the week with something that’s unlike anything you’ve ever heard before?
Nathalie Joachim (vocals, flute, electronics, compositions, arrangements) and Spektral Quartet, Fanm d’Ayiti (Women of Haiti), live (with recorded voices), New York (Kaufman Music Center), 2019
Composer/performer Nathalie Joachim and Spektral Quartet perform Joachim’s Fanm d’Ayiti (Women of Haiti), an evening-length work for voice, flute, string quartet and electronics. A celebration of some of Haiti’s most iconic yet under recognized female artists as well as an exploration of Joachim’s Haitian heritage, Fanm d’Ayiti features original songs incorporating the recorded voices of Joachim’s grandmother and the girls’ choir of her family’s home farming village of Dantan; new arrangements of songs by some of the greatest known female voices in Haitian history; and recorded interviews with these artists about their lives fighting for social justice and uplifting the people of Haiti.
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random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
sounds of Chicago
Mike Reed’s Loose Assembly (MR, drums; Greg Ward, alto saxophone; Tomeka Reid, cello; Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone; Joshua Abrams, bass), live (performance begins at 13:10), Chicago (Constellation), 8/15/20
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, outside Chicago
*****
reading table
Moon in midsky, high
over the village hovels
and wandering on—Yosa Buson (1716-1784), translated from Japanese by Sam Hamill