This voice I could listen to all day, even if I didn’t understand a word of English. He doesn’t speak—he sings.
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), “I Have a Dream,” Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963
***
Another take, with Max Roach (1924-2007, drums).
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
what’s new
Agnes Obel, “Broken Sleep” (A. Obel), 1/7/20
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lagniappe
random sights
last night, Oak Park, Ill.
sounds of Algeria, France, and the United States
Mohamed Lamouri, “Billie Jean” (M. Jackson), live, Paris, 2015
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
what’s new
One-word review: Wow!
Fay Victor (vocals), Baba Israel (vocals), Marc Ribot (guitar), Ingrid Laubrock (tenor saxophone), Kris Davis (piano), live (Celebration of the Life of Steve Dalachinsky), New York (Winter Jazz Fest), 1/11/19
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
*****
reading table
I speak across the vast
Dialogues in which we go
To clench my words against
Time or the lack of time
Hoping that for a moment
They will become for me
A place I can think in
And think anything in,
An aside from the monstrous.***
This is no other place
Than where I am, between
This word and the next.—W. S. Graham (1918-1986), from “The Dark Dialogues”
27 years later
Art Ensemble of Chicago (Roscoe Mitchell, 1940-, reeds, flute, percussion; Famadou Don Moye, 1946-, drums, percussion) and Guests (Hugh Ragin, trumpets, flugelhorn; Tomeika Reed, cello; Silvia Bolognesi, bass; Jaribu Shahid, bass; Dudu Kouate, percussion), live, Italy (Cormòns), 2018
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
what’s new
Balún, “Vaivén”, “La Nueva Ciudad”, “El Espanto,” “Punto De Encuentro,” live, Washington, D.C., 12/20/19
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
like nobody else
Art Ensemble of Chicago (Roscoe Mitchell, 1940-, reeds, flute, percussion; Joseph Jarman, 1937-2019, reeds, flute, percussion; Lester Bowie, 1941-1999, trumpet, flugelhorn, MCOTD Hall of Fame; Malachi Favors, 1927-2004, bass, percussion, vocals; Don Moye, 1946-, drums, percussion), live, Germany (Hamburg), 1991
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
Culture’s beginnings:
from the heart of the country
rice-planting songs—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), from Narrow Road to the Interior (translated from Japanese by Sam Hamill)
timeless
Sarah Vaughan (1924-1990), “Misty” (E. Garner, J. Burke), live, Sweden (Stockholm), 1964
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
welcoming in loads
of new year’s rain . . .
trashy house—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue
sounds of London
Brilliant Corners, London, 2019
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
sounds of Paris, Havana, and all over
Cami Layé Okún (DJ), live, Paris, 2019
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
music clip of the day 