music clip of the day

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Category: horn

Tuesday, 7/24/12

George Lewis (1952-), “Will to Adorn” (2011)
International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Chicago, 2012

[W]hen writing “The Will To Adorn,” Lewis was especially “interested in this idea of adornment—color, color, color everywhere.” The piece represents Lewis’ current musical goal to get “more color energy into the pieces.”

Joe Bucciero, Columbia Spectator, 11/10/11

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lagniappe

musical thoughts

In February, when I left this concert, which took place on a Sunday afternoon at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, I felt both exhilarated and wistful. This performance, which had been such a joy to hear, I would never be able to experience again. Or so I thought, until, just the other day, I discovered this recording online. Young people, many of them, anyway, would see nothing remarkable in being able, thanks to the ’net, to return to a musical experience whenever, and wherever, you want. To me it seems a small miracle.

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reading table

I was trying to assert myself as the man in the house, taking charge of things no one could control.

—Richard Ford, Canada (2012)

Thursday, 4/26/12

Not even with all the fingers on all the hands of all the people in the city of Chicago could you count the possibilities offered by just three instruments.

Gyorgy Ligeti, Trio for Violin, Horn, and Piano (1982); Tomas Major (violin), Zora Sloka (horn), Denes Varjon (piano), 2009

Part 1

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Part 2

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lagniappe

art beat: Sunday at the Art Institute of Chicago

Robert Rauschenberg, Short Circuit, 1955

Tuesday, 3/13/12

Music doesn’t care who you are, where you come from, what you know. It asks only that you pay attention.

Stefan Wolpe (1902-1972), Piece in Three Parts for Piano and Sixteen Instruments (1961), Peter Serkin (piano), Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (Oliver Knussen, cond.)

More? Here.

Saturday, 12/10/11

If sounds define a space as much as walls and windows, you don’t need to knock out a wall to open up a room—just play this.

International Contemporary Ensemble with Steve Lehman
Impossible Flow (S. Lehman), live, New York (Le Poisson Rouge), 4/19/11

The moment this ends I want to hear it again. Is there any higher compliment?

More Steve Lehman? Here.

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lagniappe

reading table

A strange old man
Stops me,
Looking out of my deep mirror.

—Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (c. 662-710; trans. Kenneth Rexroth)

Friday, 10/14/11

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

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Part 2

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Part 3

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Part 4

More? Here. And here. And here. And here. And here.

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lagniappe

musical thoughts

Jazz is neither specific repertoire nor academic exercise . . . but a way of life.

—Lester Bowie

Saturday, 7/2/11

Here’s a different take—one deeply indebted to Lester Bowie—on the
brass band.

Dave Douglas & Brass Ecstasy
DD, trumpet; Louis Bonilla, trombone; Vincent Chancey, horn (AKA French horn); Marcus Rojas, tuba; Nasheet Waits, drums

“Bowie,” recording session (Spirit Moves, 2009)

Vodpod videos no longer available.

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“Spirit Moves,” “This Love Affair,” “Twilight of the Dogs”
Live, Washington, D.C., 2009

Vodpod videos no longer available.

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lagniappe

reading table

How can I possibly sleep
This moonlit evening?
Come, my friends,
Let’s sing and dance
All night long.

—Ryokan (1758-1831), trans. John Stevens

Wednesday, 4/14/10

Originally, Morton Feldman was commissioned to compose the score for the film [Something Wild], but when the director heard the music, he promptly withdrew his commission, opting to enlist Aaron Copland instead. The reaction of the baffled director [Jack Garfein] was said to be, ‘My wife is being raped and you write celesta music?’

Wikipedia

Morton Feldman, “Something Wild in the City: Mary Ann’s Theme,” 1960

Want more Morton Feldman? Here. Here. Here.