passings
Sunny Murray, drummer, September 21, 1936-December 7, 2017
Sunny Murray Trio (SM, drums; Tony Bevan, saxophones; John Edwards, bass), live, London, 2010
**********
langiappe
musical thoughts
I wanted to get more from the beat than just the beat.
more
Miles Davis (with John Scofield, guitar; Darryl Jones, bass, et al.), live, Montreal, 1985
**********
lagniappe
reading table
“Living here is like a joke without a punch line.”
—Bulgarian bar owner, quoted in New York Times Book Review, 12/3/17, review of Border: Journey to the Edge of Europe
passings
Warren “Pete” Moore, singer (The Miracles, bass), songwriter, vocal arranger, producer, November 19, 1937-November 19, 2017
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (WPM, far left)
“Tracks of My Tears” (S. Robinson, P. Moore, M. Tarplin), 1965
***
“Ooo Baby Baby” (S. Robinson, P. Moore), 1965
*****
Jon Hendricks, singer, songwriter, September 16, 1921-November 22, 2017
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross (JH scats first), “Airegin” (S. Rollins), live, Newport, R.I., 1960
*****
Tommy Keene, singer, songwriter, guitarist, June 30, 1958-November 22, 2017
Live, New York, 1986
trumpet festival
day three
Lester Bowie (1941-1999), trumpeter—and so much more*
Lester Bowie Brass & Steel Band, live, Italy (Umbria), 1996
**********
lagniappe
reading table
Together, We All Go out under the Cypress Trees in the Chou Family Burial Grounds by T’ao Ch’ien (AKA T’ao Yuan-Ming), 365-427 A.D. (translated from Chinese by David Hinton)
Today’s skies are perfect for a clear
flute and singing koto. And touchedthis deeply by those laid under these
cypress trees, how could we neglect joy?Clear songs drift away anew. Emerald wine
starts pious faces smiling. Not knowingwhat tomorrow brings, it’s exquisite
exhausting whatever I feel here and now.
*****
Happy Thanksgiving!
This holiday, recovering from pneumonia, I’m more thankful than ever for family, for art, for poetry and, yes, for music.
*****
*Lester is a member of the MCOTD Hall of fame, along with saxophonists Von Freeman and Henry Threadgill; drummer Hamid Drake; gospel singer Dorothy Love Coates; composer Morton Feldman; poets John Berryman, William Bronk, and Wislawa Szymborska; and photographer Helen Levitt.
passings
Muhal Richard Abrams, September 19, 1930-October 29, 2017, pianist, composer, cofounder of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), educator—and arguably one of the most influential figures in American music of the last 50 years
Solo, “Improvisation for John,” New York, 2016
*****
Quintet (MRA, piano; Jonathan Finlayson, trumpet; Bryan Carrott, vibraphone; Leonard E. Jones, bass; Reggie Nicholson, drums), Italy (Milan), 2016
#1
#2
#3
#4
*****
With bassist Malachi Favors (1927-2004), Sightsong, 1976
*****
Talking, 2016
sounds of New York
I’ve been down with flu since Sunday. Encountering this last night, serendipitously, lifted me in ways only music can.
Retrograde (Matt LaVelle, trumpet, alto clarinet; Reggie Sylvester, drums), live, New York (First St. Green), 9/30/17
lagniappe
random thoughts
This world—the world one lives in, daily—is the most beautiful world one will live in, ever.
sounds of Amsterdam
Instant Composers Pool (ICP) Orchestra, live, Bogotá, Colombia, 9/19/17
**********
lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
more
Thelonious Monk Quartet (TM, piano; Charlie Rouse, tenor saxophone; Butch Warren, bass; Frankie Dunlop, drums), “Just a Gigolo” (I. Caesar, L. Casucci), “Bolivar Blues” (T. Monk), live, Tokyo, 1963
**********
lagniappe
art beat
Berenice Abbott (1898-1991), Designer’s Window, Bleecker Street, New York, 1947
what’s new
Magically Inclined (Sean Sonderegger, tenor saxophone, compositions; Curtis Fowlkes, trombone; Kamala Sankaram, voice; Harvey Valdes, guitar; Shawn Lovato, bass; Joe Hertenstein, drums), “anyone lived in a pretty how town” (words by E.E. Cummings), live, New York, 10/15/17
more
Thelonious Monk Quartet (TM, piano; Charlie Rouse, tenor saxophone; Butch Warren, bass; Frankie Dunlop, drums), “Evidence” (T. Monk), live, Tokyo, 1963
**********
lagniappe
art beat
Berenice Abbott (1898-1991), Fifth Ave., Nos. 4, 6, 8, New York, 1936
music clip of the day 