How about two minutes of joy?
Felix Quartet (Michael Moore, alto saxophone; Wolter Weirbos, trombone; Wilbert de Joode, bass; Michael Vatcher, drums), live, 2017
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lagniappe
reading table
That gorgeous kite
rising
from the beggar’s shack.—Kobayashi Issa, 1763-1827 (translated from Japanese by Robert Hass)
tonight in Chicago
They’ll be playing at Constellation.
The Thing (Mats Gustafsson, baritone saxophone; Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, bass; Paal Nilssen-Love, drums), live, London, 2010
#1
#2
spring!
Blossom Dearie (1924-2009; vocals, piano), “They Say It’s Spring” (M. Clark, B. Haymes), 1958
*****
Bob Dorough (1923-; vocals, piano), “Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most” (T. Wolf, F. Landesman), 1997
*****
Sun Ra Arkestra (SR, 1914-1993, piano; June Tyson, vocals; John Gilmore, tenor saxophone, et al.), “Springtime Again” (S. Ra), live, Rome, 1980
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lagniappe
reading table
First day of spring—
I keep thinking about
the end of autumn.—Matsuo Basho, 1644-1694 (translated from Japanese by Robert Hass)
The lights are going out
in the doll shops—
spring rain.—Yosa Buson, 1716-1784 (translated from Japanese by Robert Hass)
Not very anxious
to bloom,
my plum tree.—Kobayashi Issa, 1763-1827 (translated from Japanese byRobert Hass)
voices I miss
Betty Carter (1929-1998) with Gerri Allen (piano), Dave Holland (bass), Jack DeJohnette (drums), “Giant Steps” (J. Coltrane), live, Germany (Hamburg), 1993
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lagniappe
random sights
last night, Chicago (West Diversey)
trumpet festival
day three
Wadada Leo Smith’s Golden Quartet (WLS, trumpet, compositions; Anthony Davis, piano; John Lindberg, bass; Pheeroan akLaff, drums), “Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, 381 Days,” live, Spain (San Sebastian), 2014
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill. (Oak Park Conservatory)
trumpet festival
day one
Nate Wooley Quartet (NW, trumpet, compositions; Chris Pitsiokos, alto saxophone; Brandon Lopez, bass; Dre Hocevar, drums), live, New York, 2016
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago (Garfield Park Conservatory)
sounds of New York
Jaimie Branch’s Fly or Die (JB, trumpet, compositions; Tomeka Reid, cello; Jason Ajemian, bass; Chad Taylor, drums), live, New York (Rye Bar, Brooklyn), 2016
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Improvised music is like basketball: a great player makes everybody better.
*****
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
more
No one plays ballads more tenderly—or tartly.
Von Freeman (MCOTD Hall of Fame, 1923-2012), “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” (E. Maschwitz & M. Sherwin) with Jodie Christian (piano), Rufus Reid (bass), Jack DeJohnette (drums), live, Harrisburg, Penn., 1994
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“I Can’t Get Started” (V. Duke, I. Gershwin), live, Belgium, 1992
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“Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” (R. Rodgers, L. Hart) with Mike Allemena (guitar), Matt Ferguson (bass), Michael Raynor (drums), live, Chicago (Mandel Hall, University of Chicago), 2011
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
voices I miss
Von Freeman (MCOTD Hall of Fame), tenor saxophonist, 1923-2012
“Oleo” (S. Rollins) with Clifford Jordan (tenor saxophone), Willie Pickens (piano), Dan Shapera (bass), Robert Shy (drums), Chicago (Chicago Jazz Festival), 1988
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“Take the ‘A’ Train” (B. Strayhorn) with Joanie Pallatto (vocals), Bettye Reynolds (vocals), Fred Anderson (tenor saxophone), Billy Brimfield (trumpet), John Young (piano), George Freeman (guitar), Larry Gray (bass), Michael Adams (drums), live, Chicago, 1999
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lagniappe
my back pages
On a cold, snowy night forty-one years ago, at a church thirty miles north of Chicago, Von Freeman and John Young played at our—Suzanne’s and my—wedding. All of what they played that night—”Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “It Never Entered My Mind,” “More” (before); “In a Sentimental Mood” (as Suzanne walked down the aisle); “My Favorite Things,” “Song for My Father” (after)—can be heard here (0:15-). Years later, John told me: “When I marry ’em, they stay married.”
more
Steve Lacy Quartet (SL, soprano saxophone; Bobby Few, piano; Jean Jacques Avenel, bass; John Betsch, drums), “Revenue” (S. Lacy), live , 1995
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, San Francisco (Balmy Alley, Valencia St., City Lights Bookstore)
*****
*****
music clip of the day 