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
***
“I Can’t Get Started” (V. Duke, I. Gershwin), live, Belgium, 1992
***
“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)
*****
*****
tonight in Chicago
They’re playing at Constellation.
Trio WAZ (Edward Wilkerson Jr., tenor saxophone; Tatsu Aoki, bass; Michael Zerang, drums), live, Lakeside, Mich., 2010
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lagniappe
art beat: yesterday, Art Institute of Chicago
Yoshida Hiroshi (1876-1950), Kagurazaka Street After a Night Rain, 1929
passings
Best minute of music you’ll hear all month?
Willie Pickens, April 18, 1931-December 13, 2017, pianist, educator
“Giant Steps” (J. Coltrane), live, Chicago, 2012
passings
Sunny Murray, drummer, September 21, 1936-December 7, 2017
Sunny Murray Trio (SM, drums; Tony Bevan, saxophones; John Edwards, bass), live, London, 2010
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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
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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
