Tuesday, March 24th
can’t wait
This weekend they’ll be in Chicago, playing at Constellation.
Vijay Iyer Trio (VI, piano; Stephan Crump, bass; Marcus Gilmore, drums), Break Stuff, 2015
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Category: jazz
2015
Wednesday, March 18th
Feeling glum?
Not for long.
Jim Campilongo & Honeyfingers,* live, New York, 2013
*JC, guitar; Luca Benedetti, guitar; Jonny Lam, lap steel guitar; Catherine Popper, bass; Shawn Pelton, drums.
2015
Wednesday, March 4th
More of Cecil T.
Cecil Taylor, live, Switzerland (Montreux), 1974
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lagniappe
reading table
It is a very painful thing, having to part company with what torments you.
—Robert Walser (1878-1956), “Balloon Journey” (translated from German by Christopher Middleton)
2015
Tuesday, March 3rd
never enough
Thelonious Monk Quartet (TM, piano; Charlie Rouse, tenor saxophone; John Ore, bass; Frankie Dunlop, drums), “Nutty,” “Bemsha Swing,” “Epistrophy,” “Crepuscule with Nellie,” “I Mean You,” live (TV show), Netherlands, 1961
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lagniappe
art beat
William Klein (1928-), Baseball Cards, New York 1955
2015
Thursday, February 26th
Soundtrack for your day?
Peter Brotzmann Tentet,* live, Atlanta, 2002
*PB, reeds; Ken Vandermark, reeds; Mats Gustafsson, reeds; Mars Williams, reeds; Joe McPhee, trumpet; Jeb Bishop, trombone; Fred Longberg-Holm, cello; Kent Kessler, bass; Hamid Drake, drums; Michael Zerang, drums.
2015
Tuesday, February 24th
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
—Muhammad Ali
Cecil Taylor Quintet (CT, piano; Harri Sjostrom, soprano saxophone; Tristan Honsinger, cello; Thurman Barker, marimba, percussion; Paul Lovens, drums), live, Germany (Hamburg), 1995
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lagniappe
art beat
William Klein (1928-), Blacks + Pepsi (AKA Moves + Pepsi)
Harlem, New York, 1955
2015
Friday, January 23rd
More reasons to wonder: Where would we be without the saxophone?
Collective Identity Saxophone Quartet (Alex Harding, baritone; Jorge Sylvester & Bruce Williams, alto; Sam Newsome, soprano), live, New York, 10/11/14
2015
Thursday, January 22nd
my back pages
On this date in 1977, at a church thirty miles north of Chicago, amidst the cold and the snow and the dark, tenor saxophonist Von Freeman (1923-2012), a MCOTD Hall-of-Famer, played for a wedding. He was accompanied by pianist John Young (1922-2008). Here is how they sounded that night, as people were entering the church (0:15-, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “It Never Entered My Mind,” “More”), as the bride walked down the aisle (8:00-, “In a Sentimental Mood”), and as folks were leaving (10:20-, “My Favorite Things,” “Song for My Father”).
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Von Freeman
2015
Wednesday, January 21st
Open Minds: Chris Potter Underground (with CP, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet; Craig Taborn, keyboards; Adam Rogers, guitar; Nate Smith, drums), 2012
Music documentaries can go wrong in so many ways. Too much talk. Talk that reminds you, repeatedly, why musicians aren’t paid to speak. Mediocre sound. This one, which I bumped into yesterday, seems to avoid them all.
2015
Tuesday, January 20th
Need a jolt?
Brandon Lopez (bass), Tyshawn Sorey (drums), Chris Pitsiokos (alto saxophone), live, New York, 11/10/14
Talk about range. The piece we heard Saturday—the one with flute, violin, bass clarinet, and piano? It was composed by the drummer.
music clip of the day 