[D]ance first and think afterwards . . . . It’s the natural order.
—Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot (English-language premiere, 1955)
Al Minns & Leon James, New York (Savoy Ballroom, Harlem), 1950s
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lagniappe
art beat
Helen Levitt, New York, c. 1940
Happy Birthday, Max!
No drummer is more clear, more precise, more melodic.
Max Roach, January 10, 1924-August 16, 2007
“The Third Eye,” live
Vodpod videos no longer available.***
“The Drum Also Waltzes” (Drums Unlimited), 1966
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With Sonny Rollins (saxophone), “St. Thomas” (Saxophone Colossus), 1956
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With Clifford Brown (trumpet), “Sweet Clifford” (Brown and Roach Incorporated), 1955
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With Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet), Charlie Parker (saxophone), Bud Powell (piano), Charles Mingus (bass), “Salt Peanuts,” live, 1953
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musical thoughts
In this music, you have to find out who you are, what you feel, what you want to say. That’s one of the reasons that it’s so American. You have to be yourself.
That’s also one way jazz is different from classical music. In classical music, you learn to study and come up with the finest interpretation of a work that you can. That’s a different way of expressing your personality. You have to learn to use what’s written already to express yourself. In jazz, you have to learn to be who you are, and create the music from that.
—Max Roach (in Gene Santoro, Highway 61 Revisited [2004])
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radio
Today it’s all Max all day at WKCR-FM (broadcasting from Columbia University).
Talk about a one-two punch.
9/10
The MacArthur Foundation awards him a “genius grant.”
12/10
The Village Voice, in its annual Jazz Critics’ Poll, names his album Ten the year’s best.
Jason Moran (piano) and the Bandwagon (Tarus Mateen, bass; Nasheet Waits, drums), live, Virginia (Rosslyn), 9/11/10
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fathers and sons
While still a teenager, Moran began studying with Jaki Byard—a relationship that lasted four years.
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reading table
I’m interested in how close our orderly lives are to utter chaos.
—Scott Spencer
This guy moved to Chicago, after World War II, from Birmingham, Alabama.
The temperature outside, on this mid-December day, is 7 degrees.
Is it any wonder springtime meant so much?
Sun Ra And His Intergalactic Myth Science Solar Arkestra, “Springtime Again,” 1979
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Want more? Here.
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lagniappe
Happy (90th) Birthday to Clark Terry!
(Yo, Michael: Thanks for the tip!)
The history of jazz, I once thought (like a lot of folks), is a story of progress. The shift from swing to bebop, for example, wasn’t simply a change; it was an advance. What bunk.
Erskine Hawkins Orchestra, “Swinging in Harlem,” 1938
Here’s more from the city that does death like no other.
Funeral for Juanita Brooks, New Orleans, 2009
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lagniappe
Here’s a taste of the Syl Johnson show I recently saw.
Syl Johnson, “Same Kind of Thing,” live, Chicago, 11/27/10
Vodpod videos no longer available.Coolest guy on the planet?
Will Gaines (tap dance) with Steve Beresford (piano), Alex Ward (clarinet), live, London, 2009
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lagniappe
I tap-danced for ten years before I began to understand that people don’t make musicals anymore.
what’s new
(an occasional series)
Dad, listen to this . . .
—my (19-year-old) son Luke
Lupe Fiasco, “The Show Goes On” (2010)
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Take 2
Live, Georgetown University, 10/30/10: “Superstar,” “The Show Goes On” (’til he forgets the lyrics), back to “Superstar”
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More from Georgetown
“Hip-Hop Saved My Life”
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lagniappe
Interview (Tavis Smiley, 2008)
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listening room
Here, in MP3 format, is a track featuring a guy we listened to the other day: Cecil Taylor, with drummer Tony Williams (“Morgan’s Motion,” from Williams’ 1978 album The Joy of Flying).
ain’t no grave can hold . . .
Johnny Cash, “Ain’t No Grave,” 2003 (recorded), 2010 (released)
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lagniappe
The Johnny Cash Project is a global collective art project, and we would love for you to participate. Through this website, we invite you to share your vision of Johnny Cash, as he lives on in your mind’s eye. Working with a single image as a template, and using a custom drawing tool, you’ll create a unique and personal portrait of Johnny. Your work will then be combined with art from participants around the world, and integrated into a collective whole: a music video for “Ain’t No Grave,” rising from a sea of one-of-a-kind portraits.
Strung together and played in sequence over the song, the portraits will create a moving, ever evolving homage to this beloved musical icon. What’s more, as new people discover and contribute to the project, this living portrait will continue to transform and grow, so it’s virtually never the same video twice.
Ain’t No Grave is Johnny’s final studio recording. The album and its title track deal heavily with themes of mortality, resurrection, and everlasting life. The Johnny Cash Project pays tribute to these themes. Through the love and contributions of the people around the world that Johnny has touched so deeply, he appears once again before us.
The Johnny Cash Project is a visual testament to how the Man in Black lives on—not just through his vast musical legacy, but in the hearts and minds of all of us around the world he has touched with his talent, his passion, and his indomitable spirit. It is this spirit that is the lifeblood of The Johnny Cash Project. Thank you for helping Johnny’s spirit soar once more. God bless.
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reading table
Without trouble, there is no life.
—New Orleans restaurateur Provino Mosca, quoted in Calvin Trillin, U.S. Journal, “No Daily Specials,” New Yorker, 11/22/10
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radio
Happy Birthday, Hawk!
Today, Coleman Hawkins’ (106th) birthday, the folks at WKCR-FM (broadcasting from Columbia University) are celebrating in their usual way—playing his music all day (and then some [’til 9:30 a.m. tomorrow]).
When I heard Hawk I learned to play ballads.
music clip of the day 