Happy (124th) Birthday, Duke!
Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington, April 29, 1899-May 24, 1974, pianist, composer, bandleader
“Black Beauty” (D. Ellington), two takes
Solo piano, rec. 1928 (New York)
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With his orchestra, rec. 1960 (Los Angeles)
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lagniappe
radio
All Duke, all day: WKCR-FM (Columbia University).
Happy (101st) Birthday, Charles!
Charles Mingus Sextet (CM, 4/22/1922–1/5/1979, bass, compositions; Eric Dolphy, 1928-1964, alto saxophone; Clifford Jordan, 1931-1993, tenor saxophone; Johnny Coles, 1925-1987, trumpet; Jaki Byard, 1922-1999, piano; Dannie Richmond, 1931-1988, drums), live, Belgium,* Norway,** Sweden,*** 1964
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lagniappe
radio
All Mingus, all day: WKCR-FM (Columbia University).
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reading table
This poem is not addressed to you.
You may come into it briefly,
But no one will find you here, no one.
You will have changed before the poem will.—Donald Justice (1925-2004), from “Poem”
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* “So Long Eric,” “Peggy’s Blue Skylight,” “Meditations on Integration”
** “So Long Eric,” “Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk,” “Parkeriana,” “Take The ‘A’ Train”
*** “So Long Eric” (performance and rehearsal), “Meditations on Integration” (performance and rehearsal)
this week in Chicago
They’re playing through Sunday at the Jazz Showcase.
Miguel Zenón (1976-, alto saxophone, composition) with Luis Perdomo (piano), Hans Glawischnig (bass), Henry Cole, (drums), “Taínos y Caribes” (M. Zenón), live (studio), 2022
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
passings
Ahmad Jamal, pianist, composer, July 2, 1930-April 18, 2023
With Israel Crosby (1919-1962, bass), Vernel Fournier (1928-2000, drums), live (TV show), 1959
“Darn That Dream” (J. Van Heusen, E. DeLange)
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“Ahmad’s Blues” (A. Jamal)
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From the New York Times obituary (4/16/23):
Bebop pianists, following the lead of Bud Powell, became known for their virtuosic flurries of notes. Mr. Jamal chose a different path, which proved equally influential.
The critic Stanley Crouch wrote that bebop’s founding father, Charlie Parker, was the only musician “more important to the development of fresh form in jazz than Ahmad Jamal.”
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In his early years, Mr. Jamal listened not just to jazz, which he preferred to call “American classical music,” but also to classical music of the non-American variety.
“We didn’t separate the two schools,” he told The New York Times in 2001. “We studied Bach and Ellington, Mozart and Art Tatum. When you start at 3, what you hear you play. I heard all these things.”
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Probably the best-known musician to cite Mr. Jamal as an influence was not a pianist but a trumpeter and bandleader: Miles Davis, who became close friends with Mr. Jamal, recorded his compositions and arrangements and would bring his sidemen to see Mr. Jamal perform. He once said, “All my inspiration comes from Ahmad Jamal.”
sounds of New York
Being and Becoming (Peter Evans, trumpet, compositions; Joel Ross, vibraphone; Nick Jozwiak, bass; Michael Ode, drums), live, New York (Roulette), 3/16/23
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lagniappe
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
passings
Wayne Shorter, saxophonist, composer, August 25, 1933–March 2, 2023
With Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers (AB, drums; WS, tenor saxophone; Lee Morgan, trumpet; Bobby Timmons, piano; Jymie Merritt, bass), “The Summit” (W. Shorter), live, Tokyo, 1961
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With the Miles Davis Quintet (MD, trumpet; WS, tenor saxophone; Herbie Hancock, piano; Ron Carter, bass; Tony Williams, drums), “Footprints” (W. Shorter), live, Sweden, 1967
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With his quartet (WS, tenor saxophone; Danilo Perez, piano; John Patitucci, bass; Brian Blade, drums), “Masqualero” (W. Shorter), live, Montreal, 2003
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
sounds of New York
Marc Ribot’s Spiritual Unity (1954-, guitar), Roy Campbell (1952-2014, trumpet, flugelhorn), Henry Grimes (1935-2020, bass, violin), Chad Taylor (1973-, drums), live, New York, 2007
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
sounds of Chicago
Sun Ra Arkestra (Sun Ra [1914-1993, keyboards, composition], et al.), “The Lady With the Golden Stockings” (aka “The Golden Lady”), c. 1958 (Chicago)
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Des Moines Art Center
Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988), Untitled (1984)
like nothing else
Live (performance begins at 4:30), New York and San Diego, 2/2/23
New York: Fay Victor (voice), Ingrid Laubrock (saxophone), Patricia Brennan (vibraphone)
San Diego: Michael Dessen (trombone), Joshua White (piano), Mark Dresser (bass), Gerald Cleaver (drums)
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
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reading table
We are the main character in the story of our life, and we claim our story is absolutely true, but it’s always edited, if not entirely false.
—author Aleksandar Hemon (1964-, interview), New City, February 2023
sounds of Chicago
Art Ensemble of Chicago (Roscoe Mitchell, reeds, percussion; Joseph Jarman, reeds, percussion; Lester Bowie [MCOTD Hall of Fame], trumpet, percussion; Malachi Favors, bass, percussion; Don Moye, drums, percussion), live (“We-Bop,” “Promenade,” “On the Cote Bamako,” “Bedouin Village,” “New York Is Full of Lonely People,” “New Orleans,” “Funky AECO,” “Theme [Odwalla]”), Chicago (Jazz Showcase), 1981
(Taking a day off.)
music clip of the day 