what’s new
How strange, and surprising, this word seems today—”fun.”
Emmet Cohen Trio (EC, piano; Russell Hall, bass; Kyle Poole, drums) featuring Cyrille Aimée (vocals), “La Vie En Rose” (E. Piaf, et al.), live, published 11/6/20
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago (Columbus Park)
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reading table
In cherry blossom
shadows, no one, really, is
a stranger now.—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by Sam Hamill
three more takes
“The Storm Is Passing Over” (C. Tindley, D. Vails)
Unidentified church and lead singer, 2011
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Randall Nunn, 2016
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Mt. Mary Primitive Baptist Church, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., 2011
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
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lagniappe
reading table
Clear sky—
the way I came by once
I now go back by.—Gitoku, 1754 (translated from Japanese; Yoel Hoffmann, Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death (1986))
sounds of Detroit
Detroit Mass Choir, “The Storm Is Passing Over” (C. Tindley, D. Vails), live, Detroit, 2001
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
*****
reading table
No matter how hard
I try, I can’t stop thinking
of my old village—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by Sam Hamill
sounds of Mexico
Son Rompe Pera, live (“Proteus,” “FOS,”” Reina de Cumbias,” “Ay David!,” “El Palo Poste”), Mexico City, published 10/17/20
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
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reading table
All I want
is not to befirst on one side,
then the other,but to conjure
a streamof sounds and images
for which I am notresponsible.
and maneuver within it—mouth and tail
one thought.—Rae Armantrout, from “Conjure” (Conjure, 2020)
never enough
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Cello Suite No. 1 in G major; Lucia Swarts (cello), live, Netherlands (Amsterdam), 2014
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lagniappe
random sights
a while ago, Ireland (Dingle Peninsula)
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reading table
This road—
no one goes down it,
autumn evening.—Matsuo Basho, 1644-1694 (translated from Japanese by Robert Hass)
Hop on this train; you won’t want to get off.
Steve Coleman and Five Elements (Steve Coleman, alto saxophone; Jen Shyu, vocals; Jonathan Finlayson, trumpet; Tim Albright, trombone; Reggie Washington, bass; Tyshawn Sorey, drums), live (performance begins at 2:10), France (Amiens), 2005
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
gathering dewdrops—
each one
the life of a daughter—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue
alone
Eva-Maria Houben (1955-), lines; R. Andrew Lee (piano), live, Denver, 3/8/17
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, outside Chicago (Salt Creek Trail)
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reading table
People are startled to discover
that their inner monologues
are ghost-written.—Rae Armantrout, from “Startle Reflex” (London Review of Books, 10/8/20)
sounds of Jamaica
Koffee, “Pressure” (remix feat. Buju Banton), 10/20/20
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
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reading table
We use similes to show
things are connected –and they are,
just not in the way we say.—Rae Armantrout, from “Finalist” (London Review of Books, 10/8/20)
what’s new
William Parker Trio (WP, bass; Ava Mendoza, guitar; Gerald Cleaver, drums), live (performance begins at 3:10), New York (live-streamed by Skopje Jazz Festival, North Macedonia), 10/15/20
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
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reading table
Now is the time to experiment, and there is no choice but to experiment.
—Gustavo Dudamel (1981-), Music & Artistic Director, Los Angeles Philharmonic (quoted in Alex Ross, “The L.A. Philharmonic’s Emotional Return to an Empty Hollywood Bowl,” New Yorker, 9/28/20)
what’s new
Ani DiFranco (1970-), “Do or Die” (A. DiFranco), 9/30/20
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lagniappe
reading table
I am speaking now
the way you do. I speak
because I am shattered.***
I became a criminal when I fell in love.
Before that I was a waitress.***
I’m sick of your world
that lets the outside disguise the inside.***
One of the few good things to say about old age is that you have a new experience. Diminishment is not everybody’s most anticipated joy, but there is news in this situation.
—Louise Glück (1943-, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature yesterday), from “The Red Poppy,” “Siren,” “Circe’s Power,” and an interview
