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
*****
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)
*****
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)
*****
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
*****
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
*****
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
Bach festival
day one
Violin Sonata No. 3 in C major, 3rd Movt. (Largo); Christian Tetzlaff (1966-, violin), Berlin, 2013
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, outside Chicago (Dean Nature Sanctuary, Oak Brook, Ill.)
*****
reading table
Just being alive!
—miraculous to be in
cherry blossom shadows!—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by Sam Hamill
sounds of Chicago
Garden of Souls (Nick Mazzarella, alto saxophone; Geof Bradfield, tenor saxophone; Joshua Abrams, bass; Mike Reed, drums), live, Chicago (Constellation), last night
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
passings
How should I not be glad to contemplate
the clouds clearing beyond the dormer window
and a high tide reflected on the ceiling?
There will be dying, there will be dying,
but there is no need to go into that.
The poems flow from the hand unbidden
and the hidden source is the watchful heart.
The sun rises in spite of everything
and the far cities are beautiful and bright.
I lie here in a riot of sunlight
watching the day break and the clouds flying.
Everything is going to be all right.—Derek Mahon (November 23, 1941-October 1, 2020), “Everything Is Going to Be All Right”
what’s new
Anderson .Paak (feat. Rick Ross), “Cut Em In,” 9/23/20
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, outside Chicago
*****
reading table
What makes anyone draw one line and then add another? How does the second affect the first and determine the character of a third or fourth?
—Peter Schjeldahl, “Lineage: French drawings from the nineteenth century,” New Yorker, 9/14/20
music clip of the day 