Who needs coffee?
Johnny Griffin Quartet (JG, tenor saxophone; Ronnie Matthews, piano; Ray Drummond, bass; Kenny Washington, drums), live, New York, 1981
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lagniappe
reading table
when cherry blossoms
scatter . . .
no regrets—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by David Lanoue
sounds of joy
Tenor saxophonists Arnett Cobb (1918-1989; 00:44-), Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis (1922-1986; 02:32-), Johnny Griffin (1928-2008; 04:34-), “Lester Leaps In” (L. Young), live, Netherlands (Laren), 1984
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lagniappe
reading table
Even in the midst of trials and tribulations we still have joy.
—Pastor Norvel Goff, Sr., Sunday service, Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Charleston, S.C., 2015 (New Yorker, 9/28/15)
This sound-world I could inhabit, happily, all weekend.
Gérard Grisey (1946-1998), Vortex Temporum (1994-96)
Ensemble Sonorama, live, Argentina (Buenos Aires), 2013
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lagniappe
reading table
When we recognize we ‘think again’
without knowing what or if
we thought before.—Rae Armantrout, “Fusion,” excerpt (New Yorker, 3/7/16)
timeless
One of my favorite ballads.
“I Can’t Get Started” (V. Duke & I. Gershwin), Art Blakey (drums), John Gilmore (tenor saxophone), Lee Morgan (trumpet), John Hicks (piano), Victor Sproles (bass), live (TV show), London, 1964
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lagniappe
reading table
What I try to do is not miss anything.
—Cubs manager Joe Maddon, on his goal at work each day
sounds of Chicago
Staple Singers, “More Than a Hammer and Nails,” live (Johnny Cash Show), 1971
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lagniappe
reading table
He who obtains has little. He who scatters has much.
—Lao Tzu (c. 5th century B.C.)
sounds of Morocco
Mahmoud Guinia (1951-2015), gimbri (aka guembri, sintir), live, Morocco (Marrakesh), 2015
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lagniappe
reading table
Four negatives make a positive.
—John Ashbery (1927-), “The Pie District” (excerpt), Breezeway (2015)
sounds of Ireland
“The Bucks of Oranmore,” “Come West Along the Road,” live, Dublin (The Ferryman Pub), St. Patrick’s Day, 2011
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lagniappe
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The narrative got punctured.
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. . . picking up crumbs like there was no tomorrow, which
there isn’t.—John Ashbery (1927-), “Tall Order” (excerpts), Breezeway (2015)
another take
Africa Express, “Terry Riley’s In C Mali,” live, London (Tate Modern), 2014
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lagniappe
reading table
I wouldn’t try to capture it
on the page, or in a blog, the inauspicious
leavings of a day. Closer to dream
than the hum of streets, and people
who once walked along them.—John Ashbery (1927-), “Gravy for the Prisoners,” excerpt (Breezeway, 2015)
sounds of Chicago
Thompson Community Singers, “Christ Is the Answer,” TV show (Jubilee Showcase), 1960s
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lagniappe
reading table
I stepped from Plank to Plank
A slow and cautious way
The Stars about my Head I felt
About my Feet the Sea –I knew not but the next
Would be my final inch –
This gave me that precarious Gait
Some call Experience –—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), #926 (Franklin)
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I’m taking a break—back in a while.
testify!
Inez Andrews (1929-2012), James Cleveland (1931-1991), “I Appreciate,” live
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lagniappe
reading table
Don’t you love the Oxford dictionary? When I first read it I thought it was a really really long poem about everything.
—David Bowie (1947-2016)
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random thoughts
Note to self: Incline, always, toward the light.
music clip of the day 