only rock ‘n’ roll
Battles, “The Yabba,” live, New York, 2015
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lagniappe
reading table
And this brief Drama in the flesh –
—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), #279 (Franklin)
back to church
“Until I Die,” Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, N.C., 2001
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lagniappe
reading table
In a sense sickness is a place, more instructive than a long trip to Europe, and it’s a place where there’s no company, where nobody can follow.
—Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964), letter, 1956
It was, I recall, a cloudless morning in Chicago, as it was in New York. I had a hearing scheduled in federal court, but then, after the second plane hit, court was cancelled. We sat in front of the TV, unable to turn away.
William Basinski, “Disintegration Loop 1.1,” 2001
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lagniappe
reading table
Photograph from September 11
by Wislawa Szymborska (1923-2012, MCOTD Hall of Fame), translated from Polish by Clare Cavanagh and Stanislaw BaranczakThey jumped from the burning floors—
one, two, a few more,
higher, lower.The photograph halted them in life,
and now keeps them
above the earth toward the earth.Each is still complete,
with a particular face
and blood well hidden.There’s enough time
for hair to come loose,
for keys and coins
to fall from pockets.They’re still within the air’s reach,
within the compass of places
that have just opened.I can do only two things for them—
describe this flight
and not add a last line.
sounds of Norway
Maja Ratkje (voice, electronics) & Lasse Marhaug (electronics), live, Norway (Oslo), 2012
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lagniappe
reading table
Fragile the minutes. / Fragile the line between wonder / and woe.
—Linda Gregerson, “Pajama Quotient” (The Selvage)
tenor fest
day three
Sonny Rollins Trio (with Henry Grimes, bass; Joe Harris, drums), “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” (E. K. “Duke” Ellington), live, Sweden, 1959
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lagniappe
reading table
frogs sing, roosters sing
the east
turns light—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue
tenor fest
day two
Von Freeman (MCOTD Hall of Fame), live, New Apartment Lounge, Chicago
2010
***
2008
*****
Von Freeman, who was considered one of the finest tenor saxophonists in jazz but attained wide fame only late in life, died on Aug. 11 in Chicago. He was 88.
—New York Times obituary, 8/18/12
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lagniappe
reading table
A wounded Deer – leaps highest –
—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), #181 (Franklin)
tenor fest
day one
Dexter Gordon (1923-1990), “Blues Up and Down” (G. Ammons, S. Stitt), live, Denmark, 1967*
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lagniappe
reading table
Withered grass,
under piling
heat waves.—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), translated from Japanese by Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto
*****
*With Kenny Drew, piano; Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, bass; Albert “Tootie” Heath, drums.
back to church
St. Paul Baptist Church Hymn Choir (Lowrys, S.C.), “All I Do,” live, McConnells, S.C. (Mt. Do-Well Baptist Church), c. 2009
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lagniappe
reading table
In the name of the Bee –
And of the Butterfly –
And of the Breeze – Amen!—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), #23 (Franklin)
sounds of Iceland
Anna Thorvaldsdottir (1977-), Aura
NorthArc Percussion Group, live, Iceland (Reykjavik), 2012
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lagniappe
reading table
Even the crow
has a grove
to grow old in—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue
another take
These guys I could listen to all day.
Steve Lacy Quartet (SL [1934-2004], soprano saxophone; Bobby Few, piano; Jean Jacques Avenel, bass; John Betsch, drums), “Revenue,” live, 1995
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lagniappe
reading table
Escape is such a thankful Word
—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), #1364 (Franklin)
