Now, unlike then—sixty years ago—we know so much more about others . . . . [t]hough, of course, we know not much more of the important things—what’s in others’ hearts; and if their hearts are broken or damaged or full.
Chicago Underground Duo (Rob Mazurek, cornet, electronics, voice; Chad Taylor, drums, mbira, electronics), live (music begins at 4:30), Italy (Venice), 2013
(This clip, alas, has some glitches: at 56:15 both the sound and the picture drop out, returning, with just one of two audio channels, at 58:46.)
Compared to one’s normal clothes, pajamas
are just as caricature as the dreams
they bare: farce-skins, facades, unserious
soft versions of the modediem, they seem
to have come from a posthumousness;
floppy statues of ourselves, slack seams
of death. Their form mimics the decay
that will fit us so comfortably someday.
Mike Reed’s People, Places & Things (MR, drums; Jason Roebke, bass; Greg Ward, alto saxophone; Tim Haldeman, tenor saxophone), “Wilbur’s Tune,” live, Paris, 2010
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Mike Reed’s Myth/Science Assembly (MR, drums; Tomas Fujiwara, drums; Josh Abrams, bass; Greg Ward, alto saxophone; Ingrid Laubrock, tenor saxophone; Taylor Ho Bynum, trumpet; Mary Halvorson, guitar; Tomeka Reid, cello; Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone; Nick Butcher, electronics), live (rearranging a found Sun Ra fragment [excerpt]), Chicago (Chicago Jazz Festival), 2011
***
Mike Reed’s Loose Assembly (MR, drums; Josh Abrams, bass; Greg Ward, alto saxophone; Tomeka Reid, cello; Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone), live (studio performance), Chicago, c. 2009
*****
If other Chicago musicians are “busy,” what’s Mike Reed? In addition to leading various groups, he owns and operates Constellation, a performing arts center. Then there’s the Pitchfork Music Festival, which this summer will feature, over the course of three days, Beck, Giorgio Moroder, Kendrick Lamar, Grimes, et al. Hebooks and produces it.