two takes
The Mighty Clouds of Joy, “I Made A Step,” live
Switzerland (Montreux Jazz Festival), 1981
Vodpod videos no longer available.***
Nashville, 2005
Vodpod videos no longer available.**********
lagniappe
Greatest musical intersection in the world?
Chicago’s South Side, W. 36th St. (Honorary Sam Cooke Way, as of this month) and S. Cottage Grove Ave. (Honorary Albertina Walker & The Caravans Drive)
Photo credit: Bob Marovich, The Black Gospel Blog
favorites
(an occasional series)
She’s going to be a big star someday.
Nneka, live
Vodpod videos no longer available.(Originally posted 2/15/11.)
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It used to be that music came from a particular place. No more. Whether it’s Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi (the Iranian saxophonist who’s lived in Germany, in Japan, and now in New York City [2/18/10]), or Burkina Electric (whose members come from Burkina Faso, from Germany, and from New York City [by way of Austria] [2/22/10]), or this singer, who’s lived (and has homes) in Nigeria and in Germany, much of today’s most intriguing music has its ears and heart and feet on more than one continent.
Nneka, “Heartbeat”
Take 1: recording/video
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Take 2: live, Philadelphia, 2009
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Take 3: J. Period Remix, featuring Talib Kweli
(Originally posted 2/27/10.)
Today we remember him with a mix of new clips and old favorites.
Gil Scott-Heron, April 1, 1949-May 27, 2011
new clips
“The Bottle,” live, Jamaica (Montego Bay, Reggae Sunsplash), 1983
Cool Runnings: The Reggae Movie (1983)
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“We Almost Lost Detroit,” live, Austria (Vienna), 2010
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Interview, England (London), 2010
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old favorites
Here’s a voice I didn’t know if I’d ever hear again.
Gil Scott-Heron, I’m New Here (out this week)
“Where Did The Night Go” (Gil Scott-Heron)
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“Me And The Devil” (Robert Johnson)
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lagniappe
I’ve had bad times in my life when I’d rather be somewhere else doing something else, for sure. But you get to my age, that shit happens. You get in trouble; you maybe lose some folks—a parent or a friend. Maybe your marriage breaks up, you lose your wife, lose touch with your kid. But what life does not have those things in it?—Gil Scott-Heron (in yesterday’s Guardian)
(Orignially posted 2/8/10.)
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I’m the person I see least of over the course of my life, and even what I see is not accurate.
—Gil Scott-Heron (New Yorker, 8/9/2010 [Alec Wilkinson, “New York Is Killing Me”])
Gil Scott-Heron, “I’m New Here” (2010)
(Originally posted 8/24/10.)
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It’s a remix world.
Gil Scott-Heron, “New York Is Killing Me” (2010), Chris Cunningham remix
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lagniappe
Here’s the original track, followed by a couple more remixes.
Vodpod videos no longer available.***
With Nas
Vodpod videos no longer available.***
With Mos Def
Vodpod videos no longer available.**********
langiappe
musical thoughts
In the dark times, will there also be singing? Yes, there will be singing. About the dark times.
—Bertolt Brecht
(Originally posted 12/16/10.)
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langiappe
remembrances
Richard Russell (XL Recordings; produced and released GSH’s last album)
scenes from New Orleans
(an occasional series)
Small room, deep pocket.
George Porter (bass), Ivan Neville (vocals, keyboards), June Yamagishi (guitar), Johnny Vidacovich (drums), with guest Corey Glover (vocals)
“Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone,” live, New Orleans (Maple Leaf Bar), 5/4/11
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Johnny Vidacovich, New Orleans drummer & teacher (Brian Blade, Stanton Moore, et al.), playing and talking (street rhythms, clave, New Orleans drummers, drum tree, etc.)
#1 (clinic)
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#2 (with Stanton Moore)
More Johnny V? Here.
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radio
Today and tomorrow, from 3 p.m. to midnight (EST), WFMU-FM will be broadcasting live sets from Barcelona’s Primavera Sound Festival—Pere Ubu, Swans, Animal Collective, et al.
Who else (besides, of course, Bob Dylan) has played so many different roles so brilliantly?
Miles Davis (with Robben Ford & guest Carlos Santana, guitars), “Burn”
Live, Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, 6/15/86
Listen to stuff long enough and it changes—or you do, anyway. Once I might have faulted this for being repetitive. But that’s a bit like faulting roast beef for being meat. Of course it’s repetitive. That’s part of what makes it soar.
More? Here.
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lagniappe
listening room: what’s playing
• Rashied Ali Quintet, Live In Europe (Survival Records)
• Paul Motian (with Chris Potter, Jason Moran), Lost In A Dream (ECM)
• Charlie Parker, The Complete Royal Roost Live Recordings on Savoy, Vol. 3 (Columbia Japan)
• Eric Dolphy At The Five Spot, Vol. 2 (with Booker Little, Mal Waldron, Richard Davis, Ed Blackwell; Prestige)
• Various Artists, Fire In My Bones: Raw + Rare + Other-Worldly African-American Gospel (1944-2007) (Tompkins Square)
• Reverend Charlie Jackson, God’s Got It: The Legendary Booker and Jackson Singles (CaseQuarter)
• Group Doueh, Guitar Music from the Western Sahara (Sublime Frequencies)
• Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 8 in A Minor, Helene Grimaud, Resonances (Deutsche Grammophon)
• Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 (“Appasionata”) and No. 29 (“Hammerklavier”), Solomon, The Master Pianist (EMI Classics)
• Anton Webern: String Quartet, Six Bagatelles for String Quartet, String Quartet Op. 28, LaSalle Quartet (Brilliant Classics)
• Arnold Schoenberg: String Quartet in D major, LaSalle Quartet (Brilliant Classics)
• Roger Sessions: String Quartet No. 2, Julliard String Quartet (Composers Recordings)
• Morton Feldman: For Bunita Marcus, John Tilbury, Morton Feldman, All Piano (London HALL)
• WKCR-FM (broadcasting from Columbia University)
—Bird Flight (Phil Schaap, jazz [Charlie Parker])
—Morning Classical (Various)
—Amazing Grace (Various)
• WFMU-FM
—Mudd Up! (DJ/Rupture, “new bass and beats”)
—Sinner’s Crossroads (Kevin Nutt, gospel)
—Give The Drummer Some (Doug Schulkind, sui generis)
—Fool’s Paradise (Rex, sui generis)
—Transpacific Sound Paradise (Rob Weisberg, “popular and unpopular music from around the world”)
If you were 23 (like my son Alex), this might be your favorite band too.
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
Live, Chicago (Lincoln Hall), 4/27/11
“Belong”
Vodpod videos no longer available.***
“Heart In Your Heartbreak”
Vodpod videos no longer available.***
“Everything With You”
Vodpod videos no longer available.can’t wait
(an occasional series)
Group Doueh, Chicago (Old Town School of Folk Music), 6/26/11
Live, Europe, 2009
Vodpod videos no longer available.***
Doueh (guitar), Tony Allen (drums)
Live, rehearsal, Western Sahara (Dakhla), 2010
More Group Doueh? Here. More Tony Allen? Here.
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lagniappe
I live in Dakhla [in Western Sahara]. There are other groups in the area, but Group Doueh is the main group for this area. We are the most in demand group for weddings and parties.
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The power of Jimi Hendrix’s guitar is something that is inspirational on so many levels.
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The main group is myself on guitar and tinidit. My wife Halima and friend Bashiri are the vocalists. My son Jamal is the keyboardist. There are also many percussionists that play with us from time to time. Also other singers will perform with us depending on who is available for certain weddings or parties.
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For many years, most of our material was recorded on cassette. I have had many cassette recorders, some two-track, four-track and eight-track models. Now I am able to record digitally to a 16-track model. I am always experimenting to get the best situation. We always record at home and we record all of our performances.
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[T]here really is no [music] industry [in Western Sahara]. I am an industry unto myself. I record music and have two shops that sell music to the community. Most of the recordings are done at home in makeshift studios, and cassettes or CDs are sold throughout the region.
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art beat: yesterday at the Art Institute of Chicago
Paul Cezanne, The Bay of Marselleilles, Seen From L’Estaque, c. 1885
The greatest jazz musicians—Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, Von Freeman, et al.—can be identified by just one note. Cezanne’s that way, too. His blues are all his own.
what’s new
an occasional series
The future of hip-hop?
Odd Future (with The Roots), “Sandwitches,” live (TV broadcast), 2/16/11
Vodpod videos no longer available.**********
lagniappe
reading table
The bad news is the ship hasn’t arrived;
the good news is it hasn’t left yet.—John Ashbery, “He Who Loves And Runs Away” (excerpt; Planisphere [2009])
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radio
WKCR-FM (broadcasting from Columbia University) will be playing the music of jazz violinist Billy Bang, who died Monday night, all day.
Big Jack Johnson, July 30, 1940-March 14, 2011
Live (Deep Blues, 1992)
“Catfish Blues”
Vodpod videos no longer available.***
“Daddy, When Is Mama Coming Home”
Vodpod videos no longer available.**********
lagniappe
art beat
American Modern: Abbott, Evans, Bourke-White
Art Institute of Chicago (through 5/15/11)
Walker Evans, Barbershops, Vicksburg, Mississippi (1936)
Have you heard of Brandt Brauer Frick?
—Rachael Z., the 20-something stylist who cuts my hair
The Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble, live (rehearsal), Germany (Berlin), 2010
Vodpod videos no longer available.**********
lagniappe
reading table
Teenager
Me — a teenager?
If she suddenly stood, here, now, before me,
would I need to treat her as near and dear,
although she’s strange to me, and distant?Shed a tear, kiss her brow
for the simple reason
that we share a birthdate?So many dissimilarities between us
that only the bones are likely still the same,
the cranial vault, the eye sockets.Since her eyes seem a little larger,
her eyelashes are longer, she’s taller
and the whole body is closely sheathed
in smooth, unblemished skin.Relatives and friends still link us, it is true,
but in her world almost all are living,
while in mine almost no one survives
from that shared circle.We differ so profoundly,
talk and think about completely different things.
She knows next to nothing —
but with a doggedness deserving better causes.
I know much more —
but nothing for sure.She shows me poems,
written in a clear and careful script
that I haven’t used for years.I read the poems, read them.
Well, maybe that one
if it were shorter
and fixed in a couple of places.
The rest do not bode well.The conversation stumbles.
On her pathetic watch
time is still cheap and unsteady.
On mine it’s far more precious and precise.Nothing in parting, a fixed smile
and no emotion.Only when she vanishes,
leaving her scarf in her haste.A scarf of genuine wool,
in colored stripes
crocheted for her
by our mother.I’ve still got it.
—Wislawa Szymborska (trans. Clare Cavanagh & Stanisław Barańczak; Here [2010])
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five desert-island poets
music clip of the day 