mesmerizing
John Luther Adams (1953-), Four Thousand Holes (2010)
Taka Kigawa (piano), Chris Graham (percussion), live, New York, 2017
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lagniappe
reading table
This road—
no one goes down it,
autumn evening.—Matsuo Basho, 1644-1694 (translated from Japanese by Robert Hass)
what’s new
Here’s something from Roscoe Mitchell’s new album, Bells for the South Side (ECM), a 2-CD set recorded in 2015 at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art.
“Spatial Aspects of the Sound,” Roscoe Mitchell (composition, piccolo), Craig Taborn (piano), Tyshawn Sorey (piano), William Winant (percussion), Kikanju Baku (wrist bells, ankle bells)
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, outside Chicago (Salt Creek Trail)
like nobody else
Anthony Braxton Accelerator Ghost Trance Septet (AB, reeds, composition; Taylor Ho Bynum, trumpet, flugelhorn; Jessica Pavone, viola; Chris Dahlberg, bass, cello; Mary Halvorson, guitar; Jay Rozen, tuba; Aaron Siegel, drums, percussion, vibraphone), live, Spain (San Sebastian), 2008
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, outside Chicago (Forest Park)
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random thoughts
Aging criminal-defense lawyer’s retirement plan: drop dead at my desk.
What we need—now more than ever.
Clickety Clack! Clickety Clack!
What is this madness that Nixon has put upon us?
Clickety Clack! Clickety Clack!
Won’t someone bring the spirit back?—Rahsaan Roland Kirk (1935-1977), 1973
Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Bright Moments, recorded live (San Francisco), 1973*
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*Track list (courtesy of YouTube):
A1. Introduction
2. Pedal Up
3. You’ll Never Get To Heaven
4. Clickety Clack
5. Prelude To A Kiss
6. Talk (Electric Nose)
7. Fly Town Nose Blues
B1. Talk (Bright Moments)
2. Bright Moments Song
3. Dem Red Beans And Rice
4. If I Loved You
5. Talk (Fats Waller)
6. Jitterbug Waltz
7. Second Line Jump
How about a trip to Prague?
Cesare Tedesco (handpan), live, Prague (Charles Bridge), 2016
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Whitney Museum of American Art (New York)
Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), Woman and Bicycle, 1952-53
sounds of New York
Eli Keszler & So Percussion, “Archway,” New York, 2013
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lagniappe
reading table
“I shouldn’t have to see the pain, struggle and despair of homeless people to and from my way to work every day.”
—Daniel Duane, “The Tent Cities of San Francisco” (quoting Justin Keller), New York Times, 12/18/16
This I could listen to all day.
Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996), Rain Tree (1981); Bard Percussion (Amy Garapic, vibraphone; Petra Elek, marimba; Zihan Yi, marimba), live, Annandale-on-Hudson (Bard College), New York, 2012
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago (Columbus Park)
*****
reading table
We see with memory. My memory is different from yours, so if we’re both standing in the same place we’re not quite seeing the same thing. Different individuals have different memories, therefore other elements are playing a part. Whether you have been in a place before will affect you, and how well you know it. There’s no objective vision ever—ever.
—David Hockney (1937-), A Bigger Message: Conversations with David Hockney (Martin Grayford)
sounds of New York
As funky as it is abstract, as abstract as it is funky—like life itself.
Farmers by Nature (Craig Taborn, piano; William Parker, bass; Gerald Cleaver, drums), live, Paris, 2011
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Whitney Museum of American Art (New York)
Stuart Davis (1892-1964), Landscape with Garage Lights, 1931-32 (Stuart Davis: In Full Swing, through 9/25/16)
more
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), For Philip Guston (1984); Either/OR (Richard Carrick, piano/celesta; Margaret Lancaster, flutes; David Shively, percussion), live, Philadelphia, 2015
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lagniappe
reading table
flitting butterfly–
every corner of my hut
is inspected—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827; translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue)
Close your eyes.
Listen—just listen.
If you don’t have time for this, what do you have time for?
Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996), From me flows what you call Time (1990); La Jolla Symphony (Steven Schick, cond.), live, San Diego, 2008
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lagniappe
reading table
Come, see
real flowers
of this painful world.—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), translated from Japanese by Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto
music clip of the day 