sounds of New York
Herbie Nichols Trio (HN, 1919-1963, piano; Al McKibbon, bass; Art Blakey, drums), “The Third World” (H. Nichols), 1955
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lagniappe
random sights
other morning, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
musical thoughts
Thank you all for listening. Your open ears, open minds, and open hearts are essential to resisting the gathering darkness of our times.
—composer John Luther Adams, 2/18/20 email
what’s new
One-word review: Wow!
Fay Victor (vocals), Baba Israel (vocals), Marc Ribot (guitar), Ingrid Laubrock (tenor saxophone), Kris Davis (piano), live (Celebration of the Life of Steve Dalachinsky), New York (Winter Jazz Fest), 1/11/19
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
*****
reading table
I speak across the vast
Dialogues in which we go
To clench my words against
Time or the lack of time
Hoping that for a moment
They will become for me
A place I can think in
And think anything in,
An aside from the monstrous.***
This is no other place
Than where I am, between
This word and the next.—W. S. Graham (1918-1986), from “The Dark Dialogues”
sounds of New York
Lei Liang (1972-), Ascension (for brass quintet and percussion, 2008); Andy Kozar (trumpet), Gareth Flowers (trumpet), David Byrd-Marrow (horn), William Lang (trombone), Dan Peck (tuba), Russell Greenberg (percussion), live, New York, 2016
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
sounds of New York
More of one of my favorite drummers—again at the Village Vanguard.
Ed Blackwell (drums, 1929-1992) with Mal Waldron (1925-2002, piano), Charles Rouse (1924-1988, tenor saxophone), Woody Shaw (1944-1989, flugelhorn), Reggie Workman (1937-, bass), “Git Go” (M. Waldron, excerpt), live, New York (Village Vanguard), 1985
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
*****
reading table
Do you imagine that writers speak ‘as themselves’? No such selves exist.
—Peter Schjeldahl, “The Art of Dying,” New Yorker, 12/23/19
like nobody else
Nina Simone (1933-2003, vocals, piano), “Wild Is the Wind” (D. Tiomkin, N. Washington), live, New York, 1964
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
The challenge: balance. Keep it steady,
now sniffing daffodils’ aroma,
now Googling a rare sarcoma.—Rachel Hadas (1948-), from “Love and Dread” (New Yorker, 11/18/19)