serenade to the President-elect
Public Enemy, “Ball of Confusion”/”Arizona”/”Fight the Power,” live, Australia (Sydney), 2008
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lagniappe
art beat: early September, Whitney Museum of American Art (New York)
Danny Lyon (1942-), Arrest of Taylor Washington, Atlanta, 1963
career plans for the next life
If none of those other things work out (tap dancer, rubboard player in a zydeco band, bass player in a reggae band, guitar player in a Malian band, cellist in a string quartet, bird), maybe I’ll be an accordionist.
Dre Hocevar Collective Effervescence,* live, New York, 2016
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*DH, drums; Elias Stemeseder, accordion; Chris Pitsiokos, alto saxophone; Lester St. Louis, cello; Philip White, electronics.
sounds of India
I don’t understand a single word. No matter. Rapport, spontaneity, immediacy—these I grasp.
Bhimsen Joshi (right) & Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna (left)
Rag Yaman Kalyan, live
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, New York (Central Park)
two takes
“Death Letter” (aka “Death Letter Blues”) (S. House)
Cassandra Wilson, live, Spain (Vitoria-Gasteiz), 2005
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Son House (1902-1988), live (TV show)
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, New York (Harlem)
energy + density + clarity = ?
Mary Halvorson (guitar), Weasel Walter (drums), live, New York, 2016
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, New York (Central Park)
This I could listen to all day.
John Cage (1912-1992), Dream (1948)
Anton Batagov (1965-, piano), live, Moscow, 2014
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Museum of Modern Art (New York)
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906), Pines and Rocks, c. 1897
Why not start the week with something slow, spare, spacious?
Ann Southam (1937-2010), Simple Lines of Enquiry (2008); R. Andrew Lee (piano), live, Kansas City, Mo., 2012
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, New York (Central Park)
back to church
Mt. Do-Well Baptist Church Hymn Choir, “That Morning Train”
Live, Mt. Do-Well Baptist Church, McConnells, S.C., 2006
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, New York (Central Park)
never enough
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor
Jonathan Biss, live, New York, 2011
One of the things I admire about this performance is its immediacy: it feels not like recitation but spontaneous utterance.
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lagniappe
reading table
One insect
asleep on a leaf
can change your life—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), translated from Japanese by David Young
sounds of India and New York
Here’s one of the performers at this year’s Ragas Live Festival, which begins at noon, at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, and goes until noon tomorrow. It’s being streamed—all 24 hours—on WKCR (Columbia University).
Pandit Krishna Bhatt (sitar) with Pandit Anindo Chatterjee (tabla), Margherita Marincola (tanpura); Raga Kafi, live, New York, 2014
music clip of the day 