Thursday, April 14th
more
Thelonious Monk (1917-1982, piano) with Philly Joe Jones (1923-1985, drums), et al., “Nutty,” (T. Monk) live, Paris, 1969
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random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Category: Paris
2022
Saturday, March 5th
alone
Anton Webern (1883-1945), Variations for piano, op. 27 (1936); Maurizio Pollini (1942-, piano), live, Paris, 2002
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
2022
Thursday, February 17th
sounds of Paris
Ensemble Intercontemporain (Matthias Pintscher, direction), live, Paris, 2015: Helmut Lachenmann (1935-), Mouvement (-Vor der Erstarrung), 1984
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lagniappe
reading table
A dry riverbed
glimpsed
by lightning.—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from the Japanese by Robert Hass
2022
Saturday, January 1st
like nobody else
James Brown (1933-2006), live, Paris, 1968
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
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reading table
You shout from the other room
You ask me how to spell boogie-woogie
And instantly I think what luck
no war has been declared
no fire has consumed
our city’s monuments
our bodies our dwellings
The river didn’t flood
no friends
have been arrested
It’s only boogie-woogie
I sigh relieved
and say it’s spelled just like it sounds
boogie-woogie
—Adam Zagajewski (1945–2021), “Boogie-Woogie” (translated from the Polish by Clare Cavanagh)
2021
Wednesday, December 22nd
sounds of Paris
Edgard Varèse (1883-1965), Intégrales (1923); Ensemble Intercontemporain (Tito Ceccherini, direction), live, Paris, 2015
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
2021
Friday, December 10th
only rock ‘n’ roll
Kinks, live, Paris, 1965
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
2021
Saturday, October 2nd
timeless
One-word review: Wow!
Claude Debussy (1862-1918), String Quartet in G minor (1893), 3rd Mvt.; Quatuor Ebène, live (90th birthday celebration for pianist Menahem Pressler [1923-]), Paris, 2013
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
A string of wild geese
wind-strewn
through the sky
their cries echoing
confused and scattered—Saigyō (1118-1190), translated from the Japanese by Meredith McKinney
2021
Sunday, September 19th
two takes
“Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” (trad.)
Sonja Maneri (1937-2021, voice), Mat Maneri (1969-, viola), live, published 2020
*****
Mat Maneri (viola), live, Paris, 2020
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lagniappe
random sights
a while ago, Ireland (Dingle Peninsula)
2021
Thursday, August 19th
sounds of Paris
Jaimie Branch’s Fly or Die (JB, trumpet, voice, compositions; Lester St. Louis, cello, voice; Anton Hatwich, bass, voice; Chad Taylor, drums, mbira), live, Paris, 7/12/21
first set
*****
second set
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Chicago (Columbus Park)
2021
Wednesday, August 11th
sounds of Paris
Yusef Lateef Quartet (YL, 1920-2013, flute; Kenny Barron, piano; Bob Cunningham, bass; Albert Heath, drums), “Yesterdays” (J. Kern), live, Paris, 1972
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
*****
reading table
This is a world of books gone flat.
—Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), from “Visits to St. Elizabeths”
music clip of the day 