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Category: piano

Wednesday, January 22nd

my back pages

On a cold, snowy night forty-eight years ago, at a church thirty miles north of Chicago, my wife, Suzanne, and I were married. Tenor saxophonist Von Freeman (1923-2012, MCOTD Hall of Fame) and pianist John Young (1922-2008) provided the music, playing before the ceremony (“Over the Rainbow,” “It Never Entered My Mind,” “More”); during (Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood” [unaccompanied saxophone], as Suzanne walked down the aisle), and after (“My Favorite Things,” “Song for My Father”). All of what they played that night can be heard here (0:14-).

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lagniappe

random sights

other day, Chicago

Thursday, December 19th

like nobody else

Cecil Taylor (1929-2018, piano), live, Washington, D.C., 1978

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lagniappe

art beat: other day, National Museum of Mexican Art (Chicago), Day of the Dead exhibit

Saturday, November 23rd

what’s new

Elisabeth Harnik (piano), Joe Morris (guitar), live, Austria (Wels), 11/9/24

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lagniappe

reading table

High over the dark
shadows of Pine Islands, a  
skylark breaks into song

—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from the Japanese by Sam Hamill

Monday, November 18th

serendipity

Bumped into this last night. Couldn’t take my ears off it. One of the finest performances of Bach’s keyboard music I’ve heard.

Johann Sebastian Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, No. 1-12
Sara Daneshpour (piano), 2024

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lagniappe

random sights

other day, Chicago

Friday, November 8th

never enough

Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), Prelude No. 15 (“Raindrop”); Daniil Trifonov (1991-), piano

Monday, November 4th

sounds of New York

Johnny Griffin (1928-2008, tenor saxophone) with Ronnie Mathews (piano), Ray Drummond (bass), Kenny Washington (drums), live, New York (Village Vanguard), 1981

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lagniappe

random sights

other day, Chicago

Sunday, October 27th

sounds of Louisville

Joe Thomas, “I Feel Like Pressing My Way,” live (TV Show), Louisville, Kentucky, 1973

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lagniappe

random sights

yesterday, Chicago

Monday, September 30th

alone

Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988), Un Adieu (c. 1978); Marianne Schroeder (1949-, piano), 1992

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lagniappe

random sights

other day, Oak Park, Illinois (Conservatory)

Thursday, August 1st

sounds of Chicago

Muhal Richard Abrams Sextet (MRA [1930-2017], keyboards; Henry Threadgill, reeds [1944-, MCOTD Hall of Fame]; Kalaparusha [Maurice McIntyre], reeds [1936-2013]; Wallace McMillan, reeds [1941-]; Reggie Willis, bass; Steve McCall, drums [1933-1989]), live, Berlin, 1973

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lagniappe

random sights

other day, Chicago

Saturday, June 15th

timeless

Pharoah Sanders (1940-2022, tenor saxophone), Lonnie Liston Smith (1940-, piano), Norris “Sirone” Jones (1940-2009, bass), Majib (aka Najeed) Shabazz (drums), live, France (Antibes), 1968