Thursday, September 5th
Today, MCOTD’s 10th anniversary, we revisit our first post.
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One left Cuba after the revolution, the other stayed. Here they play together: pianists—father and son—Bebo and Chucho Valdes.
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Category: piano
2019
Wednesday, August 28th
never enough
Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), Nocturne No. 15 in F minor, Op. 55, No. 1; Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997, piano), live, Moscow, 1972
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lagniappe
reading table
Only thing
the thief left behind—
moon in my window.—Ryokan (1758-1831), translated from Japanese by Kazuaki Tanahashi
2019
Tuesday, August 27th
sounds of New York
Craig Taborn (piano, electronics), Cory Smythe (piano, electronics), “X’s and Y’s,” live, New York, 2018
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lagniappe
reading table
SHOE FROM THE WAVES
oh he got a shoe from the waves
—Robert Grenier (1941-), A Day at the Beach (1984)
2019
Monday, August 26th
Why not begin the week with something beautiful?
Joseph Jarman (1937-2019, alto saxophone), Marilyn Crispell (1947-, piano), “Dear Lord” (J. Coltrane), 1996 (Connecting Spirits)
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
2019
Thursday, August 22nd
MCOTD Hall of Fame
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), For Christian Wolff (1986); Eberhard Blum (flute), Nils Vigland (piano, celesta), 1992
It can be hard to recall, after an hour or two, what the world sounded like before this began.
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lagniappe
listening room
Clear, open, luminous: pianist Aki Takahashi’s recently released recording of For Bunita Marcus (1985), available on Spotify, is one of the finest renderings of Feldman’s unique sound-world that I’ve ever heard.
2019
Wednesday, August 21st
another take
Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), Nocturne No. 8 in D-flat major, Op. 27, No. 2; Martha Argerich (1941-, piano), live, Germany (Saarbrücken), 1972
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
2019
Tuesday, August 20th
never enough
Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), Nocturne No. 8 in D-flat major, Op. 27, No. 2; Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950, piano), 1947
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lagniappe
reading table
Consonants are the body; vowels are breath.
—Sadiqa de Meijer, “The Ebbing Language,” Poetry, 9/19
2019
Monday, August 19th
MCOTD Hall of Fame
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), For Philip Guston (1984); S.E.M. Ensemble, 2000
2019
Wednesday, August 7th
If I were to count, on my fingers, the number of times I have listened to this over the years, I would need an awful lot of hands.
Bill Evans (piano, 1929-1980), “Never Let Me Go” (J. Livingston, R. Evans), 1968 (Alone)
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
2019
Monday, August 5th
spellbinding (part two)
Why not begin the week with something beautiful?
Daniil Trifonov (1991-, piano), live (Chopin, Prelude No. 15 [“Raindrop”])
music clip of the day 