Al testifies
Al Green, “Jesus Is Waiting,” live (TV show), 1974
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lagniappe
radio
Today, in celebration of his 84th birthday, it’s all Ornette all day on WKCR (Columbia University).
Ornette Coleman Quartet (OC, alto saxophone; Don Cherry, trumpet; Charlie Haden, bass; Ed Blackwell, drums), “Blues Connotation” (1961)
old stuff
Kansas City Six (Buck Clayton, trumpet; Lester Young, clarinet; Eddie Durham, electric guitar; Freddie Green, rhythm guitar; Walter Page, bass; Jo Jones, drums), “Pagin’ the Devil,” 1938
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lagniappe
reading table
in blossoming trees
suddenly he’s hidden . . .
my son—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827; translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue)
sounds of Chicago
Mike Reed’s People, Places & Things (MR, drums; Jason Roebke, bass; Greg Ward, alto saxophone; Tim Haldeman, tenor saxophone), “Wilbur’s Tune,” live, Paris, 2010
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Mike Reed’s Myth/Science Assembly (MR, drums; Tomas Fujiwara, drums; Josh Abrams, bass; Greg Ward, alto saxophone; Ingrid Laubrock, tenor saxophone; Taylor Ho Bynum, trumpet; Mary Halvorson, guitar; Tomeka Reid, cello; Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone; Nick Butcher, electronics), live (rearranging a found Sun Ra fragment [excerpt]), Chicago (Chicago Jazz Festival), 2011
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Mike Reed’s Loose Assembly (MR, drums; Josh Abrams, bass; Greg Ward, alto saxophone; Tomeka Reid, cello; Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone), live (studio performance), Chicago, c. 2009
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If other Chicago musicians are “busy,” what’s Mike Reed? In addition to leading various groups, he owns and operates Constellation, a performing arts center. Then there’s the Pitchfork Music Festival, which this summer will feature, over the course of three days, Beck, Giorgio Moroder, Kendrick Lamar, Grimes, et al. He books and produces it.
never enough
Monk, that is.
“Rhythm-a-Ning,” (T. Monk)
Art Pepper Quartet (AP, alto saxophone; Milcho Leview, piano; Tony Dumas, bass; Carl Burnett, drums), live
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Tom Harrell Quintet (TH, trumpet, flugelhorn; Wayne Escoffery, tenor saxophone; Danny Grissett, piano; Ugonna Okegwo, bass; Johnathan Blake, drums), live, Paris, 2008
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lagniappe
random thoughts
Given the number of lives that end in death, the odds of avoiding it seem slim.
a gathering of birds
Evan Parker Quartet (EP, soprano saxophone; Peter Evans, trumpet; John Russell, guitar; John Edwards, bass), live, London, 2009
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Music offers a way out of our little cluttered closet.
sounds of Chicago
Michael Zerang and the Blue Lights (MZ, drums; Mars Williams, alto saxophone; Dave Rempis, baritone saxophone; Josh Berman, cornet; Kent Kessler, bass), live, Chicago (Hideout), 2013
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lagniappe
reading table
Now, in general, Stick to the boat, is your true motto in whaling; but cases will sometimes happen when Leap from the boat, is still better.
—Herman Melville (1819-1891), Moby-Dick
Thirty-seven years ago, at a church outside Chicago, my wife Suzanne and I were married. Saxophonist Von Freeman and pianist John Young played at the ceremony.* Afterward, at the nearby reception hall, this guy tickled the ivories. All three are now gone.
Blind John Davis (1913-1985), live, Canada, early ’80s
#1
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#2
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#3
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*Here’s how they sounded that night. (Give it a few seconds.)
Henry Theadgill’s Zooid,* live, New York (Roulette), 2012
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lagniappe
radio
Today WKCR-FM (Columbia University) is featuring Threadgill and a host of other musicians who came out of Chicago in the ’60s and ’70s.
In May of 1977, members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) collaborated with students at WKCR to present “Chicago Comes to New York,” a four-day music festival at Columbia University’s Wollman Auditorium. Join us starting midnight on January 7, 2014 as we revisit this momentous event with a 24-hour marathon broadcast featuring music and interviews by the AACM.
Thirty members of the AACM came to New York with their families and friends for the festival, many for the first time. The festival also included an on-air component in the form of a ninety-hour broadcast of music and interviews with AACM artists. Over the last year, two recent WKCR alums restored and digitized the entire collection of reel-to-reel tapes from the festival, hearing the music for the first time since it was recorded.
Celebrate the incredibly important work that members of the AACM have been doing to promote artistic freedom and self-determination for nearly half a century. Help us revitalize and share these unique pieces of recorded history that WKCR is so privileged to have regained access to.
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*Henry Threadgill (alto saxophone, flute), Liberty Ellman (acoustic guitar), Jose Davila (tuba), Elliot Humberto Kavee (drums), Zachary Lober (bass), Christopher Hoffman (cello), Ben Gerstein (trombone), Jacob Garchik (trombone), Stephanie Richards (trumpet), Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet).
Lucid, supple, propulsive: This stuff I could listen to all day.
Steve Lehman Octet (SL, alto saxophone; Jonathan Finlayson, trumpet; Tim Albright, trombone; Jeremy Viner, tenor saxophone; Jose Avila, tuba; Chris Dingman, vibraphone; Drew Gress, bass; Tyshawn Sorey, drums)
Live, Germany (Moers Festival), 2010
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Live, 2011
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lagniappe
art beat
Lee Friedlander (1934-), Japan (Tokyo), 1981
Last night this woman, who died of cancer in 2006, was very much alive, singing Bach on the radio.*
Johann Sebastian Bach, “Ich Habe Genug” (“I Have Enough,” church cantata), Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (1954-2006), 2003
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lagniappe
Christmas, 1948
Charlie Parker (alto saxophone), Kenny Dorham (trumpet), Al Haig (piano), Tommy Porter (bass), Max Roach (drums), “White Christmas,” live, New York (Royal Roost), 12/25/48
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*WKCR-FM (Columbia University), Bach Festival, through New Year’s Eve.
music clip of the day 