Happy (Belated) 70th Birthday, Lester!
Lester Bowie, October 11, 1941-November 8, 1999
trumpet player, bandleader, irrepressible spirit
Lester Bowie Brass & Steel Band, Umbria Jazz Festival (Italy), 1996
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Part 2
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Part 3
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Part 4
More? Here. And here. And here. And here. And here.
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Jazz is neither specific repertoire nor academic exercise . . . but a way of life.
—Lester Bowie
scenes from New Orleans
an occasional series
Neville Brothers (with Irvin Mayfield, trumpet)
“Indian Red,” live, New Orleans (Jazz Fest), 5/8/11
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lagniappe
art beat
Lance Rosenfield, New Orleans, 2/5/08 (young Mardi Gras Indian preparing for his first Mardi Gras with the Wild Magnolias)
Here’s more from the city that does death like no other.
Funeral for Juanita Brooks, New Orleans, 2009
Vodpod videos no longer available.**********
lagniappe
Here’s a taste of the Syl Johnson show I recently saw.
Syl Johnson, “Same Kind of Thing,” live, Chicago, 11/27/10
Vodpod videos no longer available.How many pop stars have given thanks so memorably?
Sly & The Family Stone
“Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin),” live (TV broadcast), 1973
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“Thankful N’ Thoughtful,” 1973
Vodpod videos no longer available.*****
Michael Jackson and
George Clinton and
Miles Davis
Big influence on all three?
Short list.
James Brown
Sly Stone
Gregory Isaacs, July 15, 1951-October 25, 2010
[Gregory Isaacs’ friend and former manager Don Hewitt] said of Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones that when he was introduced to Mr. Isaacs, “he carried on like he’d met Jesus.”
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In a 2001 interview, Mr. Isaacs reflected on his legacy. “Look at me as a man who performed works musically,” he said. “Who uplift people who need upliftment, mentally, physically, economically—all forms. Who told the people to live with love ’cause only love can conquer war, and to understand themselves so that they can understand others.”
—Rob Kenner, New York Times (obituary, 10/25/10)
Live, London (Brixton Academy), 1984
“Number One”
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“Night Nurse”
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“Border”
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“Sad Mood Tonight” (1994)
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“Kingston 14” (Made in Jamaica, 2006)
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Want more? Here: “Gregory Isaacs Memorial Broadcast,” Eastern Standard Time, WKCR-FM (broadcasting from Columbia University), 11/6/10.
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lagniappe
reading table
No battle that can be won is worth fighting.
two takes
Hockey, “Song Away”
[T]he video . . . is one of the funniest, warmest, and most socially accurate (the way the geeky kid looks at a row of the coolest girls in school as if they’re from another planet) high-school movies ever made.
—Greil Marcus, The Believer, 9/10
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Live, England (Reading), 2009
Anyone can make English sound like English.
Tom Waits, live, California (Mountain View), 1999
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Part 2
Want more? Here.
From a small orchestra in Germany to one in Senegal.
Orchestra Baobab, “Utru horas,” live
Here’s a big (23rd) birthday shout-out to my son Alex—with whom I saw these guys a few years ago at Chicago’s (much missed) HotHouse.
Many years ago, when I was younger than my sons are now (22, 19), I listened to this album (Forever Changes) day after day after day.
Arthur Lee and Love, “Alone Again Or,” “A House Is Not A Motel,” England (London), 2003
music clip of the day 