Sunday in Chicago
They’re playing at the Chicago Jazz Festival.
Jaimie Branch’s Fly or Die (JB, trumpet, compositions; Tomeka Reid, cello; Jason Ajemian, bass; Chad Taylor, drums), live, Toronto, 2017
“theme 1,” “. . . meanwhile,” “theme 2”
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“theme nothing”
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
sounds of New York
Fay Victor’s Mutations for Justice (FV, vocals, compositions; Jaimie Branch, trumpet; Luke Stewart, bass; Michael Vatcher, drums), live, New York, 2018
This drummer, Michael Vatcher, will be playing tonight in Chicago, at Constellation, with cornetist Josh Berman and bassist Jason Roebke.
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago (Art Institute, South Garden)
what’s new
Nate Wooley (trumpet), Michael Foster (tenor saxophone), Brandon Lopez (bass), Ben Bennett (percussion), live, New York, 6/21/18
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lagniappe
random sights
last night, Oak Park, Ill.
How many bands have not one but two MacArthur-certified “geniuses”?
Vijay Iyer Sextet (Vijay Iyer, keyboards, compositions [2013 MacArthur Fellow]; Tyshawn Sorey, drums [2017 MacArthur Fellow]; Stephan Crump, bass; Steve Lehman, alto saxophone; Graham Haynes, cornet and flugelhorn; Mark Shim, tenor saxophone), live, Ojai, Calif., 2017
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
timeless
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers (AB, drums; Lee Morgan, trumpet; Benny Golson, tenor saxophone; Bobby Timmons, piano; Jymie Merritt, bass), “Moanin'” (B. Timmons), live, Belgium (Brussels), 1959
trumpet festival
day three
Wadada Leo Smith’s Golden Quartet (WLS, trumpet, compositions; Anthony Davis, piano; John Lindberg, bass; Pheeroan akLaff, drums), “Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, 381 Days,” live, Spain (San Sebastian), 2014
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill. (Oak Park Conservatory)
trumpet festival
day two
Marcos Balter (1974-), Landscape of Fear (2015); Ryan Muncy (soprano saxophone) & Peter Evans (piccolo trumpet), live, New York, 2017
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago (Columbus Park)
trumpet festival
day one
Nate Wooley Quartet (NW, trumpet, compositions; Chris Pitsiokos, alto saxophone; Brandon Lopez, bass; Dre Hocevar, drums), live, New York, 2016
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago (Garfield Park Conservatory)
sounds of New York
Jaimie Branch’s Fly or Die (JB, trumpet, compositions; Tomeka Reid, cello; Jason Ajemian, bass; Chad Taylor, drums), live, New York (Rye Bar, Brooklyn), 2016
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Improvised music is like basketball: a great player makes everybody better.
*****
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
voices I miss
Von Freeman (MCOTD Hall of Fame), tenor saxophonist, 1923-2012
“Oleo” (S. Rollins) with Clifford Jordan (tenor saxophone), Willie Pickens (piano), Dan Shapera (bass), Robert Shy (drums), Chicago (Chicago Jazz Festival), 1988
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“Take the ‘A’ Train” (B. Strayhorn) with Joanie Pallatto (vocals), Bettye Reynolds (vocals), Fred Anderson (tenor saxophone), Billy Brimfield (trumpet), John Young (piano), George Freeman (guitar), Larry Gray (bass), Michael Adams (drums), live, Chicago, 1999
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lagniappe
my back pages
On a cold, snowy night forty-one years ago, at a church thirty miles north of Chicago, Von Freeman and John Young played at our—Suzanne’s and my—wedding. All of what they played that night—”Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “It Never Entered My Mind,” “More” (before); “In a Sentimental Mood” (as Suzanne walked down the aisle); “My Favorite Things,” “Song for My Father” (after)—can be heard here (0:15-). Years later, John told me: “When I marry ’em, they stay married.”
