passings
Jemeel Mondoc, alto saxophonist, August 5, 1946 – August 29, 2021
New World Pygmies (JM, alto saxophone; William Parker, bass; Hamid Drake [MCOTD Hall of Fame], drums), live, 2018
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lagniappe
random sights
Sunday, outside Chicago (Salt Creek Trail)
Why not begin the week with something beautiful?
Mind Maintenance (Joshua Abrams [guimbri, aka gimbri or gumbri], Chad Taylor [mbira]), “Glow & Glimmer,” 2021
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, outside Chicago (Salt Creek Trail)
sounds of Chicago
Pastor T.L. Barrett & the Royal Voices of Life, live (“I Shall Wear a Crown,” “Like a Ship,” “Nobody Knows”), Chicago, published 9/9/21
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
It was not
for moon gazing I came
into Mount Yoshino
yet seeing it I grieve
over the sad world—Saigyō (1118-1190), translated from the Japanese by Meredith McKinney
It was, I recall, a cloudless morning in Chicago, as it was in New York. I had a hearing scheduled in federal court, but then, after the second plane hit, court was cancelled. We sat in front of the television, unable to turn away.
William Basinski (1958-), “Disintegration Loop 1.1,” 2001
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lagniappe
reading table
Photograph from September 11
by Wislawa Szymborska (1923-2012, MCOTD Hall of Fame), translated from the Polish by Clare Cavanagh and Stanislaw Baranczak
They jumped from the burning floors—
one, two, a few more,
higher, lower.
The photograph halted them in life,
and now keeps them
above the earth toward the earth.
Each is still complete,
with a particular face
and blood well hidden.
There’s enough time
for hair to come loose,
for keys and coins
to fall from pockets.
They’re still within the air’s reach,
within the compass of places
that have just opened.
I can do only two things for them—
describe this flight
and not add a last line.
basement jukebox
Augustus Pablo (1953-1999, melodica), King Tubby (1941-1989, engineer, producer), “King Tubby’s Meets Rockers Uptown,” 1974
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
like nothing else
Anna Thorvaldsdottir (1977-), Enigma (2019); Spektral Quartet (Clara Lyon [violin], Maeve Feinberg [violin], Doyle Armbrust [viola], Russell Rolen [cello]), 2021
Movt. I
Movt. II
Movt. III
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lagniappe
reading table
When I consider
how in this world
all is falling blossom—
what then must become
of this self?—Saigyō (1118-1190), translated from the Japanese by Meredith McKinney
voices I miss
Lester Bowie (1941-1999, trumpet, MCOTD Hall of Fame) and Brazz Brothers, live, Norway (Ålesund), 1992
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
sounds of Morocco
Maalem Mohamed Guinia (1951-2015, voice, gimbri [aka gumbri]), live, Morocco (Marrakech), 2014
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago (Columbus Park)
*****
reading table
What is the self-sufficient self, if not the self that exaggerates its own resources?
—Leon Wieseltier, “‘The Wise, Too, Shed Tears,'” Liberties (Summer 2021)
sounds of Turkey
Slow.
Quiet.
Beautiful.
What better way to begin the week?
Özgür Baba (voice, cura), Gökçe Es (voice, monochord, shruti box, rainstick), live, Turkey (Bodrum), 2020
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, outside Chicago (Dean Nature Sanctuary, Oak Brook)
sounds of Chicago
James Cleveland (1931-1991) and the Cleveland Singers (with Billy Preston [1946-2006], organ), “He’s Getting Me Ready for the Great Day,” live (TV show [Jubilee Showcase]), Chicago, 1964
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, outside Chicago (Dean Nature Sanctuary, Oak Brook)
music clip of the day 