Tuesday, May 5th
what’s new
Nate Wooley (1974-, trumpet), live (Quarantine Concert presented by Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago), 5/1/20
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
2020
Monday, May 4th
Feeling lost?
John Luther Adams (1953-), The Farthest Place (2001); Robin Lorentz (violin), Amy Knoles (vibraphone, marimba), Bryan Pezzone (piano), Barry Newton (bass), 2002
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
2020
Sunday, May 3rd
more sounds of Charlotte
The United House of Prayer Band, live, Charlotte, N.C., 2012
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
Goodbye to forever now.
Hello to the empty present and.—Mary Jo Bang (1946-), from “No More” (Elegy, 2007)
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streaming
Bang on a Can Marathon: today, six hours, beginning at 3 p.m. (ET). Meredith Monk, Vijay Iyer, George Lewis, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, John Adams, Mary Halvorson, et al. If this turns out to be even half as good as it might be, it’ll be monumental. (In the department of delicious serendipity, I just learned about this, waiting for tea water to boil, here.)
2020
Saturday, May 2nd
passings
Tony Allen, drummer, August 12, 1940–April 30, 2020
Today, remembering him, we revisit some old posts.
8/15/18
like nobody else
Tony Allen (drums), “Wolf Eats Wolf,” 2017
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9/23/15
Perhaps the greatest drummer ever.
Tony Allen—three takes.
Recording studio, 2009
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Paris, 2015
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Istanbul, 2015
*****
3/3/15
what you simply cannot do
Listen to this drummer without feeling lighter, livelier.
Tony Allen (drums, vocals) & Band, live, Luxembourg, 2011
*****
9/22/12
Questlove (:10-) & Tony Allen (1:25-), live, Paris, 2011
What a contrast. Questlove, focusing on power and momentum, pushes the beat. Tony lies behind it, skips ahead, lies back again, favoring suppleness and elasticity.
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
2020
Friday, May 1st
sounds of Buenos Aires
Juana Molina (vocals, guitar, compositions), live (“Un Día Punk,” “Eras,” “Estalacticas”), Mexico City, 3/7/20
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
2020
Thursday, April 30th
basement jukebox
Sonny Boy Williamson II (aka Alex [or Aleck] Miller, 1912-1965, vocals, harmonica), “Help Me” (S. Williamson, et al.), 1963
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
2020
Wednesday, April 29th
This I could listen to all day.
Lou Harrison (1917-2003), compositions; ensemble 0, live, France (Pau), 2010
Fugue
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Suite
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
2020
Tuesday, April 28th
A party summoning Django Reinhardt’s spirit is one I’d never want to end.
Marc Ribot (guitar), Alex Simon (guitar), “Dark Eyes,” live, c. 2016
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
2020
Monday, April 27th
never enough
Why not begin the week with something beautiful?
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Piano Sonata in B-flat major, K. 570; Peter Serkin (1947-2020, piano), live, New Jersey (Ridgewood), 2017
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
You ask why I live
alone in the mountain forest,and I smile and am silent
until even my soul grows quiet.The peach trees blossom.
The waters continue to flow.I live in the other world,
one that lies beyond the human.—Li Po (aka Li Bai, 701-762), “Questions Answered” (translated from Chinese by Sam Hamill)
2020
Sunday, April 26th
sounds of Charlotte
The United House of Prayer Band, “The Blood!,” live, Charlotte, N.C., 2020
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, outside Chicago (Salt Creek Trail)
*****
reading table
A pot poured out
Fulfills its spout—Samuel Menashe (1925-2011)
music clip of the day 