Tuesday, December 26th
tonight in the Bay Area
They’ll be playing in Albany (Ivy Room), and I’ll be listening.
Peter Apfelbaum & Sparkler
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, flying from Chicago to Oakland
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
2017
Monday, December 25th
Merry Christmas
Blind Lemon Jefferson, “Christmas Eve Blues,” 1928
*****
Victoria Spivey (with Lonnie Johnson, guitar), “Christmas Morning Blues,” 1928
*****
Bessie Smith (with Joe Smith, cornet; Charlie Green, trombone; Fletcher Henderson, piano), “At the Christmas Ball,” 1925
*****
Leroy Carr, “Christmas In Jail—Ain’t That A Pain,” 1929
*****
Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers (feat. Charles Brown, vocals, keyboards), “Merry Christmas, Baby,” 1947
*****
Lowell Fulson, “Lonesome Christmas (I & II),” 1950
*****
Sonny Boy Williamson II, “Sonny Boy’s Christmas Blues,” 1951
*****
John Lee Hooker, “Blues For Christmas,” 1959
2017
Sunday, December 24th
Two takes, decades apart.
Joe Ligon (1936-2016) and The Mighty Clouds of Joy, “I’ve Been in the Storm Too Long,” live
2017
Saturday, December 23rd
Tonight, at 1 a.m. (EST), one of the year’s great musical events begins: the annual Bach Festival—now in its 40th year—broadcast on WKCR-FM (Columbia University). All Bach, all the time, until midnight New Year’s Eve. Hope, beauty, inspiration: they aren’t luxuries; they’re necessities.
Johann Sebastian Bach, Mass in B minor (excerpt, “Dona nobis pacem”); Berlin Philharmonic (Ton Koopman, cond.) with RIAS Chamber Choir (Justin Doyle, chorus master), live, Berlin, 10/28/17
*****
Johann Sebastian Bach, Cello Suite No. 6 in D major; Mischa Maisky (cello), live
2017
Friday, December 22nd
what’s new
Sufjan Stevens, “Tonya Harding” (S. Stevens), 12/6/17
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Tarsila do Amaral, Logoa Santa, 1925 (Tarsila do Amaral: Inventing Modern Art in Brazil, through January 7th)
2017
Thursday, December 21st
tonight in Chicago
They’re playing at Constellation.
Trio WAZ (Edward Wilkerson Jr., tenor saxophone; Tatsu Aoki, bass; Michael Zerang, drums), live, Lakeside, Mich., 2010
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lagniappe
art beat: yesterday, Art Institute of Chicago
Yoshida Hiroshi (1876-1950), Kagurazaka Street After a Night Rain, 1929
2017
Wednesday, December 20th
passings
Best minute of music you’ll hear all month?
Willie Pickens, April 18, 1931-December 13, 2017, pianist, educator
“Giant Steps” (J. Coltrane), live, Chicago, 2012
2017
Tuesday, December 19th
One-word review: Wow!
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976), Lachrymae (1950); Yuri Bashmet (viola), Sviatoslav Richter (piano), live
2017
Monday, December 18th
passings
Sunny Murray, drummer, September 21, 1936-December 7, 2017
Sunny Murray Trio (SM, drums; Tony Bevan, saxophones; John Edwards, bass), live, London, 2010
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langiappe
musical thoughts
I wanted to get more from the beat than just the beat.
2017
Sunday, December 17th
Need a lift?
Nazareth Missionary Baptist Church Hymn Choir (Rock Hill, S.C.), “I Got Shoes,” live, McConnells, S.C. (Mt. Do-Well Missionary Baptist Church), 2001
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lagniappe
art beat
Joe Minter (1943-), Birmingham, Ala.
music clip of the day 