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
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
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.
2017
Saturday, December 16th
3n
Hear In Now (Mazz Swift, violin; Tomeka Reid, cello; Silvia Bolognesi, bass), “Requiem for Charlie Haden” (S. Bolognesi), live, Italy (Basilica di San Silvestro, Trieste), 2015
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Which is more important: what we listen to—or how?
*****
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
2017
Wednesday, December 13th
more
Joe Morris (guitar) and Daniel Levin (cello), live, New York, 12/8/17
(Taking a break—back in a while.)
