Friday, November 24th
trumpet festival
day four
Miles Davis (with Bob Berg, saxophones; John Scofield, guitar; Robert Irving III, keyboards; Darryl Jones, bass; Al Foster, drums; Steve Thornton, percussion), live, Switzerland (Montreux), 1984
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
2017
2017
Thursday, November 23rd
trumpet festival
day three
Lester Bowie (1941-1999), trumpeter—and so much more*
Lester Bowie Brass & Steel Band, live, Italy (Umbria), 1996
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lagniappe
reading table
Together, We All Go out under the Cypress Trees in the Chou Family Burial Grounds by T’ao Ch’ien (AKA T’ao Yuan-Ming), 365-427 A.D. (translated from Chinese by David Hinton)
Today’s skies are perfect for a clear
flute and singing koto. And touchedthis deeply by those laid under these
cypress trees, how could we neglect joy?Clear songs drift away anew. Emerald wine
starts pious faces smiling. Not knowingwhat tomorrow brings, it’s exquisite
exhausting whatever I feel here and now.
*****
Happy Thanksgiving!
This holiday, recovering from pneumonia, I’m more thankful than ever for family, for art, for poetry and, yes, for music.
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*Lester is a member of the MCOTD Hall of fame, along with saxophonists Von Freeman and Henry Threadgill; drummer Hamid Drake; gospel singer Dorothy Love Coates; composer Morton Feldman; poets John Berryman, William Bronk, and Wislawa Szymborska; and photographer Helen Levitt.
2017
Wednesday, November 22nd
trumpet festival
day two
Peter Evans (trumpet) & Cory Smythe (piano), International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), live, New York, 2014
#1
#2
#3
#4
2017
Tuesday, November 21st
trumpet festival
day one
Jaimie Branch’s Fly or Die (JB, trumpet; Tomeka Reid, cello; Jason Ajemian, bass; Chad Taylor, drums), live, Toronto, 5/6/17
“theme 1,” “. . . meanwhile,” “theme 2”
***
“theme nothing”
2017
Monday, November 20th
passings
Muhal Richard Abrams, September 19, 1930-October 29, 2017, pianist, composer, cofounder of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), educator—and arguably one of the most influential figures in American music of the last 50 years
Solo, “Improvisation for John,” New York, 2016
*****
Quintet (MRA, piano; Jonathan Finlayson, trumpet; Bryan Carrott, vibraphone; Leonard E. Jones, bass; Reggie Nicholson, drums), Italy (Milan), 2016
#1
#2
#3
#4
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With bassist Malachi Favors (1927-2004), Sightsong, 1976
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Talking, 2016
2017
Friday, November 10th
Was popular music, some of it, anyway, better then—or is any inclination in that direction simply a matter of nostalgia?
Otis Redding (1941-1967), “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” (O. Redding, S. Cropper), rec. 1967 (official video)
Taking another break. Still flu-beaten. At times like these, I’m especially grateful to be in a long marriage (41 years, January). (I’m also grateful, when my wife is ill, to be able to care for her.) Back before long, I hope.
2017
Thursday, November 9th
sounds of New York
I’ve been down with flu since Sunday. Encountering this last night, serendipitously, lifted me in ways only music can.
Retrograde (Matt LaVelle, trumpet, alto clarinet; Reggie Sylvester, drums), live, New York (First St. Green), 9/30/17
lagniappe
random thoughts
This world—the world one lives in, daily—is the most beautiful world one will live in, ever.
2017
Sunday, October 29th
old school
Willie Neal Johnson (1935-2001) & The Gospel Keynotes, “Jesus, You’ve Been Good To Me,” live, Jackson, Miss.
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
(Taking a break—back in a while.)
2017
Saturday, October 28th
sounds of Amsterdam
Instant Composers Pool (ICP) Orchestra, live, Bogotá, Colombia, 9/19/17
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
2017
Friday, October 27th
basement jukebox
J.B. Lenoir, “Mama Talk To Your Daughter,” 1955
If I had a time machine, I’d travel back to 1954—the year they recorded this in Chicago—and I’d step into the studio, unobtrusively, just as they’re about to begin.
music clip of the day 