Friday, February 16th
two takes
“Just As Long as We’re in Love” (Terry Callier, Larry Wade)
Terry Callier, 1972
*****
The Dells, 1972
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
2024
Thursday, February 15th
Your day just got better.
Hank Mobley (1930-1986, tenor saxophone), et al., from The Complete Hank Mobley Blue Note Sessions (1963-70) (Mosaic) (track and personnel info at YouTube)
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
2024
Sunday, February 11th
timeless
Rev. Utah Smith (1906-1965, vocals, guitar), “God’s Mighty Hand,” rec. 1944 (New York)
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
2024
Saturday, February 10th
sounds of all over
Ali Sethi (vocals) & Nicolás Jaar (electronics), “Muddat” (Lyrics by Mirza Ghalib, 1797-1869), 2023
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
2024
Sunday, February 4th
timeless
Mighty Clouds of Joy (feat. Joe Ligon [1936-2016]), “Steal Away,” “Golden Bells,” “Just Look for Me in Heaven,” live (TV Gospel Time), 1964
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
2024
Saturday, February 3rd
two takes
Carlos Simon (1986-), “Between Worlds” (2019); Miranda Cuckson (1972-), violin
#1 (1/21)
***
#2 (9/21)
*****
About “Between Worlds”
Bill Traylor was born a slave in Alabama in 1853 and died in 1949. He lived long enough to see the United States of America go through many social and political changes. He was an eyewitness to the Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction, Jim Crow segregation and the Great Migration. As a self taught visual artist, his work reflects two separate worlds— rural and urban, black and white, old and new. In many ways the simplified forms in Traylor’s artwork tell of the complexity of his world, creativity, and inspiring bid for self-definition in a dehumanizing segregated culture. This piece is inspired by the evocative nature as a whole and not one piece by Traylor. Themes of mystical folklore, race, and religion pervade Traylor’s work. I imagine these solo pieces as a musical study; hopefully showing Traylor’s life between disparate worlds.
—Carlos Simon
*****
Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts (2023)
2024
Wednesday, January 31st
(quietly) stunning
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), Palais de Mari (1986); Igor Levit (1987-, piano), 2020
*****
Igor Levit, playing and talking
2024
Sunday, January 28th
timeless
Dixie Hummingbirds (James Walker, lead; William Bobo, bass), “What a Friend,” 1960
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
2024
Saturday, January 27th
voices I miss
Albert Collins (1932-1993, vocals, guitar), “Cold, Cold Feeling” (J. M. Robinson), live, 1981
*****
another take
Ice Pickin’ (Alligator Records), 1978
(This track, which I co-produced nearly 50 years ago, lives on through streaming, with over 17 million plays on Spotify.)
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
2024
Monday, January 22nd
sounds of Jamaica
Rocksteady classical love songs (7 inch vinyl mix), Soul Skankin’ (DJ), 2015
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lagniappe
my back pages
On a cold, snowy night forty-seven years ago, at a church thirty miles north of Chicago, my wife, Suzanne, and I were married. Tenor saxophonist Von Freeman (1923-2012) and pianist John Young (1922-2008) provided the music, playing before the ceremony (“Over the Rainbow,” “It Never Entered My Mind,” “More”); during (Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood” [unaccompanied saxophone], as Suzanne walked down the aisle), and after (“My Favorite Things,” “Song for My Father”). All of what they played that night can be heard here (0:14-).
music clip of the day 