Sit back. Close your eyes. Listen—just listen.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major (“Waldstein”); Emil Gilels (1916-1985), live
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lagniappe
reading table
My boys.
I don’t have them to hold. What do I do with my arms?
—Sonali Deraniyagala, Wave
sounds of Brazil
Gilberto Gil, live (TV show), Brazil, 1994
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lagniappe
random thoughts
Of us they are sublimely oblivious—birds.
*****
taking a break
I’m taking some time off—back in a while.
More of The Consolers (Sullivan & Iola Pugh).
Live (TV Gospel Time), early 1960s
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lagniappe
art beat
Helen Levitt (1913-2009), New York, c. 1938
Today Helen Levitt enters the MCOTD Hall of Fame, joining saxophonists Von Freeman and Henry Threadgill; trumpeter Lester Bowie; poets John Berryman, William Bronk and Wislawa Szymborska; and gospel singer Dorothy Love Coates.
There are a handful of pianists whose every note I’m hungry to hear—he’s one.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Sonata No. 8 in A Minor; Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950), recording, 1950
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lagniappe
art beat
Bruce Davidson (1933-), Palisades, New Jersey, 1958
passings
B.B. King, singer, guitarist, September 16, 1925-May 14, 2015
“The Thrill Is Gone” (R. Hawkins, R. Darnell), live
Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo), 1974
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Montreux Jazz Festival, 1993
Whether you live for 50 years, 500 years, or 5,000 years, it makes no difference: always there are new things to hear.
Dieter Ammann (1962-), Violation (1999); Lemanic Modern Ensemble (William Blank, cond.) with Karolina Öhman, cello; live, Russia (St. Petersburg), 2014
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lagniappe
reading table
The old pond—
a frog jumps in,
sound of water.—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694; translated from Japanese by Robert Hass)
ten strings, twenty fingers
Stephan Crump (bass) & Mary Halvorson (guitar), “Erie” (S. Crump), live, New York, 4/17/15
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lagniappe
random thoughts
Life consists of driving a vehicle you didn’t design, one that came without an owner’s manual, until one day it runs off the road and winds up in a ditch.
sounds of Amsterdam
More of the Instant Composers Pool (ICP) Orchestra.*
Live, Chicago (Elastic Arts), 5/3/15
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lagniappe
art beat
Bruce Davidson (1933-), Palisades, New Jersey, 1958
*****
*Ab Baars, tenor saxophone; Tobias Delius, tenor saxophone; Michael Moore, alto saxophone; Thomas Heberer, trumpet; Walter Wierbos, trombone; Tristan Honsiger, cello; Mary Oliver, violin; Ernst Glerum, bass; Han Bennink, drums; with guest Guus Janssen (piano).
career plans for the next life
Maybe, instead of those other things (tap dancer, rubboard player in a zydeco band, bass player in a reggae band, guitar player in a Malian band, cellist in a string quartet), I’ll be a bird.
John Luther Adams (1953-), songbirdsongs (1974-80), Callithumpian Consort (Stephen Drury, dir.), recording (2012)
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art beat
Tony Fitzpatrick (1958-), Lunch Drawing #48: A Bird for Bruce Lee
testify!
The Consolers (Sullivan & Iola Pugh), “Reach Out Your Hand,” live
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
If perfection lies in the absence of anything inessential, this is no less perfect than Bach.
*****
art beat
Bruce Davidson (1933-), Palisades, New Jersey, 1958
music clip of the day 