Monday, May 18th
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.
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
2015
2015
Sunday, May 17th
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.
2015
Saturday, May 16th
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
2015
Friday, May 15th
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
2015
Thursday, May 14th
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)
2015
Wednesday, May 13th
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.
2015
Tuesday, May 12th
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).
2015
Monday, May 11th
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
2015
Sunday, May 10th
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
2015
Saturday, May 9th
tonight in Chicago
These guys will be at Constellation, as will I.
Tim Berne’s Snakeoil (TB, alto saxophone; Oscar Noriega, clarinet, bass clarinet; Matt Mitchell, piano; Ches Smith, drums, vibes, conga), “Lost in Redding,” live, Buenos Aires, 2015
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lagniappe
art beat
Bruce Davidson (1933-), Palisades, New Jersey, 1958
