Tuesday, June 24th
alone
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992), organ, “Improvisations,” live, Paris
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
2014
Monday, June 23rd
passings
Gerry Goffin, lyricist, February 11, 1939-June 19, 2014
The Shirelles, “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” (G. Goffin, C. King), 1961
***
The Drifters, “Up on the Roof” (G. Goffin, C. King), 1962
***
Aretha Franklin, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” (G. Goffin, C. King, J. Wexler), 1967
2014
Sunday, June 22nd
sounds of Memphis
The Gospel Four, “One More Blessing,” live
2014
Saturday, June 21st
And speaking of relying more on feel than plan.
Hound Dog Taylor (1915-1975) & the Houserockers (Brewer Phillips guitar; Ted Harvey, drums), “I Held My Baby,” “Taylor’s Rock,” “Wild About You Baby,” “Roll Your Moneymaker,” “Sadie,” instrumental featuring Brewer, instrumental featuring Ted, live, Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival, 1973
**********
lagniappe
art beat
Bruce Davidson (1933-), The Dwarf, Palisades, New Jersey, 1958
2014
Friday, June 20th
only rock ’n’ roll
This guy reminds me a little, at times, of some of the blues musicians I worked with years ago (when I was with Alligator Records in the ’70s), often relying, it seems, more on feel than plan.
Roky Erickson, live, Denmark (Christiana), 2013*
*****
*Set list (courtesy of YouTube):
1. Cold Night for Alligators
2. Bermuda
3. The Interpreter
4. Roller Coaster
5. Fire Engine
6. Tried to Hide
7. Levitation
8. Splash 1
9. Reverberation
10. Two Headed Dog
11. You’re Gonna Miss Me
2014
Thursday, June 19th
passings
Jimmy Scott, singer, July 17, 1925-June 12, 2014
“Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child,” live, New York (Birdland), 2000
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lagniappe
reading table
If you were to open up Iona’s chest and pour all the grief out of it, you would probably flood the entire planet, yet it is not visible.
—Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), “Grief” (often rendered as “Misery”; translated from Russian by Rosamund Bartlett)
2014
Wednesday, June 18th
never enough
Same composer, same pianist—23 years earlier.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major (“Hammerklavier”), Friedrich Gulda (1930-2000), live, Germany (Bonn), 1970
1st & 2nd movements
3rd movement (beginning)
3rd movement (end), 4th movement
**********
lagniappe
art beat
Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004), Seville, Spain, 1933
2014
Tuesday, June 17th
alone
Searching, searching—never finding.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major (Third Movt.), Friedrich Gulda (1930-2000), live, Japan, 1993
**********
lagniappe
reading table
Imaginary Number
by Vijay Seshadri (1954-)The mountain that remains when the universe is destroyed
is not big and is not small.
Big and small arecomparative categories, and to what
could the mountain that remains when the universe is destroyed
be compared?Consciousness observes and is appeased.
The soul scrambles across the screes.
The soul,like the square root of minus 1,
is an impossibility that has its uses.
2014
Monday, June 16th
Ornette, at 84, still plays some of the most haunting blues I’ve ever heard.
Ornette Coleman (alto saxophone), with Henry Threadgill (alto saxophone), David Murray (tenor saxophone), Savion Glover (tap dance), et al., live, New York (Prospect Park), 6/12/14
*****
With Don Cherry (trumpet), Charlie Haden (bass), Billy Higgins (drums), The Shape Of Jazz To Come, 1959
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lagniappe
art beat
Bruce Davidson (1933-), East 100th St., New York, 1966
2014
Sunday, June 15th
back to church
Bozie Sturdivant, “Ain’t No Grave Can Hold My Body Down,” live, Clarksdale, Miss. (Silent Grove Baptist Church), 1942
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lagniappe
art beat
Bruce Davidson (1933-), East 100th St., New York, 1966
