sounds of Chicago
Chicago Underground Duo (Rob Mazurek, cornet, electronics, voice; Chad Taylor, drums, mbira, electronics), live (music begins at 4:30), Italy (Venice), 2013
(This clip, alas, has some glitches: at 56:15 both the sound and the picture drop out, returning, with just one of two audio channels, at 58:46.)
passings
Frankie Knuckles, DJ, January 18, 1955-March 31, 2014
2013 Boiler Room set, excerpt (Lou Rawls, “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine,” remix)
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It could be plausibly argued that Knuckles was as important to the birth of contemporary dance music as James Brown was to soul or Chuck Berry to rock ‘n’ roll. And like those innovators, Knuckles helped nurture a deceptively sophisticated sound that celebrated and embraced outsiders and misfits — in Knuckles’ case, the gay African-American and Hispanic communities.
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—Greg Kot, Chicago Tribune (obituary), 4/1/14
sounds of New Orleans
Brass band, live, New Orleans (Frenchmen Street), 2013
MVP? Without a doubt, it’s the snare drummer. Not only does he hold everything together, he pushes, pushes, pushes.
sounds of New York
Peter Evans’ Zebulon Trio (PE, trumpet; John Hebert, bass; Kassa Overall, drums), “Air Train,” live, New York (Jazz Gallery), 2013
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lagniappe
random thoughts
Note to self: cultivate lightness.
two takes
Blind Willie Johnson (1897-1945), “I’m Gonna Run to the City of Refuge,” 1928
*****
Dr. C. J. Johnson (1913-1991), “You Better Run to the City of Refuge”
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lagniappe
art beat
Danny Lyon (1942-), New York, 1967
*****
the beat goes on
Sixteen hundred posts—and counting.
only rock ’n’ roll
Benjamin Booker, “Violent Shiver”
Live, 2013
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Live (album teaser; fall release), 2014
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lagniappe
art beat
Danny Lyon (1942-), 1960s
sounds of joy
Bela Bartok, Thelonious Monk, African polyrhythms—he listened to everything.
Gyorgy Ligeti (1923-2006), Piano Concerto (1985-88), excerpts; Ensemble Dal Niente (William Choi, piano; Michael Lewanski, cond.), live, Evanston, Ill., 2011
1st movement
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5th movement
alone
Günter “Baby” Sommer, live, Germany (Dresden), c. 2007
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musical thoughts
Who has more fun than drummers?
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lagniappe
reading table
Back to Mandrake the Magician,
The man of mystery often seen
In the company of swells and
Denizens of the underworld,
While mother kneads pie dough
And sways her hips to the radio,
And the fat, bow-legged dog
Drools over a red rubber ball,
When there is a flash of lightning
Followed by a roll of thunder
And sudden darkness upon us all.—Charles Simic, “Memory Train” (New Republic, 3/24/14)
music clip of the day 