sui generis
DJ/rupture (turntables) & Andy Moor (guitar), “Hot Pink Version”; recorded in France (Orleans), 2007; photos by Andy Moor
Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996), And then I knew ’twas wind (1992)
Aureole Trio, New Hampshire (Monadnock Music), 2011
My life sometimes seems to consist of a series of trips, back and forth, between the sublime and the wretched. Yesterday afternoon, for instance, I stumbled upon this—a piece I’d never heard before—during a break from work. What was I working on? An oral argument I’ll be presenting this morning before a three-judge panel of the federal court of appeals in Chicago, on behalf of a guy, now in his mid-50s, who spends each day, as he has for decades, in a cell about 45 miles southwest of the city, where he’s serving a sentence of “natural life.”
Listening to his stuff, which I’ve been doing for over thirty years, is like eating a particular fruit, a strawberry, say, or a plum—there’s nothing else like it.
Henry Threadgill’s Society Situation Dance Band
Live, Germany (Hamburg), 1988
#1
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#2
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#3
John Cage, Third Construction (1941)
So Percussion
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Is anything more familiar—or mysterious—than sound?
another take
Rev. Claude Jeter, Shirley Caesar, The Dixie Hummingbirds, Take Six, et al., “Mary, Don’t You Weep,”* TV show (Night Music), 1989
*David Sanborn is overly generous in his introduction. Claude Jeter may be responsible for this arrangement, but he certainly didn’t write the song. Folks were singing it before he was born.
the other night
Clarity.
Power.
Spaciousness.
Immediacy.
There is nothing in this world—nothing at all, not even remotely—like hearing a great orchestra live, as I was reminded Thursday night as I sat in Chicago’s Symphony Center (across the street from the Art Institute) with my son Alex, listening to this played by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, along with Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 1 and Piano Concerto No. 1 (with pianist Radu Lupu).
Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 3 (Eroica)
Philadelphia Orchestra with Riccardo Muti (cond.), live, c. late 1980s
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NBC Orchestra with Arturo Toscanini (cond.), recording, 1939
two takes
Dolly Varden, “Surrounded By The Sound”
Live, Chicago, 2008
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Recording (Forgiven Now), 2002
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A lot of stuff like this, at least on the surface, I can’t stand. This I love. Why? Well, for starters, there’s the way the voices interweave. Then there’s the way the words sound. Take the hook, for instance: “I want to be surrounded by the sound.” And, too, there’s the presentation, disarmingly modest. Nothing’s oversold.
basement jukebox
Robert Ward, “I Will Fear No Evil,” mid-1960s
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lagniappe
radio: Happy (89th) Birthday, Max!
WKCR-FM, celebrating the birthday of drummer Max Roach (1924-2007), is featuring his music all day.
This I could listen to all day.
Neneh Cherry & The Thing (Mats Gustafsson, baritone saxophone; Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, bass; Paal Nilssen-Love, drums), “Dream Baby Dream,” live, Spain (San Sebastian), 2012
With just one horn, there’s a lot of space for the other players—the so-called “rhythm section”—to fill, which these guys do as well as anyone I’ve heard in a long time.
David Murray’s Black Saint Quartet (DM, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet; Lafayette Gilchrist, piano; Jaribu Shahid, bass; Hamid Drake, drums), live, Berlin, 2007
music clip of the day 