Thursday, 4/5/12
passings
Earl Scruggs, banjo player, January 6, 1924-March 28, 2012
With Doc Watson (vocals, guitar) and their sons (Merle Watson, Randy & Steve Scruggs), live, 1971, Deep Gap, North Carolina (Doc’s home)
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
2012
Wednesday, 4/4/12
Welcome to the maelstrom.
Miles Davis Group,* live, Berlin, 1973
Part 1: Turnaroundphrase
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Part 2: Turnaroundphrase, cont.; Tune in 5
*MD, trumpet; David Liebman, saxophone; Pete Cosey, guitar, percussion; Reggie Lucas, guitar; Michael Henderson, bass; Al Foster, drums; Mtume, percussion.
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lagniappe
reading table
Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that a spring was breaking
out in my heart.
I said: Along which secret aqueduct,
Oh water, are you coming to me,
water of a new life
that I have never drunk?Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that a fiery sun was giving
light inside my heart.
It was fiery because I felt
warmth as from a hearth,
and sun because it gave light
and brought tears to my eyes.Last night as I slept,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that it was God I had
here inside my heart.—Antonio Mochado (1875-1939), “Last Night As I Was Sleeping” (translated from Spanish by Robert Bly)
2012
Tuesday, 4/3/12
One singer’s garbage is another’s gold.
Nina Simone, “Ain’t Got No/I Got Life” (adapted from Hair)
Live, New York (Harlem Cultural Festival), 1969
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lagniappe
yesterday
Listening to the radio, where they were talking about post-war modernist architecture, I learned a new term for people my age: “mid-century.”
2012
Monday, 4/2/12
When we last saw Miles, playing in Germany in 1967, he was wearing a suit and tie. Here, two years later, his wardrobe is headed in a new direction. So is his music.
Miles Davis Quintet,* live, France (Antibes), 1969
“Milestones,” “Footprints,” “’Round Midnight”
*MD, trumpet; Wayne Shorter, tenor and soprano saxophones; Chick Corea, electric piano; Dave Holland, bass; Jack DeJohnette, drums.
2012
Sunday, 4/1/12
Willie Neal Johnson & The Gospel Keynotes
“Just For Me,” live
“Well, all right?” Gospel singers often follow a song, immediately, with a question. This opens a performance up, welcoming anyone who wants to come in, believer or not.
2012
Saturday, 3/31/12
passings
Jerry McCain, singer, songwriter, harmonica player
June 18, 1930-March 28, 2012
These tracks were recorded, in the mid-1950s, as demos in Jerry’s living room in Gadsden, Alabama, using a single microphone and a one-track home tape recorder.
“Geronimo Rock ’n’ Roll”
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“Rock ’n’ Roll Ball”
***
“A Cutie Named Judy”
***
“Bell In My Heart”
2012
Friday, 3/30/12
only rock ’n’ roll
The Cramps, live
California State Mental Hospital (Napa), 1978
2012
Thursday, 3/29/12
Erlend Viken, “Storpolsdansen,” live
This guy I stumbled upon the other day, as I do so many things, listening to the radio (Transpacific Sound Paradise, WFMU-FM, Sat., 6-9 p.m. [EST]). His studio performance, and interview, can be heard here.
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lagniappe
random thoughts
Does life become more understandable as you get older—or less?
2012
Wednesday, 3/28/12
What better experience for playing with the Velvet Underground, whose mentor, Andy Warhol, once observed “the channels switch, but it’s all television,” than to appear on I’ve Got a Secret?
I’ve Got a Secret (Garry Moore, host; John Cale, guest), 1963
The piece he plays at the end, Vexations, was composed in the early 1890s by Erik Satie.
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lagniappe
MCOTD’s granddog, and muse, Roscoe
2012
Tuesday, 3/27/12
what’s new
Let’s pick up where we left off—Mali.
Amadou & Mariam (with Tunde Adibimpe & Kyp Malone [TV on the Radio]), “Wily Kataso,” 2012
