Glenn Branca Ensemble, live, New York (The Kitchen), 1995; Symphony No. 8 (“The Mystery” [1992]), Symphony No. 10 (“The Mystery, Part 2” [1994])
Got some headphones? This should be played loud.
More? How ’bout a (terrific) live performance, recorded yesterday at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound Festival? Go to WFMU-FM; click, under “Recently added archives” (lower left corner), “5/27/11: Live Broadcasts and Special Events”—Branca starts at 2:05.
George Porter (bass), Ivan Neville (vocals, keyboards), June Yamagishi (guitar), Johnny Vidacovich (drums), with guest Corey Glover (vocals)
“Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone,” live, New Orleans (Maple Leaf Bar), 5/4/11
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Johnny Vidacovich, New Orleans drummer & teacher (Brian Blade, Stanton Moore, et al.), playing and talking (street rhythms, clave, New Orleans drummers, drum tree, etc.)
Today and tomorrow, from 3 p.m. to midnight (EST), WFMU-FM will be broadcasting live sets from Barcelona’s Primavera Sound Festival—Pere Ubu, Swans, Animal Collective, et al.
Light, fluid, elegant—he is, at heart, a tap-dancer.
Paul Motian Quintet (PM, drums; Bill Frisell, guitar; Lee Konitz, alto saxophone; Joe Lovano, tenor saxophone; Marc Johnson, bass); “How Deep Is The Ocean?”; live, Italy (Umbria Jazz Festival), 1995
There is no greater community of spirit than that between the artist and the listener at home, communing with the music.
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The mental imagery involved with pianistic tactilia is not related to the striking of individual keys but rather to the rites of passage between notes.
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I believe that the justification of art is the internal combustion it ignites in the hearts of men and not its shallow, externalized, public manifestations. The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary ejection of adrenalin but is, rather, the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity.
Who else (besides, of course, Bob Dylan) has played so many different roles so brilliantly?
Miles Davis (with Robben Ford & guest Carlos Santana, guitars), “Burn”
Live, Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, 6/15/86
Listen to stuff long enough and it changes—or you do, anyway. Once I might have faulted this for being repetitive. But that’s a bit like faulting roast beef for being meat. Of course it’s repetitive. That’s part of what makes it soar.
• WKCR-FM (broadcasting from Columbia University)
—Bird Flight (Phil Schaap, jazz [Charlie Parker])
—Morning Classical (Various)
—Amazing Grace (Various)
• WFMU-FM
—Mudd Up! (DJ/Rupture, “new bass and beats”)
—Sinner’s Crossroads(Kevin Nutt, gospel)
—Give The Drummer Some (Doug Schulkind, sui generis)
—Fool’s Paradise (Rex, sui generis)
—Transpacific Sound Paradise (Rob Weisberg, “popular and unpopular music from around the world”)