music clip of the day

jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more

Sunday, January 22nd

more

Spirit of Memphis Quartet (feat. Jethroe Bledsoe), “Lord Jesus” (Parts 1 & 2), rec. 1952 (live, Memphis [Mason’s Temple])

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lagniappe

my back pages

On a cold, snowy night forty-six years ago, at a church thirty miles north of Chicago, my wife, Suzanne, and I were married. Saxophonist Von Freeman (1923-2012) and pianist John Young (1922-2008) provided the music, playing before the ceremony (“Over the Rainbow,” “It Never Entered My Mind,” “More”), during (Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood,” as Suzanne walked down the aisle [unaccompanied saxophone]), and after (“My Favorite Things,” “Song for My Father”). All of this can be heard here (0:14-).

Saturday, January 21st

sounds of London, and Beirut, and Palestine

Sama’ Abdulhadi (1991-, DJ), live, London, 1/6/23

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lagniappe

random sights

other day, Oak Park, Ill.

Friday, January 20th

two takes

Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011), “Me and the Devil,” 2010

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Robert Johnson (1922-1938), “Me and the Devil Blues,” rec. 1937 (Dallas)

Thursday, January 19th

more

Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), Palais de Mari (1986): Sabine Liebner (piano), 2007

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lagniappe

random sights

last night, Chicago

Wednesday, January 18th

like nobody else

Anthony Braxton (1945-, reeds, compositions), et al., live (performance begins at 3:25), Amsterdam, 2015

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lagniappe

art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago

Piet Mondrian, Lozenge Composition with Yellow, Black, Blue, Red, and Gray, 1921

Tuesday, January 17th

like nobody else

Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), For Bunita Marcus (1985): Sabine Liebner (piano), 2007

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lagniappe

reading table

Ultimately the air / Is bare sunlight where must be found / The lyric valuables.

—George Oppen (1908-1984), from “From Disaster”

Monday, January 16th

sounds of New York

Subtle, inventive, empathic: she’s one of my favorite saxophonists.

Ingrid Laubrock (1970-, tenor and soprano saxophones), Brandon Lopez (bass), Tom Rainey (drums), live, New York, 2022

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lagniappe

timeless

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), “I Have a Dream,” Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963

Sunday, January 15th

timeless

Spirit of Memphis Quartet (feat. Silas Steele), “He Never Left Me Alone” (E. Malone), rec. 1949 (Cincinnati)

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lagniappe

random sights

last night, Chicago

Saturday, January 14th

more

Pinty Ricketts (DJ), playing “Musical Fever” (The Enforcers [1960s]), London (The Night Owl), 12/4/22

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lagniappe

random sights

other day, Oak Park, Ill.

Friday, January 13th

sounds of London (and Kingston)

Pinty Ricketts (DJ), playing “Big Big Boss” (Johnny Moore [1960s]), London (The Night Owl), 12/4/22

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lagniappe

reading table/passings

The more I read, the less I understand.

—Charles Simic (May 9, 1938–January 9, 2023), from “Serving Time” (New and Selected Poems: 1962-2012)