what’s new
Venetian Snares (AKA Aaron Funk, electronics), Daniel Lanois (pedal-steel guitar), “Night,” live (studio performance), Toronto, 2017
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), Bush warbler and plum, c. 1840
old school
Soul Stirrers (feat. R.H. Harris), “Canaan Land,” 1947
Ever tire of the 21st century?
Me, too.
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906), The Bathers, 1899/1904
After all the holiday bustle, how about something that begins slowly, quietly?
Nikhil Banerjee (1931-1986), sitar (with Zakir Hussain [1951-; tabla], et al.), Raag Shyam Kedar, Raag Pilu, live, San Francisco, 1985
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Agnes Martin (1912-2004), Untitled #12 (detail), 1977
only rock ‘n’ roll
Hasil Adkins, “She Said” (H. Adkins), live, Westwood, Calif., mid-1990s
***
Another take.
Cramps, live, Boston, 1983
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), Interchanged, 1955
sounds of Chicago
Here’s one of my favorite drummers, leading his own band, playing his own compositions.
Michael Zerang & The Blue Lights, live, Germany (Dortmund), 2015*
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Joseph Cornell (1903-1972), Untitled (Hôtel de la Duchesse-Anne), 1957
*****
*MZ, drums, compositions; Dave Rempis, saxophones; Emil Strandberg, trumpet; John Dikeman, saxophones; Kent Kessler, bass.
2n
Joe McPhee (alto saxophone) & Ingebrigt Haken Flaten (bass)
Live, Milwaukee, 2015
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Edward Hopper (1882-1967), Gas, 1940 (America after the Fall, Painting in the 1930s, through 9/18/16)
Sometimes the best of what’s new is old.
Betty Davis, “Down Home Girl” (Miles Davis & Teo Macero, prods.; John McLaughlin [guitar], Herbie Hancock [keyboards], Harvey Brooks [bass], Mitch Mitchell [drums]), 6/28/16 (rec. 1969)
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lagniappe
art beat: yesterday, Art Institute of Chicago
From Thirteen Laughing at Each Other, Juan Muñoz (1953-2001), through 10/5/16
summer in the city
Kamasi Washington, “The Rhythm Changes,” live, Chicago (Pitchfork Music Festival), 7/17/16
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lagniappe
art beat: yesterday, Art Institute of Chicago
Aaron Siskind (1903-1991), Chicago 42 1952 (Abstractions, through 8/14/16)
voices I miss
Albert Collins (1932-1993), live, Switzerland (Montreux), 1979
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Aaron Siskind (1903-1991), Chicago 28 1957 (Abstractions, through 8/14/16)
*****
tonight in Chicago
The Chicago Blues Festival celebrates the 45th anniversary of Alligator Records, where, in the ’70s, barely out of college, I had the good fortune to co-produce recordings by Albert Collins, Koko Taylor, Son Seals, Fenton Robinson, Jimmy Johnson, Carey Bell, et al.
yesterday in Chicago
At the Art Institute—next to Millennium Park, site of Saturday’s Gospel Fest—I heard this piece for the first time, played by three Chicago-based musicians (violinist Yuan-Qing Yu, clarinetist J. Lawrie Bloom, pianist Adam Nieman). It, too, sang.
Charles Ives (1874-1954), Largo for Violin, Clarinet, Piano (1901-02); Lucy Chapman-Stoltzman (violin), Richard Stoltzman (clarinet), Richard Goode (piano), 1990
music clip of the day 