Rarely does a musician take your breath away so quietly.
Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950, piano), 1947: Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), Nocturne No. 8 in D-flat major (Op. 27, No. 2)
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Claude Monet (1840-1926), Irises (1914-17), detail
sounds of Paris
Why not begin the week with something unlike anything else?
Orchestre du Conservatoire de Paris and Ensemble Intercontemporain (Matthias Pintscher, direction; Paul Fitzsimon, direction; Bruno Mantovani, direction), live, Paris, 2016: Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007), Gruppen for three orchestras (1955-1957)
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lagniappe
art beat: yesterday, Art Institute of Chicago
Claude Monet, 1840-1926, Luncheon under the Tent, Giverny, c. 1883-86, detail (Monet in Chicago, through 6/14/21)
Some sounds seem as though they’ve always been there—you just didn’t notice them until now.
Tim Hecker (right) & Daniel Lopatin (left), live, Belgium (Leuven), 2013
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lagniappe
art beat: yesterday at the Art Institute of Chicago
Claude Monet (1840-1926), Waterloo Bridge Sunlight Effect (1903)
testify!
Lee Williams and the Spiritual QC’s, “Jesus Is Alive and Well,” live, 10/8/98
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lagniappe
art beat: more from Friday at the Art Institute of Chicago
Claude Monet (1840-1926), Water Lily Pond, 1917/19
sounds of Chicago (day two)
Sometimes encountering a new piece of music can turn your whole day around, which is what happened to me the other day when I bumped into this.
Georg Friedrich Haas (1953-), In Vain (2000)
Ensemble Dal Niente, live, Chicago, 2013
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lagniappe
art beat: yesterday at the Art Institute of Chicago
Claude Monet (1840-1926), Cliff Walk at Pourville (1882)
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Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Seascape (1879)
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random thoughts
Eyes taste paintings no less than mouths taste food.
genius at play
Henry Threadgill (alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader) leading a master class (excerpt), Big Indian, N.Y. (Creative Music Studio), 2014
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More.
Henry Threadgill and His Very Very Circus, “Too Much Sugar for a Dime,” live, New York, c. 1993
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Today Henry, who’s been lifting my spirits for over three decades, enters the MCOTD Hall of Fame, joining tenor saxophonist Von Freeman, trumpeter Lester Bowie, poets John Berryman, William Bronk, and Wislawa Szymborska, and gospel singer Dorothy Love Coates.
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lagniappe
art beat: more from Friday at the Art Institute of Chicago
Claude Monet (1840-1926), Irises (1914/17)
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radio
One of my favorite musical events begins tonight: the annual Bach Festival on WKCR (Columbia University), which runs through midnight New Year’s Eve.
blues festival (day one)
T-Bone Walker (1910-1975), “Don’t Throw Your Love on Me So Strong,” live (TV show), Germany, 1962*
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lagniappe
art beat: yesterday at the Art Institute of Chicago
Claude Monet (1840-1926), The Customs House at Varengeville, 1897
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random thoughts
Every painting was once a blank canvas.
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*With Memphis Slim (piano), Willie Dixon (bass), Jump Jackson (drums).
music clip of the day 