sounds of Chicago
A Tribute to Curtis Mayfield (“We’re A Winner,” “Little Child Runnin’ Wild,” “Beautiful Brother of Mine,” “We the People,” “Keep On Keeping On,” “Superfly,” “Freddie’s Dead,” “Now You’re Gone,” “The Other Side of Town,” “The Makings Of You,” “So In Love,” “Move On Up” [all C. Mayfield]): WDR Big Band and WDR Funkhausorchester (Vince Mendoza, arranger/conductor) with Ledisi (vocals), Bilal (vocals), et al., live, Germany (Cologne), 9/30/23
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.

sweet soul music
Curtis Mayfield (1942-1999), “Move On Up” (C. Mayfield), live (Master Henry Gibson [1942-2002], hand drums), Netherlands (The Hague), 1987
voices I miss
Albert Collins (1932-1993), “Cold, Cold Feeling,” live, Switzerland (Montreux Jazz Festival), 1979
Nobody sounds like this guy, whose 1978 album Ice Pickin’, recorded at Curtis Mayfield’s studio in Chicago and nominated for a Grammy, I’m happy to say I co-produced.
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lagniappe
art beat
Bruce Davidson (1933-), Birmingham, Ala., 1963
two takes
“Kung Fu” (C. Mayfield)
The Dirtbombs, live, New York (Southpaw, Brooklyn), 2008
*****
Curtis Mayfield, recording (Sweet Exorcist), 1974
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lagniappe
found words
Yesterday, in Cambridge, Massachusetts (where I am for my son Alex’s college graduation), sitting on a brick sidewalk in Harvard Square, a panhandler with a sign:
OBAMA’S NOT THE ONLY ONE
WHO WANTS CHANGE