like nobody else
Morton Feldman (1926-1987, MCOTD Hall of Fame), For Bunita Marcus (1985): Sabine Liebner (piano), 2007
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Ultimately the air / Is bare sunlight where must be found / The lyric valuables.
—George Oppen (1908-1984), from “From Disaster”
what’s new
The Crossing, live, Washington, D.C., published today: Shara Nova (1974-), from “Titration” (“Turn Ya Head,” “Safety in Peril or Calm,” “I’m So Mad I Could Spit Nails,” “Pulses”), 2022
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In the small beauty of the forest
The wild deer bedding down—
That they are there!—George Oppen (1908-1984), from “Psalm”
*****
(Taking a break—back in a while.)
sounds of Leeds
NikNak (DJ/Turntablist), live (We Out Here Festival), Leeds (England), 2021
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the rain falls
that had not been falling
and it is the same world—George Oppen (1908-1984), from “Of Being Numerous”
More sounds from the shadows.
György Kurtág (1926-), 12 Microludes for String Quartet (Hommage à Mihály András) (1978), Maxwell Quartet, live, Scotland (Argyllshire), 2012
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“Chartres”
By George Oppen (1908-1984)The bulk of it
In airIs what they wanted. Compassion
Above the doors, the doorwaysMary the woman and the others
The lesserAre dreams on the structure. But that a stone
Supports anotherThat the stones
Stand where the masons locked themAbove the farmland
Above the willBecause a hundred generations
Back of them and to another peopleThe world cried out above the mountain
Looking for something loud and intense?
You’ll have to, I’m afraid, look elsewhere.
Sun Ra (piano) & Walt Dickerson (vibraphone), “Astro” (Visions, 1978)
Vodpod videos no longer available.
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The world is half magic
—George Oppen (from “Twenty-Six Fragments”)
Whatever I’d say would be an understatement. I can only say my life was made much better by knowing him. He was one of the greatest people I’ve ever known, as a man, a friend, and a musician.
—John Coltrane
Eric Dolphy (alto saxophone, bass clarinet, flute)
June 20, 1928-June 29, 1964
John Coltrane Quintet (JC, tenor saxophone; Eric Dolphy, alto saxophone; McCoy Tyner, piano; Reggie Workman, bass; Elvin Jones, drums), “Impressions,” live, Germany (Baden-Baden), 1961
Vodpod videos no longer available.
(For whatever reason, this clip sometimes seems to play better, on my Mac, with Safari than Firefox.)
More Eric Dolphy? Here. And here.
More John Coltrane? Here.
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Leviathan
Truth also is the pursuit of it:
Like happiness, and it will not stand.Even the verse begins to eat away
In the acid. Pursuit, pursuit;A wind moves a little,
Moving in a circle, very cold.How shall we say?
In ordinary discourse—We must talk now. I am no longer sure of the words,
The clockwork of the world. What is inexplicableIs the ‘preponderance of objects.’ The sky lights
Daily with that predominanceAnd we have become the present.
We must talk now. Fear
Is fear. But we abandon one another.
music clip of the day 