Close your eyes . . .
John Luther Adams (1953-), . . . and bells remembered . . . (2005)
Callithumpian Consort, 2011
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lagniappe
reading table
aware of the sun
setting, the butterfly
flits away—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue
The only thing hard about listening to this is letting go of everything else.
John Luther Adams (1953-), Dream in White on White (1992); Virtuoso String Orchestra (Joaquin Valdepenas, cond.), Sanya Eng (harp), live, Toronto, 2014
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lagniappe
reading table
Barn’s burnt down—
now
I can see the moon.—Mizuta Masahide, 1657-1723 (translated from Japanese by Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto)
Some music you listen to—some you inhabit.
John Luther Adams (1953-), Red Arc/Blue Veil (2001); Kirsten Volness (piano), Nick Gleason (percussion), live (studio performance), New York, 2014
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
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road to the World Series
[W]hen we’re playing these games that are very meaningful in September and October, I want them to go out there and play the game as though it were March 15, June 15, August 15 and then hopefully October 15. Don’t ever change the way you play the game.
career plans for the next life
Maybe, instead of those other things (tap dancer, rubboard player in a zydeco band, bass player in a reggae band, guitar player in a Malian band, cellist in a string quartet), I’ll be a bird.
John Luther Adams (1953-), songbirdsongs (1974-80), Callithumpian Consort (Stephen Drury, dir.), recording (2012)
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art beat
Tony Fitzpatrick (1958-), Lunch Drawing #48: A Bird for Bruce Lee
Yesterday this piece, by a composer often heard here, won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for music.
John Luther Adams (1953-), Become Ocean (2013); Seattle Symphony
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taking a break
I’m taking some time off—back in a while.
sleepless in Chicago
Some folks sleep all night, or so I’ve heard. Maybe you’re one of them. If not, here’s a mix you might try—a sonic tonic.
1. Play this on repeat.
John Luther Adams (1953-), “The Farthest Place” (2001); piano (Clint Davis), vibraphone (Brian Archinal & Andy Bliss), bass (Satoru Tagawa), violin (Lydia Kabalen); University of Kentucky (Lexington), 2008
2. Ditto.
Waterfall Sounds, Cow Creek
3. Adjust volume levels to taste.
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lagniappe
reading table
For you fleas too
the nights must be long,
they must be lonely.—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827; translated from Japanese by Robert Hass)
post-election special
Weary of words?
John Luther Adams, The Light That Fills the World (chamber version, revised 2001), excerpt
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lagniappe
art beat: Saturday at the Art Institute of Chicago
Paul Strand, The Court, New York (1924)
Film and Photo in New York (through 11/25/12)
Need a ticket to an enchanted forest?
John Luther Adams, songbirdsongs (1974-80)
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lagniappe
radio: day two of WKCR’s Pres-&-Bird Birthday Marathon
Sometimes what you’re looking for—when, say, your hard drive crashes (as mine just did)—is something where not much seems to happen, beautifully.
John Luther Adams, “The Farthest Place” (2001); piano (Clint Davis), vibraphone (Brian Archinal & Andy Bliss) bass (Satoru Tagawa), violin (Lydia Kabalen); University of Kentucky (Lexington), 2008
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lagniappe
There are all kinds of music.
Gerard Manley Hopkins, “The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo”
Richard Burton
Who wouldn’t want to go to such a heaven?
Soul Stirrers (feat. Jimmy Outler), “Listen to the Angels Sing,” TV show, early 1960s
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lagniappe
listening room: (some of) what’s playing
• The Dirtbombs, Ultraglide in Black (In the Red)
• Robert Glasper Experiment, Black Radio (Blue Note)
• Shabazz Palaces, Black Up (Sub Pop)
• Terrie Ex, Paal Nilssen-Love, Hurgu! (PNL Records)
• Anthony Braxton Quintet (Basel) 1977 (hatOLOGY)
• Miles Davis, Live in Europe 1967 (Sony Legacy)
• ICP Orchestra Performs Herbie Nichols & Thelonious Monk (ICP)
• George Lewis & The NOW Orchestra, The Shadowgraph Series: Compositions for Creative Orchestra (Spool)
• Misha Mengelberg, Steve Lacy, Goerge Lewis, Harjen Gorter, Han Bennink, Change of Season (Soul Note)
• Pharaoh Sanders, Karma (Impulse!)
• Charles “Bobo” Shaw & Lester Bowie, Bugle Boy Bop (Muse)
• Reverend Claude Jeter, Yesterday and Today (Shanachie)
• This May Be My Last Time Singing: Raw African-American Gospel On 45 RPM (1957-1982) (Tompkins Square)
• J. Berg’s A Cappella Archives (Vol. 3), Royal Rarities (Vol. 3) (Rare Gospel)
• Congotronics 2: Buzz ’n’ Rumble in the Urb ’n’ Jungle (Crammed Discs)
• Pandit Pran Nath, Midnight: Raga Malkauns (Just Dreams)
• Nikhil Banerjee, Afternoon Ragas (Bhimpalasri, Multani) (Raga Records)
• John Luther Adams, Songbird Songs (Mode Records)
• John Luther Adams, Clouds of Forgetting, Clouds of Unknowing (New World Records)
• John Cage Edition—Vol. 23: The Works for Violin 4 (Irvine Arditti, violin; Stephen Drury, piano) (Mode Records)
• Morton Feldman, Trio (Aki Takahashi, piano; Marc Sabat, violin; Rohan de Saram, cello) (Mode Records)
• Tristan Murail, Gondwana, Desintegrations, Time and Again (Disques Montaigne)
• Peter Serkin Plays the Music of Toru Takemitsu (RCA/BMG)
• The Incomparable Rudolf Serkin (Beethoven, Piano Sonatas Nos. 30, 31, 32) (Deutsche Grammophon)
• WKCR-FM (broadcasting from Columbia University)
—Bird Flight (Phil Schaap, jazz [Charlie Parker])
—Eastern Standard Time (Carter Van Pelt, Jamaican music)
• WFMU-FM
—Mudd Up! (DJ/Rupture, “new bass and beats”)
—Sinner’s Crossroads (Kevin Nutt, gospel)
—Cherry Blossom Clinic (Terre T, rock, etc.)
—Fool’s Paradise (Rex; “Vintage rockabilly, R & B, blues, vocal groups, garage, instrumentals, hillbilly, soul and surf”)
—Downtown Soulville (Mr. Fine Wine, soul, etc.)
music clip of the day 