string festival
day one
Daniel Levin (1974-, cello) and Mat Maneri (1969-, viola), live, Columbia, South Carolina, 1/16/22
#1
#2
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
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reading table
Daybreak—
—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from the Japanese by Lucien Stryk with the assistance of Noboru Fujiwara (The Dumpling Field: Haiku of Issa, 1991)
working as one,
two butterflies.
another take
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Goldberg Variations, excerpt (Aria); Peter Serkin (1947-2020, piano), live, Japan (Hiroshima), 2017
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lagniappe
reading table
A butterfly
flutters past—my body feels
the dust of ages—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from the Japanese by Sam Hamill
never enough
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor (Op. 31, No. 2; 1801-02; “The Tempest”); Maria João Pires (1944-, piano), live, published 2018
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lagniappe
reading table
In this world
we walk on the roof of hell,
gazing at flowers.—Kobayashi Issa, 1763-1827 (translated from Japanese by Robert Hass)
back to church
White Hill Hymn Choir, “Ezekiel Prophesize,” live, Mt. DoWell Baptist Church, McConnells, South Carolina, 1987
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lagniappe
reading table
Not once did I think
I’d throw these fresh spring blossoms
into this dense smoke
and stand back to watch it rise
and vanish into the sky—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from the Japanese by Sam Hamill
spring: another take
Sun Ra Arkestra (SR, 1914-1993, piano, composition; June Tyson, vocals; John Gilmore, tenor saxophone, et al.), “Springtime Again,” live, Rome, 1980
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lagniappe
reading table
Thus spring begins: old
stupidities repeated,
new errors invented.—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from the Japanese by Sam Hamill
sounds of Paris
Ensemble Intercontemporain (Matthias Pintscher, direction), live, Paris, 2015: Helmut Lachenmann (1935-), Mouvement (-Vor der Erstarrung), 1984
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lagniappe
reading table
A dry riverbed
glimpsed
by lightning.—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from the Japanese by Robert Hass
timeless
Blind Willie Johnson (1897-1945), with his wife, Willie B. Harris, “The Rain Don’t Fall on Me,” 1930
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
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reading table
She’s put the child to sleep
and now she washes clothes
under the summer moon.—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from the Japanese by Robert Hass
what’s new
Laurie Anderson (1947-, vocals, electronics, violin, compositions) with Roma Baran (synthesizer), Rubin Kodheli (cello), live (“Let x=x,” “Violin Cello Improv,” “O Superman”), New York, published 5/20/21
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, outside Chicago (Glen Ellyn)
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reading table
The distant mountains
are reflected in the eye
of the dragonfly—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from the Japanese by Sam Hamill
Why not begin the week, in this battered world, with something beautiful?
John Luther Adams (1953-), Sila: The Breath of the World (2014); Oberlin Conservatory of Music (featuring students from the Brass and Percussion Departments; Timothy Weiss, cond.), live, Oberlin, Ohio, 9/11/20
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
A world of dew,
and within every dewdrop
a world of struggle—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from the Japanese by Sam Hamill
timeless
R. H. Harris (1916-2000; :30-) and His Gospel Paraders, “Have You Got Good Religion,” live (TV show [TV Gospel Time]), 1960s
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
My spring is just this:
a single bamboo shoot,
a willow branch—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from the Japanese by Sam Hamill
music clip of the day 