two takes
“In My Secret Life” (L. Cohen, S. Robinson)
Bettye LaVette, live, Montreal, 2017
*****
Leonard Cohen (1934-2016), live
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lagniappe
reading table
Could live – did live –
Could die – did die –—Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), 59 (Franklin; excerpt)
passings
Leonard Cohen, songwriter, singer, poet, novelist, Zen Buddhist monk
September 21, 1934-November 7, 2016
With Sonny Rollins (tenor saxophone), “Who By Fire,” 1989
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“Closing Time,” 1992
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“Everybody Knows,” 2014
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“You Want It Darker,” 2016
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
Everybody knows the boat is leaking . . .
Leonard Cohen, “Everybody Knows,” live, London, 2008
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lagniappe
talking (Canadian TV, 1997)
(Yeah, the interviewer is often obnoxious; but, despite [because of?] that, this is one of the more intriguing “celebrity interviews” I’ve heard.)
*****
reading table
Returning To My Cottage
by Wang Wei (699-759 [trans. David Young])
A bell in the distance
the sound floats
down the valley
one by one
woodcutters and fishermen
stop work, start home
the mountains move off
into darkness
alone, I turn home
as great clouds beckon
from the horizon
the wind stirs delicate vines
and water chestnut shoots
catkin fluff sails past
in the marsh to the east
new growth
vibrates with color
it’s sad
to walk in the house
and shut the door.
*****
radio: 72 hours of Pres & Bird
Celebrating the birthdays of Lester Young (8/27) and Charlie Parker (8/29), WKCR-FM (broadcasting from Columbia University) will be playing their music all day today, tomorrow, and Wednesday.
recipe
1. Take a singer whose range includes about as many notes as he has fingers (on one hand).
2. Add a saxophonist who’s renowned for his melodic and harmonic inventiveness.
3. Mix?
Leonard Cohen with Sonny Rollins, “Who By Fire,” live (TV broadcast), 1989
These two mostly sound (to these ears) like, well, what they are: two distinctive artists whose musical worlds couldn’t be more different. But when Sonny finally leaves his world and enters Leonard’s—a world where melodic invention counts for nothing and subtle changes in inflection count for everything—the results are breathtaking (5:47 and following).
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lagniappe
Salam Richard!
Thanks for the post! How did you find me?
Have you check my personal website: http://www.sohrab.info?
Do you know about my music on-line mag Doo Bee Doo Be Doo (which is looking for writers. What about you?)? Please visit http://www.doobeedoobeedoo.info
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Hope that sometime I will play in your city to have a chance to meet you.
Greetings!
—Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi [2/18/10]