Blues is a big tent. Over here is Slim Harpo (“I’m A King Bee,” 2:18-). And over there are the Stooges (“I Wanna Be Your Dog,” 4:48-).
Alejandro Escovedo, live, Austin (Continental Club), 11/29/11
With guests Marc Ribot & David Hidalgo (guitars)
More Alejandro Escovedo? Here. And here.
Marc Ribot? Here. And here. And here. And here. And here.
David Hidalgo? Here.
passings
Hubert Sumlin, guitar player, November 16, 1931-December 4, 2011
*****
Howlin’ Wolf, with Hubert Sumlin (guitar)
“Smokestack Lightning” (AKA “Smoke Stack Lightning”; rec. 1956, Chicago)
In a country that paid proper respect to its cultural heritage, this would be played for children in school, as part of their cultural education. Instead kids encounter it, if at all, on TV—the soundtrack to a Viagra commercial.
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“Back Door Man” (rec. 1960, Chicago)
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“Wang Dang Doodle” (rec. 1960, Chicago)
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
I started listening to people like Hubert Sumlin and trying to deal with a less muscular way of reaching people . . .
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random thoughts
Rankin, Loda, Cissna Park, Schwer, Gilmer, Watseka: the world is filled with places we’ve never even heard of (many less than 150 miles away), as I was reminded yesterday driving home from Danville, Illinois, where I’d gone to see clients at the prison.
This guy I can’t get enough of.
Vernard Johnson, “Don’t Wait ’Til The Battle Is Over, Shout Now!”; live, TV broadcast (Bobby Jones Gospel)
Vodpod videos no longer available.Time for just one note? 6:23.
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lagniappe
art beat
Lee Friedlander, Cherry Blossom Time in Japan (2006)
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reading table
Yesterday, opening my Emily Dickinson collection (The Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by R. W. Franklin) at random, I came upon this.
We do not play on Graves —
Because there isn’t Room —
Besides — it isn’t even — it slants
And People come —And put a Flower on it —
And hang their faces so —
We’re fearing that their Hearts will drop —
And crush our pretty play —And so we move as far
As Enemies — away —
Just looking round to see how far
It is — Occasionally ——Emily Dickinson (#599)
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*****
listening room: what’s playing
• Echocord Jubilee Comp. (Echocord)
• Art Ensemble of Chicago, Full Force (ECM)
• Art Ensemble of Chicago, Urban Bushmen (ECM)
• Paul Motian (with Lee Konitz, soprano & alto saxophones; Joe Lovano, tenor saxophone; Bill Frisell, guitar; Charlie Haden, bass), On Broadway Vol. 3 (Winter & Winter)
• Rebirth Brass Band, Feel Like Funkin’ It Up (Rounder)
• Marc Ribot, Silent Movies (Pi Recordings)
• Wadada Leo Smith, Kabell Years: 1971-1979 (Tzadik)
• Charles “Baron” Mingus, West Coast, 1945-49 (Uptown Jazz)
• John Alexander’s Sterling Jubilee Singers, Jesus Hits Like The Atom Bomb (New World Records)
• Rev. Johnny L. Jones, The Hurricane That Hit Atlanta (Dust-to-Digital)
• Elliott Carter, composer; Ursula Oppens, piano; Oppens Plays Carter (Cedille)
• Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, composers; Maurizio Pollini, piano, piano works (Schoenberg), Variations Op. 27 (Webern) (Deutsche Grammophon)
• Morton Feldman, For Bunita Marcus, Stephane Ginsburgh, piano (Sub Rosa)
• WKCR-FM (broadcasting from Columbia University)
—Bird Flight (Phil Schaap, jazz [Charlie Parker])
—Traditions in Swing (Phil Schaap, jazz)
—Daybreak Express (Various, jazz)
—Out to Lunch (Various, jazz)
—Jazz Profiles (Various, jazz)
—Jazz Alternatives (Various, jazz)
—Morning Classical (Various, classical)
—Afternoon New Music (Various, classical and hard-to-peg)
—Eastern Standard Time (Carter Van Pelt, Jamaican music)
• WFMU-FM
—Mudd Up! (DJ/Rupture, “new bass and beats”)
—Sinner’s Crossroads (Kevin Nutt, gospel)
—Give The Drummer Some (Doug Schulkind, sui generis)
—Downtown Soulville with Mr. Fine Wine (soul)
How many musicians are so at home, and give so much pleasure,
in so many styles?
Marc Ribot, guitar
Border Music, with David Hidalgo (Los Lobos, Latin Playboys)
Live (with Anthony Coleman, organ; Brad Jones, bass; Cougar Estrada, drums; Fabian Hevia, percussion), Australia (Sydney), 6/2/10
“Choserita Plena” (Marc Ribot)
Vodpod videos no longer available.***
“Chinese Surprize” (David Hidalgo)
Vodpod videos no longer available.*****
Live (with Rob Burger, keyboards; Greg Cohen, bass; Cougar Estrada, drums; with guests Juan Medrano Cotito, cajon, and Hugo Bravo, congas),
Germany, 11/10/09
Subtlety has its place; but so does noise.
Whoopie Pie with guest Marc Ribot (guitar), live, New York, 2009
Vodpod videos no longer available.More Marc Ribot? Here.
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lagniappe
reading table
It might be thought the height of poor taste to ascribe good fortune to a healthy man with a young family struck down at the age of sixty by an incurable degenerative disorder from which he must shortly die. But there is more than one sort of luck. To fall prey to a motor neuron disease is surely to have offended the Gods at some point, and there is nothing more to be said. But if you must suffer thus, better to have a well-stocked head.
—Tony Judt, The Memory Chalet (2010)
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radio
Simone Dinnerstein, featured here a couple weeks ago, was on NPR’s All Things Considered the other day.
The story behind their new album is a sweet one.
Elton John & Leon Russell
Making The Union (2010)
*****
Live (TV broadcast [Good Morning America], with Marc Ribot, guitar), New York (Beacon Theatre), 10/20/10
Part 1 (music begins at 4:10), “If It Wasn’t For Bad”
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Part 2, “Hearts Have Turned To Stone,” “Tiny Dancer”
No matter what musical language he’s speaking, you’d swear it was his first.
Marc Ribot, guitar
With Los Cubanos Postizos, “Aurora en Pekin,” live, France, 2002
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With Ceramic Dog, “Caravan,” live, Berlin, 2008
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Solo, “Bouncing Around” (Django Reinhardt, c. 1937), live, New York, 2009
music clip of the day 