back to church
“All I Do,” St. Paul Baptist Church Choir, McConnells, S.C. (Mt. Do Well Baptist Church), c. 2009
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago (Columbus Park)
*****
reading table
He walked in awe
In awe of light
At nightfall, not at dawn
Whatever he saw
Receding from sight
In the sky’s afterglow
Was what he wanted
To see, to know—Samuel Menashe (1925-2011), “Enlightenment”
Feel like losing yourself, if only for a little while, in a garden of sounds?
George Lewis (1952-), The Will to Adorn (2011); International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), live, Chicago, 2012
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
only rock ‘n’ roll
Little Richard, 1932-2020
“Tutti Frutti,” 1956 (screen test, The Girl Can’t Help It)
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“Long Tall Sally,” 1956 (Don’t Knock the Rock)
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“Good Golly, Miss Molly,” 1958
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“Rip It Up,” early 1960s
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“Lucille,” 1973
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When you look at today’s Grammy winners – God bless them – half of them were discovered when they were 10 years old, were groomed, and had managers and publicists. Little Richard just clawed his way to the top at a very early age with nothing except a tremendous amount of talent and gumption.
—David Kirby, author of Little Richard: The Birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll (2009)
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
basement jukebox
Eddie Bo (aka Edwin Joseph Bocage [1930-2009], vocals, piano), “Dinky Doo,” 1961
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yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
streaming
Tonight at 7:30 p.m. (ET) the last performance by pianist Peter Serkin (1947-2020) at New York’s 92nd St. Y (12/1/18) will be streamed here (Mozart [Adagio in B Minor, K. 540; Sonata in B-flat Major, K. 570], Bach [Goldberg Variations]).
This I could listen to all day.
Ikue Mori (1953-, electronics), Steve Noble (1960-, percussion), live, Copenhagen, 2016
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
sounds of Austin
Blaze Foley (aka Michael David Fuller, 1949-1989), “If I Could Only Fly” (B. Foley), live (Duct Tape Messiah, 2011)
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Another take.
Merle Haggard, live (TV show, performance starts at 1:15), 1986
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What makes this song work? As is often the case, it comes down to small sonic details. Listen, for instance, to the first line of the hook (also the title): “If I could only fly . . .” Repeated f’s (“If,” “fly”), echoing vowels (“I,” “fly”): so much repetition in so few words, yet it sounds so natural. Listen, too, to the small step up, melodically, from the first to the second syllable of “only,” enacting what it would have felt like to fly—”if . . . only.”
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lagniappe
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yesterday, Chicago (Columbus Park)
more
Susan Alcorn (1953-, pedal steel guitar), Nels Cline (1956-, guitar, electronics), Chris Corsano (1975-, drums, electronics), live, New York, 2016
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yesterday, Chicago
*****
reading table
As the Zen master Shunryu Suzuki Roshi said, life is like getting into a boat that’s just about to sail out to sea and sink.
—Pema Chödrön (1936-), When Things Fall Apart (1997)
passings
Little Richard (aka Richard Penniman), singer, pianist, songwriter, December 5, 1932–May 9, 2020
“Didn’t It Rain” (trad.), live, New York (Apollo Theater), 1985
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“Yes, God Is Real” (K. Morris), 1960
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“Peace in the Valley” (T. Dorsey), 1961
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lagniappe
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yesterday, Chicago (Columbus Park)
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reading table
The hope that is left after all your hopes are gone—that is pure hope, rooted in the heart.
—Br. David Steindl-Rast (1926-), Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer (1984)
never enough
Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), 24 Preludes, Op. 28; Maria João Pires (1944-, piano), live, Portugal (Évora), 1987
More? Her wonderful 1994 recording of these pieces is available on Spotify.
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other day, Oak Park, Ill.
timeless
Sarah Vaughan (1924-1990), “The More I See You” (H. Warren, M. Gordon), live, Sweden (Stockholm), 1964
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lagniappe
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yesterday, Chicago (Columbus Park)
music clip of the day 