back to church
Pastor Marlon Lock, “Heavenly Choir,” live (grandfather’s homegoing celebration)
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lagniappe
reading table
[H]ope has nothing to do with mood or objective facts, but is rather a form of hospitality offered by those who are tired to those who are exhausted.
—Teju Cole (1975-), website for Go Down Moses (photography exhibit curated by Cole and on display through September 29th at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago)
what’s new
Greatest, ever, Ukrainian kindergarten teacher turned rapper?
Alyona Alyona, “Булінг,” 9/9/19
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
what’s new
Anderson .Paak, “Old Town Road” (Lil Nas X cover), live (studio), London, 9/16/19
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
sounds of New York
day four
Nicolas Jaar (1990-, DJ), live, New York, 2013
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lagniappe
reading table
What is the language using us for?
—W. S. Graham (1918-1986), from the poem so titled
sounds of New York
day three
Tomas Fujiwara’s 7 Poets Trio (TF, compositions, drums; Patricia Brennan, vibraphone; Tomeka Reid, cello), live, New York, 6/10/19
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
sounds of New York
day one
Jason Kao Hwang Human Rites Trio (JKH, compositions, violin, viola; Ken Filiano, bass; Andrew Drury, drums), live, New York, 7/16/19
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lagniappe
reading table
Today is very nothing like / Any other day that once soared / In this place.
—W.S. Graham (1918-1986), from “The Don Brown Route”
timeless
What singers did Al Green listen to before he became “Al Green”?
Swan Silvertones (feat. Claude Jeter, 1914-2009), “That Day on Calvary” (C. Jeter), 1957
Some artists dim over time; others continue to glow.
Neneh Cherry (1964-), “Natural Skin Deep” (N. Cherry, et al.), 2018 (audio, Broken Politics), 2019 (video, directed by Akinola Davies, shot in Beirut)
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
I can’t listen to this just once: the moment it ends I want to hear it again.
Womack & Womack, “Teardrops” (C. Womack, L. Womack), 1988
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lagniappe
art beat
Robert Frank, photographer, November 9, 1924–September 9, 2019
Today, remembering him, we revisit some of our favorite images.
Cafe—Beaufort, South Carolina, 1955
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Funeral—St. Helena, South Carolina, 1955/56
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View from Hotel Window—Butte, Montana, 1955/56
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Rooming house—Bunker Hill, Los Angeles, 1955/56
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US 285, New Mexico, 1955
This song was released in 2011; the words were written in 1861.
David Sylvian (1958-), “I Should Not Dare” (Emily Dickinson [1830-1886]),* 2011 (Died in the Wool)
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lagniappe
reading table
I look at my father and mother and Vinnie, and all my friends, and I say no – no, can’t leave them, what if they die when I’m gone.
—Emily Dickinson, letter to friend Jane Humphrey (L86), 1852
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*Poem 234 (Franklin):
I should not dare to leave my friend,
Because – because if he should die
While I was gone – and I – too late –
Should reach the Heart that wanted me –
If I should disappoint the eyes
That hunted – hunted so – to see –
And could not bear to shut until
They “noticed” me – they noticed me –
If I should stab the patient faith
So sure I’d come – so sure I’d come –
It listening – listening – went to sleep –
Telling my tardy name –
My Heart would wish it broke before –
Since breaking then – since breaking then –
Were useless as next morning’s sun –
Where midnight frosts – had lain!
music clip of the day 