Wednesday, February 4th
sounds of Mali (day two)
Trio Da Kali and Kronos Quartet, “Diaraby,” live, University of Maryland, 2014
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Tag: music clip of the day
2015
Tuesday, February 3rd
sounds of Mali (day one)
Africa Express, “Terry Riley’s in C Mali,” 2013-15
I am overwhelmed and delighted by this CD. I was not quite prepared for such an incredible journey, hearing the soul of Africa in joyous flight over those 53 patterns of ‘In C’. This ensemble feeds the piece with ancient threads of musical wisdom and humanity indicating to me that this work is a vessel ready to receive and be shaped by the spontaneous feelings and colours of the magician/musician. I could not ask for a greater gift for this daughter’s 50th birthday.
—Terry Riley (1935-)
2015
Sunday, February 1st
old school
Soul Stirrers, “He’s Been a Shelter to Me” (Paul Foster, lead vocal), “I’m a Soldier” (Jimmy Outler, lead vocal), live (TV show), early 1960s
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lagniappe
reading table
When you’re playing baseball, on that field, it’s like your whole life, it’s your world and you don’t want to leave it. It was such a joy to be there, to be able to make decisions on your own: when to swing, when not to swing; when to run, when not to run. I felt this is the only place in the world where I could make my own decisions.
—Ernie Banks (1931-2015)
2015
Saturday, January 31st
only rock ‘n’ roll
The Avantist, “Ramses,” live (studio performance), Hickory Hills, Ill., 2014
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lagniappe
reading table
I am obliged to perform in complete darkness
operations of great delicacy
on my self.—John Berryman (1914-1972, MCOTD Hall of Fame), Dream Song 67
2015
Friday, January 30th
string quartet festival (day five)
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), String Quartet in F major (1903); Hagen Quartet, live, Austria (Salzburg), 2000
1st movt.
2nd movt.
3rd movt.
4th movt.
2015
Thursday, January 29th
string quartet festival (day four)
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), String Quartet No. 8 in C minor (1960); Borodin Quartet, live
2015
Tuesday, January 27th
string quartet festival (day two)
Back to the beginning—the “father” of the string quartet.
Josef Haydn (1732-1808), String Quartet in C-major, Op. 76, No. 3 (“Emperor”), c. 1796; St. Lawrence String Quartet, live, Houston, 2014
2015
Monday, January 26th
string quartet festival (day one)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), String Quartet No. 14 (Op. 131, C-sharp minor), 1826
Alban Berg Quartet, live, Vienna, 1989
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Végh Quartet, recording, 1952
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Budapest String Quartet, recording, 1951
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Opus 131 . . . is routinely described as Beethoven’s greatest achievement, even as the greatest work ever written. Stravinsky called it ‘perfect, inevitable, inalterable.’ It is a cosmic stream of consciousness in seven sharply contrasted movements, its free-associating structure giving the impression, in the best performances, of a collective improvisation. At the same time, it is underpinned by a developmental logic that surpasses in obsessiveness anything that came before. The first four notes of the otherworldly fugue with which the piece begins undergo continual permutations, some obvious and some subtle to the point of being conspiratorial. Whereas the Fifth Symphony hammers at its four-note motto in ways that any child can perceive, Opus 131 requires a lifetime of contemplation. (Schubert asked to hear it a few days before he died.)
—Alex Ross, “Deus Ex Musica,” New Yorker, 10/20/14
2015
Sunday, January 25th
old school
The Consolers (Iola & Sullivan Pugh), live (TV show), early 1960s
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lagniappe
art beat
Bruce Davidson (1933-), New York (Subway), 1980s
music clip of the day 