No matter what she’s playing, she seems never to touch the ground.
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), Piano Concerto in G (1929-31); RAI National Symphony Orchestra (Claudio Abbado, cond.) with Martha Argerich (piano), live, Rome, 1969
1st movt.
2nd & 3rd movts.
two takes
“Strange Man” (D. L. Coates)
Steve Dawson (lead vocals, guitar), Diane Christensen (vocals), Robbie Fulks (vocals, guitar), live, Chicago, 2013
***
Dorothy Love Coates (1928-2002; MCOTD Hall-of-Famer), recording, 1968
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random thoughts
Do the Canada geese, seeing me ride by on my bicycle, feel like they’re communing with nature?
never enough
Is any form of music-making more intimate?
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), String Quartet No. 15, excerpt (1st movt.); Danish String Quartet, live (BBC studio), London, 2013
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lagniappe
art beat: yesterday at the Art Institute of Chicago (lunch hour)
René Magritte (1898-1967), The Lovers (1928) (Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926-1938, closes Monday)
Happy Birthday, Thelonious!
Thelonious Monk, October 10, 1917-February 17, 1982, pianist, composer, bandleader
Live (TV studio),* Paris, 1969
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
A note can be as big as a mountain, or small as a pin. It only depends on a musician’s imagination.
—Thelonious Monk (Robin D. G. Kelley, Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original)
*****
radio
WKCR-FM (Columbia University): all Monk, all day.
*****
*Set list:
1. Dreamland
2. Monk’s Mood (Version 1)
3. Thelonious
4. Reflections
5. Epistrophy
6. Round Midnight
7. Crepuscule With Nellie
8. Ugly Beauty
9. Monk’s Mood (Version 2)
10. Don’t Blame Me
11. Coming On The Hudson
12. Nice Work If You Can Get It
This I could listen to all day.
Morton Feldman (1926-1987), Palais de Mari (1986); Blair McMillen (piano) & Ryan Olivier (video processing), live, Philadelphia, 2014
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
My obsession with surface is the subject of my music. In that sense, my compositions are really not ‘compositions’ at all. One might call them time canvases in which I more or less prime the canvas with an overall hue of the music.
—Morton Feldman, “Between Categories” (Give My Regards to Eighth Street)
what’s new
Ashley Paul, “I’m In You” (Heat Source), 2014
alone
These pieces, inspired by Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, were dedicated to her.
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), 24 Preludes and Fugues (1950-51); Tatiana Nikolayeva (1924-1993), live (BBC studio), 1992
Nos. 4 and 5
***
Nos. 10 and 11
***
No. 24
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lagniappe
art beat
Helen Levitt (1913-2009), Mexico City, 1941
three takes
“What Would You Give in Exchange for Your Soul”
Marty Stuart (vocals, mandolin) & Del McCoury (vocals, guitar)
Live (TV show), 2009
***
Bill Monroe (vocals, mandolin) & Doc Watson (vocals, guitar)
Recording, 1963
***
Johnny Cash
Live (TV interview)
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lagniappe
art beat
Helen Levitt (1913-2009), New York, 1940
more Miles
Miles Davis Septet,* “Yesternow,” live, Norway (Oslo), 1971
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lagniappe
art beat
Lee Friedlander (1934-), Japan (Hiroshima), 1984
*MD (trumpet), Gary Bartz (alto saxophone), Keith Jarrett (keyboards), Michael Henderson (bass), Leon Chandler (drums), Don Alias (percussion), James “Mtume” Forman (percussion).
music clip of the day 
