Forget the weird press—she can sing.
Sinead O’Connor, “Paddy’s Lament” (trad.)
TV broadcast (Ireland), 12/19/11
*****
How many other pop stars have made so many stunning contributions as a guest artist?
With Shane MacGowan, “Haunted”
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With the Chieftains, “The Foggy Dew”
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With Willie Nelson, “Don’t Give Up”
(Last three clips originally posted 3/3/10.)
the other night
Just a week after hearing vibist Jason Adasiewicz’s Sun Rooms trio there, my older son Alex (home for the holidays) and I went back to the Hideout, a small club on Chicago’s north side, to hear these guys.
DKV Trio (Hamid Drake, drums; Kent Kessler, bass; Ken Vandermark, reeds), live, Chicago (Hideout), 12/28/11
what you’d be listening to if you were 20*
Lupe Fiasco, “The End of the World” (sampling M83, “Midnight City”), 2011
*****
Adele, “Rolling in the Deep,” Jamie xx Remix, feat. Childish Gambino, 2011
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Hip-hop is jazz’s great grandson.
*****
found words
Don’t Die with your Teeth in a Glass.
—Billboard, Chicago Ave. at LaSalle St., Chicago
(Dr. Irfan [Ivan] Atcha, “Chicago’s #1 provider for Teeth-In-A-Day & Teeth-In-An Hour Dental Implants”)
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*Based on a sample of one—my son Luke. What a treat to have a pair of 20-year-old ears back in the house (and car) over the holidays.
Dionne goes to church.
Dionne Warwick, “Up Where We Belong,” live, c. 1985
New Hope Baptist Church, Newark, New Jersey
Ann Drinkard Moss (Dionne’s aunt), Choir Director
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lagniappe
art beat
Helen Frankenthaler, December 12, 1928-December 27, 2011
Mountains and Sea (1952)
more favorites from the past year
I sometimes feel as if I’m making my way, page by page, through a book titled The 10,000 Musical Performances You Must Hear Before You Die. Rarely does a week go by that I’m not astonished, at least once, by something I’ve never heard before. Yesterday it was this tiny gem.*
Sergei Prokofiev, Vision Fugitive No. 18, Con una dolce lentezza
Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997), piano
*S. Richter, Richter Rediscovered: Carnegie Hall Recital 1960 (RCA)
(Originally posted 5/5/11.)
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Classical music would be better off if folks quit calling it “classical music.”
Arnold Schoenberg, Op. 19, Six Little Piano Pieces
Michel Beroff, piano, live
(Originally posted 6/23/11.)
more favorites from the past year
Only in a city where cooking, like music, is considered an art would music be considered, like food, a necessity.
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Rainy?
It doesn’t matter.
Any day’s a perfect day for a parade.
The Black Men of Labor 2009 Second Line Parade, New Orleans
(Originally posted 11/18/11.)
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Mardi Gras Indians
Young Wild Magnolias, St. Joseph’s Night, New Orleans, 3/19/09
Vodpod videos no longer available.*****
United Indian Practice, Handa Wanda, New Orleans, 1/2/11
Vodpod videos no longer available.*****
Indian Practice, 7th Ward, New Orleans, 11/22/10
Vodpod videos no longer available.*****
Spy Boy Demond, Seminoles, New Orleans, c. 2010
Vodpod videos no longer available.(Originally posted 9/30/11.)
more favorites from the past year
Dub shows aren’t an everyday thing in Chicago, so last night, despite the weather (rain) and weariness (from traveling to see a client in prison), I ventured out to a club to catch this guy. A show like this isn’t just an aural experience: each beat of the bass vibrates your ribcage.
Mad Professor (AKA Neil Fraser, born 1955, Guyana)
Live, London, 2011
Vodpod videos no longer available.******
Live remix, Bob Marley and the Wailers, “Lively Up Yourself,” c. 2008
Vodpod videos no longer available.(Originally posted 9/19/11.)
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Life thickens as you get older, becoming more layered. The other night, for instance, listening to Mad Professor dub Bob Marley at a club on Chicago’s south side (Reggie’s, State near Cermak), I found it hard not to think of another night over thirty years ago, of another club on the other side of town (Quiet Knight, Belmont near Clark, now gone), of hearing Bob Marley not dubbed but live.
Bob Marley and the Wailers, “Trenchtown Rock”
Live, Chicago (Quiet Knight), 1975
(Originally posted 9/20/11.)
more favorites from the past year
passings
*****
Is any drummer more lyrical?
Paul Motian, drummer, composer, collaborator, bandleader
March 25, 1931-November 22, 2011
Paul Motian Trio (PM, drums; Joe Lovano, saxophone; Bill Frisell, guitar), “It Should’ve Happened a Long Time Ago” (P. Motian), live, New York (Village Vanguard), 2005
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lagniappe
Sometimes he would strip a beat to absolute basics, the sound of brushes on a dark-toned ride cymbal and the abrupt thump of his low-tuned kick drum. Generally, a listener could locate the form, even when Mr. Motian didn’t state it explicitly.
“With Paul, there was always that ground rhythm, that ancient jazz beat lurking in the background,” said the pianist Ethan Iverson, one of the younger bandleaders who played with and learned from him toward the end.
Mr. Motian’s final week at the [Village] Vanguard was with Mr. Osby and Mr. Kikuchi, in September. “He was an economist: every note and phrase and utterance counted,” Mr. Osby said on Tuesday. “There was nothing disposable.”
—Ben Ratliff, New York Times, 11/22/11
(Originally posted 11/23/11.)
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You’re never too young to die.
Amy Winehouse, September 14, 1983-July 23, 2011
“Tears Dry On Their Own”
Take 1: original recording and video (2006)
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Take 2: remix by Organized Noize Dungeon Family (Big Boi)
(released 7/24/11)
(Originally posted 7/26/11.)
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Today we remember him with a mix of new clips and old favorites.
Gil Scott-Heron, April 1, 1949-May 27, 2011
“The Bottle,” live, Jamaica (Montego Bay, Reggae Sunsplash), 1983
Cool Runnings: The Reggae Movie (1983)
*****
I’m New Here (2010)
“Where Did The Night Go”
***
“Me And The Devil” (Robert Johnson)
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It’s a remix world.
“New York Is Killing Me” (2010), Chris Cunningham remix
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Here’s the original track, followed by a couple more remixes.
Vodpod videos no longer available.***
With Nas
Vodpod videos no longer available.***
With Mos Def
Vodpod videos no longer available.**********
langiappe
musical thoughts
In the dark times, will there also be singing? Yes, there will be singing. About the dark times.
—Bertolt Brecht
(Originally posted 5/30/11.)
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Lloyd Knibb, drummer (Skatalites, et al.)
March 8, 1931-May 12, 2011
Lloyd Knibb’s importance to Jamaican music can’t be overstated. The inventor of the ska beat at Coxson Dodd’s Studio One, Knibb created a sound that spread like wildfire the world over.
—Carter Van Pelt, host, Eastern Standard Time, WKCR-FM
“Freedom Sound,” live, Belgium (Lokerse Festival), 1997
******
Live, Los Angeles, 2007
#1
***
#2
(Originally posted 5/18/11.)
more favorites from the past year
Wild Flag, live, SXSW (Austin, Texas), 3/11
“Romance” (Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop)
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“Future Crimes” (IFC Crossroads House)
Someday an all-female band will seem no more remarkable than an all-male one.
(Originally posted 10/24/11.)
*****
She’s going to be a big star someday.
Nneka, live
Vodpod videos no longer available.(Originally posted 2/15/11.)
This week we revisit a few favorites from the past year.
*****
[D]ance first and think afterwards . . . . It’s the natural order.
—Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot (1953, 1955 [English-language premiere])
Al Minns & Leon James, New York (Savoy Ballroom, Harlem), 1950s
Vodpod videos no longer available.**********
lagniappe
art beat
Helen Levitt, New York, c. 1940
(Originally posted 1/11/11.)
music clip of the day 