like nobody else
World Saxophone Quartet (Julius Hemphill [1938-1995], alto and soprano saxophones; Oliver Lake [1942-]. alto and soprano saxophones; David Murray [1955-], tenor saxophone; Hamiet Bluiett [1940-2018], baritone saxophone), live, Berlin, 1987
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lagniappe
reading table
For today’s tourist, orientation is impossible.
—Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891), from “Cities (I)” (translated from the French by John Ashbery)
gathering of birds
Oliver Lake & Alto Madness (Oliver Lake, alto saxophone, compositions; Darius Jones, Bruce Williams, Anthony Ware, alto saxophones; Pheeroan AkLaff, drums), live, New York, 2014
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday morning, Chicago (Columbus Park)
sounds of New York
Oliver Lake and the FLUX String Quartet, live, New York, 2014
tonight in Chicago
These guys are playing at Constellation.
Trio 3 (Oliver Lake, alto saxophone; Reggie Workman, bass; Andrew Cyrille, drums), live, c. 2008
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lagniappe
random thoughts: riding my bicycle
After a while, there’s no bicycle. No me. Only riding.
getting older
“Where did everybody go?” you wonder.
With each passing year, more of the musicians who’ve shaped your world—who’ve made life sing—are gone.
Ed Blackwell, Lester Bowie, Betty Carter, Malachi Favors, Steve Lacy, Kate McGarrigle, Art Pepper, Professor Longhair, Sun Ra, Junior Wells, Julius Hemphill (below): the list goes on, and on, and on.
World Saxophone Quartet (Julius Hemphill, alto saxophone; Oliver Lake, soprano and alto saxophones; David Murray, tenor saxophone; Hamiet Bluiett, baritone saxophone)
Medley: “West African Snap,” “I Heard That,” “Fast Life,” “Hattie Wall,” live (TV Broadcast [Night Music]), 1990 (music starts at 2:20)
Listening to Julius Hemphill (far left), a phrase from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech comes to mind: “the fierce urgency of now.” Hemphill has, it seems, so much to say—right now. Listen, for instance, to 4:30-6:35.
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Live, with M’Boom (Max Roach’s 9-piece percussion ensemble), New York (The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine), 1981 (music starts at 1:55)
Want more? Here.
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Without music, life would be an error.
—Friedrich Nietzsche
music clip of the day 