summer in the city
Moses Sumney, “Plastic,” live, Chicago (Pitchfork Music Festival), 7/15/16
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reading table: two takes
Summer afternoon — summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.
—Henry James (1843-1916)
There is a kind of sullenness that summer / alone possesses.
—Geoffrey Hill (1932-2016), “In Isley Church Lane (3)”
summer in the city
Digable Planets, “Pacifics” (“N.Y. Is Red Hot”), live, Chicago (Pitchfork Music Festival), 7/16/16
summer in the city
Kamasi Washington, “The Rhythm Changes,” live, Chicago (Pitchfork Music Festival), 7/17/16
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lagniappe
art beat: yesterday, Art Institute of Chicago
Aaron Siskind (1903-1991), Chicago 42 1952 (Abstractions, through 8/14/16)
summer in the city
Savages, “Fuckers,” live, Chicago (Pitchfork Music Festival), 7/16/16
summer in the city
St. Vincent, live, Chicago (Pitchfork Music Festival), 7/19/14*
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lagniappe
reading table
the scrawny pine, too
looks extravagant . . .
summer moon—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827; translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue)
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*Set list (courtesy of YouTube):
0:00 Introduction
0:45 Rattlesnake
5:39 Digital Witness
9:13 Cruel
13:10 Marrow
17:40 Every Tear Disappears / Shout (Tears for Fears)
22:16 Surgeon
27:35 Cheerleader
31:19 Prince Johnny
37:15 Birth In Reverse
41:10 Huey Newton
46:47 Bring Me Your Loves
50:52 Your Lips Are Red
sounds of Chicago
Mike Reed’s People, Places & Things (MR, drums; Jason Roebke, bass; Greg Ward, alto saxophone; Tim Haldeman, tenor saxophone), “Wilbur’s Tune,” live, Paris, 2010
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Mike Reed’s Myth/Science Assembly (MR, drums; Tomas Fujiwara, drums; Josh Abrams, bass; Greg Ward, alto saxophone; Ingrid Laubrock, tenor saxophone; Taylor Ho Bynum, trumpet; Mary Halvorson, guitar; Tomeka Reid, cello; Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone; Nick Butcher, electronics), live (rearranging a found Sun Ra fragment [excerpt]), Chicago (Chicago Jazz Festival), 2011
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Mike Reed’s Loose Assembly (MR, drums; Josh Abrams, bass; Greg Ward, alto saxophone; Tomeka Reid, cello; Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone), live (studio performance), Chicago, c. 2009
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If other Chicago musicians are “busy,” what’s Mike Reed? In addition to leading various groups, he owns and operates Constellation, a performing arts center. Then there’s the Pitchfork Music Festival, which this summer will feature, over the course of three days, Beck, Giorgio Moroder, Kendrick Lamar, Grimes, et al. He books and produces it.
music clip of the day 