timeless
Returning to a record after years away, both you and it are new.
Miles Davis (1926-1991, trumpet), In a Silent Way (with Wayne Shorter [1933-2023], soprano saxophone; John McLaughlin [1942- ], electric guitar; Chick Corea [1941-2021], electric piano; Herbie Hancock [1940-], electric piano; Joe Zawinul [1932-2007], electric piano, organ; Dave Holland [1946-], bass; Tony Williams [1945-1997], drums), 1969
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lagniappe
reading table
nothing left of the house
I was born in
fireflies—Taneda Santoka (1882-1940), translated from the Japanese by Burton Watson
passings
Wayne Shorter, saxophonist, composer, August 25, 1933–March 2, 2023
With Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers (AB, drums; WS, tenor saxophone; Lee Morgan, trumpet; Bobby Timmons, piano; Jymie Merritt, bass), “The Summit” (W. Shorter), live, Tokyo, 1961
***
With the Miles Davis Quintet (MD, trumpet; WS, tenor saxophone; Herbie Hancock, piano; Ron Carter, bass; Tony Williams, drums), “Footprints” (W. Shorter), live, Sweden, 1967
***
With his quartet (WS, tenor saxophone; Danilo Perez, piano; John Patitucci, bass; Brian Blade, drums), “Masqualero” (W. Shorter), live, Montreal, 2003
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.

never enough
Yesterday afternoon, feeling in a bit of a funk before visiting a client in jail, I stumbled upon this and within moments, it seemed, the air began to lighten.
Miles Davis Quintet (MD [1926-1991], trumpet; Wayne Shorter [1933-], tenor saxophone; Herbie Hancock [1940-], piano; Ron Carter [1937-], bass; Tony Williams [1945-1997], drums), live, Stockholm (Sweden), 1967
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago

timeless
Miles Davis Quintet (MD, 1926-1991, trumpet; Wayne Shorter, 1933-, tenor saxophone; Herbie Hancock, 1940-, piano; Ron Carter, 1937-, bass; Tony Williams, 1945-1997, drums) , live, Italy (Milan), 1964
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Herbie Hancock: “the best thing that Miles ever said to me.”
*****
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
desert island disc
Miles Davis, In a Silent Way (MD, trumpet; Wayne Shorter, soprano saxophone; John McLaughlin, guitar; Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, keyboards; Dave Holland, bass; Tony Williams, drums), 1969*
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
*Side A: “Shhh”/”Peaceful”/”Shhh” (M. Davis); Side B: “In a Silent Way” (J. Zawinul)/”It’s About That Time” (M. Davis)/”In a Silent Way” (J. Zawinul).
never enough
Miles Davis (with Wayne Shorter, tenor saxophone; Herbie Hancock, piano; Ron Carter, bass; Tony Williams, drums), live, Italy (Milan), 1964*
Listening to Tony Williams never fails to leave me feeling lighter.
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Arshile Gorky (1904-1948), The Plough and the Song, 1946-47
*****
*Setlist (courtesy of YouTube):
1. Autumn Leaves 0:43
2. My Funny Valentine 14:34
3. All Blues 26:22
4. All of You 40:03
5. Joshua 50:41
Miles
Miles Davis Quintet (MD, trumpet; Wayne Shorter, tenor saxophone; Herbie Hancock, piano, Ron Carter, bass; Tony Williams, drums), live, Europe (Karlsruhe, Germany; Stockholm, Sweden), 1967
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Miles may not be the greatest trumpet player in the history of jazz, but he’s arguably the greatest bandleader. Only someone with supreme self-confidence could do what he did. A brilliant judge of talent, a leader who expected, and enabled, others to flourish, he could seem, at times, the least interesting player in his own band.
*****
reading table
Winter solitude—
in a world of one color
the sound of wind.—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694, translated from Japanese by Robert Hass)
three takes
“Trials, Troubles, Tribulations” (E.C. Ball)
(AKA “Tribulations”)
Andrew Bird
Live, Nashville (Grimey’s New & Preloved Music), 2009
***
Wayne Henderson, Martha Spencer & Jackson Cunningham
Live, Maryland (Rockville), 2010
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E.C. Ball & Lacey Richardson
Recording (Alan Lomax), 1959-60
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lagniappe
listening room: (some of) what’s playing
• Face A Frowning World: An E.C. Ball Memorial Album (Tompkins Square)
• Merle Haggard, If I Could Only Fly (Anti- Records)
• The Canton Spirituals, The Live Experience 1999 (Verity Records)
• Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex & Guests, Moa Anbessa (Terp Records)
• Derek Bailey, Bill Laswell, Tony Williams, Arcana (DIW Records)
• Peter Brotzmann Octet, Machine Gun (FMP)
• Peter Brotzmann Sextet & Quartet, Nipples (Atavistic Records/Unheard Music Series)
• Miles Davis Quintet, Live in Europe 1967 (Columbia)
• Cecil Taylor European Orchestra, Alms/Tiergarten (Spree) (FMP)
• Alfred Cortot, piano, The Master Pianist (EMI, Icon Series)
• Nathan Milstein, violin, J.S. Bach: Sonatas & Partitas (Deutsche Grammaphon)
• Arnold Schoenberg, Das Klavierwerk, Peter Serkin, piano (Arcana)
• WKCR-FM (broadcasting from Columbia University)
—Bird Flight (Phil Schaap, jazz [Charlie Parker])
—Eastern Standard Time (Carter Van Pelt, Jamaican music)
• WFMU-FM
—Mudd Up! (DJ/Rupture, “new bass and beats”)
—Sinner’s Crossroads (Kevin Nutt, gospel)
—Cherry Blossom Clinic (Terre T, rock, etc.)
—Fool’s Paradise (Rex; “Vintage rockabilly, R & B, blues, vocal groups, garage, instrumentals, hillbilly, soul and surf”)
—Downtown Soulville (Mr. Fine Wine, soul, etc.)
• WHPK-FM (broadcasting from University of Chicago)
—The Blues Excursion (Arkansas Red)
protean, adj. 1. Of or resembling Proteus in having a varied nature or ability to assume different forms. 2. Displaying great diversity or variety. E.g., Miles Davis.
Miles Davis Quintet (MD, trumpet; Wayne Shorter, tenor saxophone; Herbie Hancock, piano; Ron Carter, bass; Tony Williams, drums), “I Fall In Love Too Easily,” live, Germany (Karlsruhe), 1967
More? Here. And here. And here.
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lagniappe
last night
There’s something in nothing, and we’ll never know what it is.
—Susan Howe, poet, after a performance of Frolic Architecture with composer and musician David Grubbs at the University of Chicago’s Bond Chapel