testify!
Vernard Johnson (1948-, alto saxophone), “I Won’t Complain,” live, Kansas City, Mo. (58th Women’s International Convention, Church of God in Christ), 2008
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
The Locust Tree in Flower (second version)
by William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)Among
of
greenstiff
old
brightbroken
branch
comewhite
sweet
Mayagain
sounds of Chicago
Progressive Church of God in Christ Radio Choir (Maywood, Ill.), live (TV show [Jubilee Showcase]), 1975
**********
lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
Spring and All
by William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)
By the road to the contagious hospital
under the surge of the blue
mottled clouds driven from the
northeast—a cold wind. Beyond, the
waste of broad, muddy fields
brown with dried weeds, standing and fallen
patches of standing water
the scattering of tall trees
All along the road the reddish
purplish, forked, upstanding, twiggy
stuff of bushes and small trees
with dead, brown leaves under them
leafless vines—
Lifeless in appearance,
sluggish dazed spring approaches—
They enter the new world naked,
cold, uncertain of all
save that they enter. All about them
the cold, familiar wind—
Now the grass, tomorrow
the stiff curl of wildcarrot leaf
One by one objects are defined—
It quickens: clarity, outline of leaf
But now the stark dignity of
entrance—Still, the profound change
has come upon them: rooted, they
grip down and begin to awaken
what’s new
Mogwai, live, Scotland (Glasgow), published 3/18/21
**********
lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
Spring and All
by William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)
By the road to the contagious hospital
under the surge of the blue
mottled clouds driven from the
northeast—a cold wind. Beyond, the
waste of broad, muddy fields
brown with dried weeds, standing and fallen
patches of standing water
the scattering of tall trees
All along the road the reddish
purplish, forked, upstanding, twiggy
stuff of bushes and small trees
with dead, brown leaves under them
leafless vines—
Lifeless in appearance,
sluggish dazed spring approaches—
They enter the new world naked,
cold, uncertain of all
save that they enter. All about them
the cold, familiar wind—
Now the grass, tomorrow
the stiff curl of wildcarrot leaf
One by one objects are defined—
It quickens: clarity, outline of leaf
But now the stark dignity of
entrance—Still, the profound change
has come upon them: rooted, they
grip down and begin to awaken
string quartet festival
day three
Mivos Quartet, Bronx Community College Online Concert Series, 11/30/20: Michaela Catranis, Luminous Animal (2020); Linda Caitlin Smith, String Quartet No. 6 (2013); George Lewis, String Quartet 2.5: “Playing with Seeds” (2017)
**********
lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
*****
reading table
Old age is
a flight of small
cheeping birds
skimming
bare trees
above a snow glaze.—William Carlos Williams (1883-1963), from “To Waken an Old Lady”
back to church
“It’s Another Day’s Journey,” Mt. Tatum Primitive Baptist Church, Dryfork, Va., 2011
**********
lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Chicago (Columbus Park)
*****
reading table
Spring and All
by William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)
By the road to the contagious hospital
under the surge of the blue
mottled clouds driven from the
northeast—a cold wind. Beyond, the
waste of broad, muddy fields
brown with dried weeds, standing and fallen
patches of standing water
the scattering of tall trees
All along the road the reddish
purplish, forked, upstanding, twiggy
stuff of bushes and small trees
with dead, brown leaves under them
leafless vines—
Lifeless in appearance,
sluggish dazed spring approaches—
They enter the new world naked,
cold, uncertain of all
save that they enter. All about them
the cold, familiar wind—
Now the grass, tomorrow
the stiff curl of wildcarrot leaf
One by one objects are defined—
It quickens: clarity, outline of leaf
But now the stark dignity of
entrance—Still, the profound change
has come upon them: rooted, they
grip down and begin to awaken
two takes
“When the Gates Swing Open” (T. A. Dorsey)
Otis Clay (1942-2016), live, Chicago, c. 2007
***
Al Green (1946-), live, Memphis, 1983
**********
lagniappe
reading table
Spring and All
by William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)
By the road to the contagious hospital
under the surge of the blue
mottled clouds driven from the
northeast—a cold wind. Beyond, the
waste of broad, muddy fields
brown with dried weeds, standing and fallen
patches of standing water
the scattering of tall trees
All along the road the reddish
purplish, forked, upstanding, twiggy
stuff of bushes and small trees
with dead, brown leaves under them
leafless vines—
Lifeless in appearance,
sluggish dazed spring approaches—
They enter the new world naked,
cold, uncertain of all
save that they enter. All about them
the cold, familiar wind—
Now the grass, tomorrow
the stiff curl of wildcarrot leaf
One by one objects are defined—
It quickens: clarity, outline of leaf
But now the stark dignity of
entrance—Still, the profound change
has come upon them: rooted, they
grip down and begin to awaken
soundtrack to a dream
Tim Hecker, Harmony in Ultraviolet (2006)
**********
lagniappe
reading table
A life that is here and now is timeless.
—William Carlos Williams, Selected Essays (1969)
No one fired up this pianist—one of the most influential in the history of jazz—like this drummer.
Bill Evans Trio (BE [1929-1980], piano; Philly Joe Jones [1923-1985], drums; Marc Johnson [1953-], bass), “Nardis” (M. Davis), live, Italy (Umbria), 1978
**********
lagniappe
reading table
How many poems have gotten so much attention with so few words?
so much depends
upona red wheel
barrowglazed with rain
waterbeside the white
chickens—William Carlos Williams (1883-1963), “The Red Wheelbarrow”
More from Aretha’s homegoing service.
Jennifer Hudson, “Amazing Grace,” live, Detroit, 8/31/18
*****
lagniappe
reading table
The World Contracted to a Recognizable Image
by William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)at the small end of an illness
there was a picture
probably Japanese
which filled my eyean idiotic picture
except it was all I recognized
the wall lived for me in that picture
I clung to it as a fly
two takes
“When Something Is Wrong With My Baby” (I. Hayes & D. Porter)
Sam & Dave, live, Germany (Offenbach), 1967
***
Isaac Hayes, TV Show (Top of the Pops), England, 1995
**********
lagniappe
reading table
“The World Contracted to a Recognizable Image”
by William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)at the small end of an illness
there was a picture
probably Japanese
which filled my eyean idiotic picture
except it was all I recognized
the wall lived for me in that picture
I clung to it as a fly
music clip of the day 