Clik here to view.
Monday, February 4th
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...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Monday, February 11th
a week in New Orleans: day one In no other city are the streets so musical. Treme Sidewalk Steppers Second Line, 2/1/09 Rebirth Brass Band, “It’s All Over Now” (B. Womack & S. Womack) *** Kevin...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Monday, February 25th
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 **********...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Friday, March 1st
Let’s end the week where we began—Europe, 1967, Sam & Dave. “Hold On, I’m Comin’” (with Booker T. & the M.G.’s* and The Mar-Keys**), Norway ********** lagniappe random thoughts The Internet,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Saturday, March 9th
Happy (83rd) Birthday, Ornette! Ornette Coleman Quartet (OC, alto saxophone; Don Cherry, pocket trumpet; Charlie Haden, bass; Billy Higgins, drums), live, Spain (Barcelona), 1987 ********** lagniappe...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wednesday, March 13th
heaven, n. a place where each morning you’d be awakened by a different combination of musical instruments. Living By Lanterns (Mike Reed, drums; Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone; Tomeka Reid, cello, et...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Saturday, March 30th
The other night, as Mitsuko Uchida was performing two of Mozart’s piano concertos (17, 27) with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, there were moments so pure, so open, I would have liked nothing more than...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Friday, April 5th
Jose James, “Do You Feel” Live, KCRW Berkeley Street Session, Santa Monica, 12/17/12 ********** lagniappe musical thoughts R&B? Jazz? Pop? We need a new vocabulary—or maybe none at all.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Thursday, April 25th
Who better to sing about a ghost town than a band that’s survived not only Katrina but three—yes, three—homicides?* Hot 8 Brass Band, “Ghost Town,” New Orleans, 2012 *As detailed in Wikipedia, in 1996...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tuesday, April 30th
one thing after another after another after another after another after . . . John Cage (1912-1992), Concert for Piano and Orchestra (1958); Variable Geometry (Jean-Phillippe Calvin, director), live,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Friday, July 5th
tonight These guys will be at FitzGerald’s (see yesterday’s post)—me, too. St. Paul and the Broken Bones, “Broken Bones and Pocket Change,” live, Nashville, 2012 *** Went to Mercury Lounge tonite. I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Friday, July 12th
D’Angelo (with Questlove, drums; Pino Palladino, bass; Kuumba Frank Lacy, trombone, trumpet; Chalmers “Spanky” Alford, guitar; Anthony Hamilton, vocals, et al.), live, Switzerland (Montreux Jazz...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wednesday, August 21st
can’t wait: Chicago Jazz Festival, 8/29-9/1 Wadada Leo Smith, trumpet (8/30), Louis Moholo, drums, Steve Noble, drums, live, London, 2010 #1 #2 ********** lagniappe reading table What a glut of books!...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Friday, August 23rd
Stevie Wonder with Prince, “Superstition” (S. Wonder), live, Paris, 2010 Not many stars would handle this the way Prince does. Actually, what’s most impressive is what he doesn’t do. Given a guitar...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Monday, August 26th
old school O.V. Wright (1939-1980), “Into Something (Can’t Shake Loose)” Live, Japan, 1979 ***** No other soul singer—not Otis Redding, not Al Green, no one—gives me such chills.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tuesday, August 27th
more O.V. Wright (1939-1980) “God Blessed Our Love,” “When A Man Loves A Woman,” live, Japan, 1979 ***** “I’d Rather Be Blind, Crippled, And Crazy” (Back Beat, 1973) ***** “A Nickel And A Nail” (Back...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wednesday, September 18th
serendipity Yesterday. Late afternoon, working on an old murder case. Happen upon this: windows open, letting in a breeze. Mary Halvorson Quintet (MH, guitar, compositions; Jon Irabagon, alto...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wednesday, September 25th
love it or hate it Weasel Walter (drums), Mary Halvorson (guitar), Peter Evans (trumpet), live, New York (Death By Audio, Brooklyn), 2012
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wednesday, October 2nd
love it or hate it Anthony Braxton 12+1tet, Composition 355, live, Italy (Venice), 2012 ***** Anthony, a MacArthur “genius” award winner (1994) and professor at Wesleyan University, talks about this...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Monday, October 21st
sounds of Chicago Art Ensemble of Chicago (Roscoe Mitchell, saxophones, percussion; Joseph Jarman, saxophones, percussion, electric guitar; Lester Bowie [MCOTD Hall of Famer], trumpet, percussion;...
View Article
