Henry Threadgill Ensemble, "The Other One" (Pi)
The essential composer and saxophonist Threadgill's latest suite drew from drummer Milford Graves' concepts relating to the heartbeat in music, and was performed by a 12-piece ensemble.
Sleep was disturbed by ominous dreams followed by bird chatter in a promising sunny dawn.
The people who distracted us from doing things turned out to be the ones for whom we were doing the things.
Triumphs came in small packages disguised as partial failures.
A small child climbed a staircase without help.
A man argued with himself and won.
After three bottles of wine, people at a dinner party debated the difference between hope and determination.
Playing with the cat was fun until the cat scratched her, then everyone got involved.
Why did you have to say that? You know you didn't mean it. Or did you?
Never mind, never mind, never mind.
It seems ridiculous to think about the future, because it always turns out so different from our vision. We have to think about it anyway, though, dammit.
What you did was so sweet.
One day everything fell into place. Must have been the planets.
The next day he couldn't find his keys, and there were weird memories, and he got confused. He lay down and did not get up.
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Zeena Parkins, "Lace" (Chaikin)
Inspired by lacework, Zeena Parkins composed music for the vast palette of percussionist William Winant ("Lace 2") and for the jamming ensemble of electroman James Fei, cellist Maggie Parkins and the TILT Brass Sextet ("Lace 1"). "Lace 2" is an especially involving inner journey.
Lace 2:
Ears popped due to elevational change.
Female ancestors were observed at work.
Invisible ghosts howled.
Interior worlds manifested inside the brain, each inside another.
Eyes involuntarily closed, revealing red self-examining interior eyes.
Sea pulse and breath slipped in and out of consciousness.
Crystals cleansed synapses.
Lace 1:
A crowd pushed toward a bus stop after a football game.
A woman lectured about travel precautions.
A woman decayed in beautiful anxiety.
Sleep came with a pill after a newscast.
Birds the size of cattle gathered in a sturdy tree at sunset.
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Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, "60 Years"
This gathers one previously unreleased track from each decade of the collective founded by Los Angeles pianist Horace Tapscott, who died in 1999 but whose Ark has continued to float.
Duke Untitled had a pleasant daydream, sipped a cocktail and waltzed around the house while visiting friends in Los Angeles, then appreciated a glorious sunset.
The persistent drums rose as the heart of the melodies, so full of wariness behind the beauty and expectation -- experience left no room for the naive.
Work, work, work together. And play, too.
Shaking those limbs sure felt good.
Slowly demanding justice made it easier to breathe, and when others joined in . . .
Big train powered by love and belief, carrying millions who don't speak the same language yet speak with one voice.
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