10.15.17

Up about 7. SNL – whatever; Cecily Strong (underrated) had a good show. Pink’s new music seems already-dated and even fairly “rock” in the current milieu. Found an NYPL e-book of Can the Market Speak (Temporary download? How does this work, exactly?) Read a bit – ploddingly clear (I appreciate it). Went to Caffe Bene, caught up in poetry daybook (2 p.), read about 50 p. of poems in Prelude, which I’d put aside. The eds. do seem to group things together – in this section, there was less millennial vernacular and more lyric pretense, but still a lot of adolescent memoir. Realized I hadn’t posted these entries for a few days, rectified that. Helped Bree water the garden. Looked again for the music ms paper on which I’d written out Brandon’s bassline for the break in “Believe in Ghosts” (which I need to harmonize) and an organ line I’d worked for “The Old Currencies.” No luck: I need to reconstruct these before the Mitch session. Did have the presence of mind to put aside the chord chart for “Paradox.”

Left 11:15. Started Ron Moy, Authorship Roles in Popular Music. Earnest, dissertationy, too much throat-clearing. I am waiting for an argument. Somehow ended up on the wrong side of town (confusion between 5/6). So I changed my itinerary and went to Dear Mama – longish walk, but I need it. Worked from about 12:45 to 6:45. Section length creeping up again toward 2000 words; decided to cut a graf on Richard Rodgers reaction to Peggy Lee’s “Lover.” Met Bree at Silvana on 106th, saw 2 sets by John Wriggle’s 12-piece big band: Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Mary Lou Williams, of course Chappie Willett. Always enjoy this, but it seemed better rehearsed than in the past. I hope he gets to record his arrangement of a K-Pop tune. Cab home.

10.14.17

Awake at 6:30. Listened to 1½ episodes of a Civil War podcast. Went to Starbucks by 8. Spent a couple hrs. on email and tasks it generated. Went back to bed for a while, read the last 20 p. of Jefferson, listened to a different podcast, w/ Jonathan Lethem discussing the Spanish novelist Rodrigo Fresán (whom I haven’t read), napped. Left around noon for Langston Hughes library, caught bus and started Levine’s “network chapter,” worked 1-5; another draft of the “publishing section” of intro w/ better pace, less detail and legalese – 1200 words in. Got home at 6, zoned out for a while, did some mundane tasks from to-do list. Rec’d a nice email about Suggestion Box from a stranger in Riverside CA. Went out around 8:30 – walked by E77, sort of wanted a beer but didn’t feel like hearing a singer-songwriter; ended up at Starbucks, which surprisingly had a free table. Read and took notes on a talk of Stephanie Burt’s I’d like to send her some comments on, and finished the Levine chapter. Came back at 11, went ahead and read the last chapter of Levine – a reading of The Wire that makes its point but didn’t require close attention for my purposes. Lights out 12:30. Should have arranged things to work longer during the day.

10.13.17

Up around 8. Left at 10, read Levine on hierarchy on train, met Jody Rosen for coffee around Bond and Lafayette. Then up to 42nd past 9th, to see a revival of Bock & Harnick’s The Apple Tree (1966) w/ Bree. Odd show, hard to believe it ran a year; female lead seemed extremely bland at first, but that was a trick. Had lunch at Chelsea Market, looked around Posner Books which has less poetry than when I was last there. Passed up a ‘lil Marxist tract called Can The Market Speak? and, in a record stall elsewhere, a 1980 version of “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” by a French band called Slow Twitch Fibres. This is in my wheelhouse, but $15? Here’s the track; the 45 is less on discogs. https://www.discogs.com/Slow-Twitch-Fibres-Face-The-Music/release/1904229. Bree went home, I called my dad while walking crosstown. Browsed outside the Strand but didn’t buy anything. Got closer to Community Church, found a (very messy) Starbucks, got back into Margo Jefferson. Oddest detail: she went to h.s. with Paul Butterfield (who was already playing South side blues). Went to AACM show: A cello solo and string quartet by George Lewis (who was there but didn’t play) – seemed a lot about texture, technique (mallets on the back of the cello) and attack: I don’t know how to talk about the harmonic idiom, but there were some cool sonorities. Then a more typical-for-the-series set by Steve and Iqua Colson – sextet, in toto, ft. Craig Harris. I’d say about an even balance of smoothly harmonized songs (w/ her on vocals/lyrics – her role in the group, though not her sound, seemed akin to Irene Aebi’s with Lacy), relatively ‘in’ solos, and collective improv. Perhaps a few too many reprises of the heads. One lyric stuck out: “Music keeps the world alive/Though musicians go underground.” Kept at Jefferson on the way back. Put on the Zorn/Lewis/Frisell trio – it’s pretty great; lights out 12:30.

No writing; no appointments or events tomorrow except writing, which is rare and salutary.

10.12.17

Up 9. Had trouble getting going, or doing anything more elaborate than buying tickets for something in a couple weeks, and falling down a Monk rabbit hole (inc. Ethan Iverson’s posts). Waited for Bree to make a dr. appt. for a time I can go with her. Left close to 2, read Levine on train – finished “rhythm” chapter (w/ discussion of prosody), started “hierarchy.” Worked near Lincoln Center from about 3:30-6, got a little bit farther into my emphatic discussion of the pervasiveness of the song/rendition distinction, but overall not as much flow as yesterday. Feel like the whole section needs to be cut by a lot. Can’t work tomorrow, but hope to devote a lot of Sat./Sun. to this. Broke for some online housekeeping; wrote to my editor. Met Pete Galub at Jazz at Lincoln Ctr. for a (free, lucklily) listening “party”/discussion of some unreleased live Monk from the 1960s, introduced by my neighbor Seaton. The music, inc. versions of “Criss Cross,” “Nutty,” and “Light Blue” was great, as were clips of Hall Overton actually getting Monk to talk at the New School (he learned to read music by looking over his sister’s shoulder while she practiced her piano lessons). Panel was Robin Kelley (biographer), T.S. Monk (son), and Zev Feldman (archivist/record producer): Some sweet anecdotes but also a lot of hagiographic generalities. Had 1 drink nearby w/ Pete. Returned a call from my cousin Lynda. More Levine on train back – some perfectly reasonable, to me, points about hierarchical binaries and their interactions, but the reading of Antigone is a slog (for me at least). Home around midnight. Had to stay up a while getting my schedule, directions, etc. together for tomorrow.

10.11.17

Up before 7. Worked at E77 from 9:30-1:30 – got through yesterday’s graf and 2 more, much improved from where that material was yesterday, 720 words – quite good, by my standards, for 4 hrs. Came home, spent 2 hrs on correspondence and mundane tasks, inc. printing charts for Dylan Hicks’ songs for our show in Hudson, and finding accommodations there. Left at 4, read Levine’s chapter on rhythm en route to meet Jenny at a kind of tech meet and greet in the Flatiron district. Kind of thing I dread, but I had a stiff drink and a decent conversation w/ Parker someone about copyright. Went to dinner at Jenny’s mom’s apartment, w/ one other friend of theirs – I had thought we were meeting for Chinese, but no, I got a nice home cooked meal, a gin + tonic, more wine. Very civilized UWS evening. Walked to the train; Jenny says she wants to play more music next year (we’ll play a couple songs together at the Love Hangover next Feb. then play it by ear. Daybook poem and more Levine on the way back – some interesting insights about institutions vis-à-vis Foucault and Williams. Home 11:15, lights out 1.