Have been miserable with cold, would rather lie down than write this. 6/23 - wrote 10-1, came home in time for run-through of songs w/ Laura, 3-5, worked on some charts later. Watched another 30 hr. of that Straub-Huillet Othon movie. Read 50 p. Kelley. 6/24 - Handyman over to do several tasks. 10:30-2 rehearsal at Smash w/ Laura and band. Came straight home after rather than trying to write somewhere else. David Brown was supposed to come by after canvasing for Tiffany Cabal in our neighborhood, but by the time he was done, after 9, we were both too tired - though I went out for some miso udon. Read 75 p. Kelley, a few poems in Martí; also listened to the reissue of 1944 Cootie Williams sides I bought recently, inc. the first release of “‘Round Midnight,” just discussed in Kelley. Broke the 2 wk chain of working on the book and horn charts at least briefly each day, but I’m just too sick.
jun 22
Up 6-ish, didn’t really get going until 9.
Household chores.
Looked at set-list email from Laura, found sheet music to “When the Roses Bloom Again” (the orig. 1910 publication), played through it. I’m probably going to have to sing it, since Bree isn’t up for learning it by Wed.
Coffee, read 50 p. Kelley, Monk.
Worked 1-3 Lincoln Center. Very slight progress. Asked at research desk about 1900 song copyright records, not that helpful, but I may be able to talk to someone who knows more about TPA during the week. Checked out Riis, Just Before Jazz.
Went to the Scorsese doc of the Rolling Thunder Tour.
Read José Martí on the way home. Very much taken with the Simple Poems in quatrains - was able to get some idea of the syntax and rhymes from the facing originals.
Watched the rest of Nine Girls with Bree.
Spend a desultory 30 min. on the “Untimely” horns.
jun 21
Really feeling the cold/congestion in a.m., a bit better as day went on. Don’t recall early part of the day well. Posted about States of Country, invited a few other people by email.
Played piano for a while at some point, then worked on horns. Called a car around 3:30, sold a box for books at Codex on Bowery + Bleeker - learned that it’s run by the same partners as Human Resources, Topos, and one other. Used some of the credit: Herman Rappaport, The Theory Mess; Paul Stephens, The Poetics of Information Overload; Vernon Lee, The psychology of an Art Writer; Karen Pincus, The Montesi Scandal, and a bilingual collection of José Martí, since I don’t know much about him (or Cuban literature, to be honest) at all. Worked on the “Goo-Goo Eyes” section for, oh, 1 3/4 hrs. - the puzzle now is where to stick in the Bert Williams song.
jun 20
Up 9. Took out trash, got coffee and a much needed haircut. Came back, spent 30 min. on horns, starting to get ideas. Called Main Drag Music to put a hold on a Korg digital piano and order a case and extra power supply, so I can get them in one trip (I hope before the Schramms show). Dl’d facsimile’s of the “Goo-Goo” eyes songs. Headed to Schomburg, listed to Anthony Coleman’s trio record Sephardic Tinge. Worked 2-5:30 - Finished the Cook/Dunbar section, pending a few references. Had a bite, walked by Revolution Books and bought a new copy of the rev. ed. of Kelley’s Monk bio, so I could get out of there w/o Bob Avakian literature. Thought about going straight home, but once I was one the train felt energetic enough for one more Anthony Coleman set at the Stone - his rethink, basically, of the repertoire, cut-for-cut, from Bill Evans’ Waltz for Debby. For a guy who says he had resisted learning standards and that style of harmony, he knows a hell of a lot - something Mengelbergian in the conception, though Coleman fucks up less. Sat next to John Matturri and spouse (Lilian?), chatted a bit. Bought Coleman’s Jelly Roll Morton CD. Listened to most of a Braxton/Halvorson/Bynum/Laubrock quartet from an Italian festival, 2014. Home about 11, quite tired again. Edge of a cold. Have not been keeping up w/ reading well.
jun 19
Up 8, left w/ Bree at 9:15. Had to try to print some forms for her driver’s license renewal in between - also sat down at the piano briefly to start working out voicings for “Untimely.” Dr. appt. at Mt. Sinai; approved and scheduled her kidney stone operation for July 2. (There were options, but I’m not going into detail.) That at least clarifies that I don’t have conflicts w/ rehearsals and shows until the end of the month; afterwards, I will have to help/be around more during recovery. Lunch w/ Bree. Rode back up to Schomburg. Requested a few books on Cook + Dunbar. Half-wasted 2 hrs (except for a couple of research related query emails), but then read 1st 1/3 of Marva Carter’ s bio of Cook, found a bibliographical ref. I needed, and spent the last 45 min. revising. Also “discovered” a 1901 Williams and Walker song, “If You Love Your Baby, Make Dem Goo-Goo Eyes,” seemingly published after “She Made Them Goo-Goo Eyes,” but also in AA-bb-A form. Now I have to incorporate that info. Left 7:30, heard Anthony Coleman in a free duo w/ a drummer at Stone. Home at 11, really wrung out, watched some Dick Van Dyke and got back up to write some emails and spend just a few minutes on the horn chart. (Trombone reads in bass clef, which slows me down a little). Lights out 1 am. Continued slow progress through Shepard and Wick.
[Strange to be reading about American concentration camps on Juneteenth, by the way.]