Many thanks to Ethan Iverson for hosting my expanded reflections on Sonny Rollins, including a Desert Island list of recordings. substack.com/@iverson/not...

John forgot the part where the frog watched the scorpion sting and drown a ton of frogs for ten years. And the part where the frog helped the scorpion sting other disloyal frogs.

Gonna write more about this, but our final pilgrimage in Vienna was to the inn where Beethoven stayed in 1802 and wrote the so-called Heiligenstadt Testament.

I’m telling you folks, I left the country for two weeks and the Cubs had a ten game losing streak. Literally my first full day back and they win! I promise to never go to Europe during the baseball season again!

I’ve been out of the country for two weeks, and since I left, the Cubs went from closing out their second 10 game winning streak to now a 10 game losing streak. But, as I’m said, I’m back so things are obviously about to turn around.

Because I can’t pick just one track, here is the entire A Night at the Village Vanguard m.youtube.com/watch?v=N6Gy...

Oh boy we knew this day would come…but this is tough. Rollins was really the last of a major cohort that revolutionized music.

Made the first of many pilgrimages in Vienna to Gustav Mahler’s grave. Placed some flowers and a visitation stone at the site, and listened to one of the Rückert Lieder, “Ich bin der Welt abhaden gekommen.”

Observation from Salzburg: you would honest to God think the only opera Mozart wrote was Die Zauberflote! Hardly a mention of Giovanni, Figaro, Cosi, etc. anywhere.

A completely awestruck afternoon in Salzburg visiting Mozart’s birthplace

Some high quality @ricksteves.bsky.social product placements in Nürnberg.

Hmm. HMM! Hmmmm. Interesting. Don’t data centers create jobs? Specifically Utah jobs?

Spent a day in Wagnerland

NICO HOERNER, FULL EXTENSION 😱

Martin Luther: Geystliche Lieder (1557) at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum.

Ambient Airport Phone Conversation: “Yeah we went to church for just an hour, and then we went to the Michael Jackson movie and grabbed some dinner at Texas Roadhouse.”

…after the board unanimously voted for the data center.

Measles vs. Hantavirus (Summer 2026, only in Utah)

No offense to Texas (maybe a little offense) but I refuse to believe that there are TWO (2) MLB teams in the Lone Star State.

Who says?

One of the most remarkable series I can remember (and we have another game tomorrow!)

P.C.A!!!!!

I obviously do not want to jinx this, but this Cubs defense is World Series caliber! Dansby, Nico, PCA, pick-offs by Kelly. Remarkable!

This cabinet is not only filled with unqualified people, but with—and I cannot stress this enough—the cringiest losers of all time.

All End-of-Semester Thank You Gifts now have to compete with this handmade bookmark of my cat reaching for my favorite tetrachord

I think Spencer is gonna have to crack open a bottle of "Disagree Better" when he hears the overwhelming opposition to this data center.

In light of today’s news: “As Johnson sat silently listening, most of these advisers were warning that he must not emphasize the subject because it would antagonize the southerners who controlled Congress, and whose support he would need for the rest of his presidency, (1/3)

The Voting Rights Act is essentially dead and it’s quite possible that we will, like when a similar SCOTUS gutted civil rights at the fall of Reconstruction, see a disappearance of much of the Black congressional representation, especially in the most heavily Black states, which are in the South.

All in all, a well thought out list. But just to cut to the case, Stevie Wonder is our greatest living songwriter, full stop!

My alto saxophone concerto 'The Angel of History' is now published by the good people at Murphy Music Press. Get a copy while they are hot! www.murphymusicpress.com/products/cb5...

To end the weekend... www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHGt...

Unbelievable!

no worries, nico's got it.

Democrats will now have no choice but to propose a sweeping nationwide bathroom bill

Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians, a true sea-change of a piece, is 50 years old today! I wrote a short essay earlier this month about listening to this piece with my Theory IV undergrads, and what it teaches us about time and attention. open.substack.com/pub/robranki...

I cannot stress enough what MTT's Keeping Score series did for me when I was in my early teens. I remember watching the episode on Beethoven's Eroica and rushing over to Barnes and Noble the next morning to buy a copy of the complete Beethoven symphonies! www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5zF...

A giant! A brilliant musician who taught me how to listen. Rest in Peace, and thanks for everything. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/a...

Seven straight wins for the Cubs! I can’t remember a game with more men left on base, but a W is a W.

If only to stress the obvious, this is not a win—what he is advocating for is far more dangerous than Trump and looks to be gaining momentum…

Ringing in the last day of teaching with some Cubs baseball! (and TF Squirrel IPA on tap).

Just phenomenal! Six in a row, fly the W, and play the song!!

I wrote about having my undergrads listen to Reich's 'Music for 18 Musicians' as a class, perceptions of musical time, and the reclaiming of attention. robrankin.substack.com/p/on-music-f...

Happy Saturday

A masterclass from Shota, and (finally) an offense to match!

Hmmm must have missed Matt Shaw’s two cents on that Cubs promo about Jackie Robinson…

Jackie Robinson’s pioneering legacy still resonates throughout the world today. On the 79th anniversary of his Brooklyn Dodgers debut, we celebrate a Hall of Fame hero whose character and courage inspired generations of athletes to play ball.

Wait until John Curtis finds out he has compared himself to Jesus multiple times!