Today it is 40 years since the live event at Coney Island, NY, that became the album John Cage Meets Sun Ra. John Cage (1912-1992), Sun Ra (earthly life: 1914-1993).

James Blood Ulmer, 1940-2026. R.I.P. Here is his 1980 album Are You Glad to Be in America?

"'In the Orbit of Ra,' a new mural honoring the legacy of the jazz collective Sun Ra Arkestra, will be unveiled June 13 at an event in the parking lot of the October Gallery Museum at 6353 Greene St. Sun Ra Arkestra will perform at the event."

My colleagues (most of them) and I will present current work, i.e., papers from this spring, to each other on June 26. If you're in Copenhagen you're welcome to drop by.

Read these essential Afro-surrealist works by Toni Morrison, August Wilson, Nalo Hopkinson, and more.

You want to see Norway men’s national football team’s official photo for World Cup 2026 www.nytimes.com/athletic/733...

The Origin...

To this day, I’m still a bit shaken to know that he isn’t from Baltimore.

Peabo Bryson, 1951-2026. R.I.P. Here is his album Reaching for the Sky (recorded 1977, released 1978).

"Serpentine Fire"

Congrats!

"Steen's goal came at the 3:32 mark of the extra session and earned Norway its first medal at the world men's hockey championship." And yes, I am quoting the CBC on this one!

My evening music is Marty Ehrlich and the Dark Woods Ensemble's 1991 album Emergency Peace.

Nomen est omen.

Today it is 113 years since the first performance of Igor Stravinsky's Le Sacre du printemps at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris.

There are many exciting things tech could do in classrooms if it were regulated and if we lived in reasonable times. But it isn’t and we don’t. As I sketch out my courses for fall 2026, absolutely everything will be analog. Print book required. All paper assignments. No devices. No syllabus PDF.

My evening music is Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis 1969-1974 – Reconstruction and Mix Translation by Bill Laswell (from 1998).

Sonny Rollins, 1930-2026. R.I.P. Here is his 1958 album Freedom Suite.

Today Marshall Allen turns 102. He began playing with the Sun Ra Arkestra in 1958, and has been leading the Arkestra since 1993. I had the privilege and the pleasure of meeting him in Athens, Greece, November 10, 2017, when I gave a short introduction before a concert with the Sun Ra Arkestra.

Today Archie Shepp is 89. Happy birthday. Here is his and Horace Parlan's 1977 album Goin' Home.

This Norwegian house was built in 1168! (see comments)

Marshall Allen’s 102 Birthday celebrations - Ruba Club Philadelphia - Sunday May 24 2026

"It’s after the end of the world; don’t you know that yet?"

"This Planet Is Doomed"...

‘I was devastated. How could such a stunningly good novel, such a consummate, vital, absorbing work have so completely passed me by?’ Karl Ove Knausgård on Tarjei Vesass’s early work. granta.com/a-strange-bi...

The latest episode of the Granta Podcast is available now, featuring Olga Ravn. We discuss Tove Ditlevsen, the difference between consciousness and intelligence, and her short story in Granta 175: Scandinavia. granta.com/podcast-olga...

For our spring issue, Granta goes to Scandinavia. Read the issue for free online for the next five days. granta.com/products/gra...

Ryan Porter, 1979-2026. R.I.P. Here is Resilience (2022)

Currently reading: Cosmic Music: The Life, Art and Transcendence of Alice Coltrane by Andy Beta @andybeta.bsky.social

"(One major upside to being Norwegian is that we can read Vesaas in his own language . . .)" (Karl Ove Knausgård)

Sun Ra came from Saturn. Interplanetary earth arrival date May 22 1914. Place : The Magic City, Birmingham, Alabama. USA

*Call for Papers* @srsrensoc.bsky.social has announced its next #conference. 'The Renaissance beyond Borders' frames the #Renaissance as a dynamic, interconnected process that transcends the chrono-geographical limitations of a fixed European moment. Share your paper ➡️ rensoc.org.uk/cfp/12th-bie...

In a good year I will have read novels in both Norwegian languages (nynorsk and bokmål), in Danish, Swedish, English, and – hopefully – German. At least I try.

Today it is 55 years since the release of Marvin Gaye's album What's Going On.

We had an earthquake today here in Copenhagen...

Cris Derksen, 1981-2026. R.I.P.

With disgust I learned Olga Tokarczuk uses AI to help with writing her latest novel - article in Polish, my translation of relevant bit in posts below mycompanypolska.pl/artykul/olga...

Amazing work by my friend @aishadurham.bsky.social You go, girl!

Janelle Monáe released The ArchAndroid on May 18, 2010 - that is 16 years ago.

I am saying good night with Walter Hawkins doing "Goin' Up Yonder" from his 1975 album Love Alive. Good night! #goodnight #yonder

Ike Willis, 1955-2026. R.I.P. Here is Should'a Gone Before I Left (1987).

Between May 11 and May 14, 1926 – yes, that is 100 years ago these days – the airship Norge ('Norway') was the first airship to fly over the North Pole.

This evening I'm re-watching Us (2019, Jordan Peele). It is still one of my favorite movies from the last 10 years!

Today it is 160 years since Erik Satie was born. Here is his 1917 piece Sonatine Bureaucratique.

Today it is 20 years since the release of Burial's debut album Burial.

AI companies are writing their own constitutions. Meanwhile, a shared vocabulary for contesting algorithmic power has been traveling across red and blue states, from legislatures to civil society. New from me in @science.org: "A Civic Grammar for AI Rights" www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🧵

Here is the music filling my head these days, and what I will be talking about at the conference on "Global Music History and Northern Europe in the 18th and 19th Centuries" the next couple of days - well, my paper will be early Saturday morning.

This sounds like a fun issue: Sonic Renaissances, from Charlemagne to Beyoncé. Check the call for Submissions for Current Musicology.

Clarence Carter, 1936-2026. R.I.P. Here is his 1970 album Patches.

Today it is 129 years since Sidney Bechet was born.