SiriusXM highlights CLXVIII

Seven standout tunes heard this afternoon:

Chill 

• Paradox-Nina Young (A steady midtempo beat and compelling vocals with echo propel this track.) 

Luna 

• Sierra Madre-Dave Valentin (Vibrant, upbeat jazz flute.)

Mosaic

• Be OK-Ingrid Michaelson (A frank acknowledgment that life takes its toll on everyone, and sometimes, you're just trying to get through the day.)

Real Jazz

• Moanin'-Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers (The compellingly sung Lambert, Hendricks & Ross rendition comes to mind first when I think of this tune, but this is Blakey's composition, which his band pulled off impressively.  The first 10 notes make up one of the most memorable jazz themes.) 

Smokey's Soul Town

• I'll Be Good To You-The Brothers Johnson (Instant atmosphere, from the opening notes.  Also recommended: "Strawberry Letter 23.")

The Village 

• Timberland-Tommy Emmanuel (A gripping downcast guitar instrumental.)

Watercolors

• Free To Be-Kim Scott (Sunny smooth jazz flute.)

Online radio sampler highlights CCXCII

Five standout songs heard this morning:

KCAT (Pine Bluff, AR) 

• Dry Your Eyes-Brenda & The Tabulations (Rhythmically and emotionally,. this 1967 R&B hit could segue with "It's Gonna Take A Miracle" by Deniece Williams.)

KCOU (Columbia, MO)

• Love Is Love-The Blackbyrds (The group's biggest hit, "Walking In Rhythm," has held up deservedly over the decades and is usually the track of theirs you're most likely to hear on the radio.  It was a pleasant surprise to hear this overlooked sunny keyboard/synthesizer instrumental for a change.) 

KUTX (Austin, TX)

• Major Tom-The Space Lady (Vocally and instrumentally, this is an impressively spacey rendition of Peter Schilling's 1983 hit.)

WAYO (Rochester, NY)  

• Molten Lava-Lord Echo featuring Leila Adu (An effective refrain, "walking by myself," anchors this well-sustained dance rhythm.)

WTJU (Charlottesville, VA)

• Big Earl's Last Ride-Jason Marsalis (This 2013 vibraphone track sounds like a throwback to a decades-earlier era of jazz.  Its compelling ending throbs.)

Context? CDXXVII

A radio commercial for a tuckpointing service touted its workers as "very polite, and they clean up after themselves."

I'd like to think that both of those of qualities would be a given in any business, but...

Only in college CXVIII

When I checked the office voicemail at KCOU, it was apparent that some students who could hear the station's Springfest '92 concert from their dorms weren't exactly fans.  Although we didn't get a ton of complaints, a handful of students left comments about the volume.

My favorite complaint was this one: "The one day a year I try to study, I can't because of your loud-@&&, crappy-@&& band!"

My unspoken reply: "Sorry if the concert prompted you to move your studying to the library or other campus venues for one day, but seriously, the one day a year you try to study...?" 

The pitfalls of shuffle mode XIV

Talk about a great pairing of high energy with ominous vocals.  Despite its discomforting lyrics about surveillance, I never tire of "Just A Job To Do" by Genesis.  It was only natural, then, that iTunes shuffle mode segued it this morning with...

...Peter, Paul & Mary's version of "This Land Is Your Land."  Who better to sing such inclusive, live-and-let-live lyrics than this noble folk trio?  I've always respected "This Land..." and play it on or before Independence Day every year.  It doesn't, however, mesh well with the gory bounty hunter scenario portrayed in "Just A Job To Do."

That's what I get, though, for leaving my segues up to chance.

Context? CDXXVI

My sixth grade chorus teacher, Mrs. B., once asked the class to write down songs they'd like to hear her play on the piano.  I was surprised when one student requested "Stardust" by Artie Shaw.  Thanks to my interest in jazz from a young age, I'd heard of that song but wasn't familiar with the melody offhand.

"That's an old song," she told the student.  "I'm curious to know how you know it."

I don't remember the student's answer, but a parent's--or more likely, a grandparent's--influence probably led him to request that song.  It was unusual, to say the least, for a sixth grade student in 1982 to request "Stardust."  At the time, I thought, "Requesting 'Stardust' or any Artie Shaw tune at age 11 shows an open mind when it comes to music."

Eleven years later, someone else left a similarly open-minded impression. 

A murky verdict IX

I was impressed last night upon hearing Kurt Elling & The WDR Big Band's cover of Joe Jackson's "Steppin' Out."  However, I suspected that my brother's cat, Lily, was somewhat less sold on it:

Slowly but surely, though, Lily started to come around: 

I was glad to see that.  Vocally and instrumentally, Elling & company's reworking of "Steppin' Out" turns it into a solid lounge number.