KRUI (Iowa City, IA)
- So What-Miles Davis (A landmark tune from one of jazz's most acclaimed albums, "Kind Of Blue." Davis leads a top-notch ensemble and ties the song together with a famous two-note trumpet refrain.)
- Watch The Sunrise-Big Star (One of the band's most appealing tunes; an acoustic gem with welcoming guitar strumming and vocal harmonies in the chorus.)
- Latin What?-Sammy Figueroa & His Latin Jazz Explosion (A number that cooks. This is an aspect of being on a noncommercial station I miss--being able to mix and match tracks from different, equally compelling formats in the course of an air shift.)
- A Potter's Song-Maria Schneider Orchestra featuring Gary Versace (Another strong track from Schneider's 2015 release, "The Thompson Fields." Versace's accordion captures the essence of a compelling Toots Thielemans or Stevie Wonder harmonica line.)
- Soon-Ernie Henry Quartet (Fine straight ahead, midtempo, sax-led jazz.)
- Antonin Dvorak: Serenade For Strings in E major, Op. 22 (London Chamber Orchestra/Christopher Warren-Green, conductor) (I had the pleasure of playing this piece on the bass years ago, and I still think it's one of the warmest, most lyrical pieces I've ever played.)
- Franz Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 27 in G major (Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia/Bela Drahos, conductor) (A buoyant symphony and performance; its first and third movements have some of the exuberant spirit that Felix Mendelssohn would capture later in the first movement of his fourth symphony.)
- Carl Teike: Old Comrades (Philip Jones Brass Ensemble/Elgar Howarth, conductor) (Suitable for Independence Day; it's another piece that KMOX could have used as its morning march back in the day.)
- Bones-Mornings (A good 2015 selection; there's a trance-like vibe in this jazzy instrumental, with hypnotic vocal punctuation and clapping.)
- Tenderly-Andrea (Segues smoothly with "Bones;" Andrea's R&B/chill vocals float over a trance-inducing backing track.)
