Big Band
- Don't Get Around Much Anymore-Duke Ellington Orchestra (If this stately Ellington number isn't on the ballroom's dance playlist, the playlist is incomplete. My high school jazz band played this; even though I was a bassist who didn't get to play the melody, I was honored to provide the rhythmic underpinning of such a renowned classic.)
- Polarnacht-Palfinger (A hypnotic, swampy-sounding instrumental, recorded with the subtle ambience of crackling vinyl.)
- It's My Thing-Marva Whitney (This record was released in 1969, but I'd never heard this James Brown vocalist's clever response to "It's Your Thing" by The Isley Brothers until today. Whitney uses "It's Your Thing"'s template to state her case without hesitation.)
- I'll Be The One-Bri (Briana Babineaux) (A convincingly sung proclamation of volunteerism for a noble mission.)
- The Raven-Alan Parsons Project (A raven's caw opens this spooky 1976 blend of electronically altered vocals, powerful instrumental crescendos, and a recurring fanfare that reminds me of Joe Walsh's "Life's Been Good," released two years later.)
- My Ship-New West Guitar Group featuring Peter Eldridge (Charlie Watts and Bernard Fowler recorded the definitive version, in my opinion, but this is a jauntier arrangement with pleasant guitar and vocals. I can imagine Livingston Taylor and Kenny Rankin approaching the song similarly.)
- Saturday-Zanaelle (This plaintive piano instrumental could pass for a soap opera theme.)
