Five ear-catching tunes heard today:
KEXP (Seattle, WA)
- All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! Or Forever Hold Your Peace!-Sufjan Stevens (Excellent whirling piano backing. I'd be curious to hear Zumpano cover this.)
KVMR (Nevada City, CA)
- Orange And Blue-Sarah Jarosz (Appealing natural imagery, sung and played with Jarosz's consistently tasteful aplomb. For a strong vocals-and-guitar rendition and explanation of the lyrics, check out Jarosz's "Behind The Mic" segment on YouTube.)
- The Lovers' Waltz-Jay Ungar & Molly Mason (Beautiful synergy between the violin and piano; the duo's own "Thanksgiving Waltz" would segue well with this.)
WMNF (Tampa, FL)
- I've Got The Music In Me-Kiki Dee (I went back and forth on whether to recommend this. Initially, I thought, "Essentially, this is just a song about enjoying music and conveying it to people. Everything is right there on the surface." Then, I thought, "Well, is it catchy? Yes. That's enough to give it its due, then. I don't have to be elitist about everything. Not every song has to be a gripping treatise on the costs of war to be appreciated.")
WORT (Madison, WI)
- Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise-Sonny Clark (This is an excellent piano-based rendition of this standard. Clark sustains a strong walking melody for six-and-a-half minutes.)
