Six gems heard today:
KNED (McAlester, OK)
- Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue-Crystal Gayle (Forthright, matter-of-fact lyrics say everything they need to say in just two-and-a-half minutes. Gayle's spot on vocal delivery conveys the pain of rejection.)
- Mercy Street-Peter Gabriel (I don't listen to this track all that often. I should, however, as it's stark, bleak, and gripping.)
WDCB (Chicago, IL)
- Scratchin' In The Gravel-Marian McPartland (A classy piano performance of this Mary Lou Williams jazz-meets-blues melody. This is yet another example of why Williams should be better known. The station could have segued it with...)
- The Double Up-Lee Morgan (...this track, thanks to Cedar Walton's piano intro. Morgan is in commanding form on trumpet, as usual.)
WVBY (Beckley, WV)
- Ruth Gipps: Symphony No. 2 in B major, Op. 30 (Basel Sinfonietta/Jessica Horsley, conductor) (An impressively rhapsodic work in which the brass, winds, strings, and percussion sections all get to build dramatic tension.)
WWMV (Madison, WI)
- Heartbeat-Taana Gardner (I always let this dance groove play out when hearing it on KMJM in 1981. Gardner maximizes a strong hook compellingly.)
