Standout songs heard today:
Acoustic Guitar Instrumentals
- Renaca-Nicola Cipriani/Brad Myrick (A somewhat bittersweet midtempo melody.)
The Big Easy
- Right On-The Dirty Dozen Brass Band ("Use Your Brain" is my go-to track from this band, but this could be effective underscoring for a turbulent scene.)
The Coffee House
- I Thought I Saw Your Face Today-She & Him (Lyrically and structurally, this sounds like a Carpenters song to me.)
North Americana
- The Returner-Allison Russell (I don't always agree with the expression, "That which does not kill us makes stronger," but Russell's lyrics make a solid argument in its defense.)
Piano Instrumentals
- Between Raindrops-Joshua Zimmerman ("After Hours" by Rickie Lee Jones could segue with this, as there's a compatible delicacy between both tracks.)
Real Jazz
- Baby Elephant Walk-Ted Nash (It impresses me that this version of a distinctive Henry Mancini tune sounds like it might swerve into Herbie Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island" at any moment.)
The Village
- Hymn For The Unholy (Live)-Emily Scott Robinson (A well-written, sincerely sung acknowledgment that much of life is uncertain and a certain resilience comes with surviving the curves it throws you.)
Watercolors Instrumental
- Lifted-Phil Denny (A steady, easy-on-the-ears smooth jazz saxophone groove. I would segue this with Freddie Ravel's "Sunny Side Up.")
