Song Of the week

294: e.s.t., ‘Dolores in a Shoestand’

Jazz for the 21st Century–the Esbjorn Svensson Trio. So worth the journey.

077: J.S. Bach, ‘The Art of The Fugue’ (The Emerson Quartet, ‘Contrapunctus 9’)

Listening to Bach isn’t so different from prayer. They are both human attempts to impose an artificial order upon an inherently chaotic world.

January 13, 2022 by jeff Classical Song Of the week 7

124: Bill Evans, ‘Nardis’

Dying from his life-long drug habit, in a harrowing burst of creative energy, Bill Evans raged against ‘the dying of the light’ night after night in these relentless, probing, profound performances.

January 5, 2022 by jeff Jazz Song Of the week 22

056: James Taylor, ‘Secret O’ Life’

Thinking that James Taylor is ‘Fire and Rain’ is like thinking that The Beatles are ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ or Dylan is ‘Blowing in the Wind’.
There’s so, so much more.

December 30, 2021 by jeff Rock Song Of the week 10

031: The Beach Boys, ‘Little Saint Nick’

I live in the only non-Christian country in the Western world, where Yuletide is quite conspicuous in its absence. But who can resist the greatest hot-rod carol ever?

December 23, 2021 by jeff Rock and Roll Song Of the week 7

072: Stephen Stills, ‘Suite:Judy Blue Eyes’ (“Just Roll Tape”)

Late one night after a recording session in which he accompanied his girlfriend Judy Collins, post-Buffalo Springfield/pre-CSN Stephen Stills gave the engineer a couple of hundred dollars, and said, “Just roll tape”. The resulting recordings, acoustic demos of 13 new Stills songs, lay forgotten for 40 years.

December 15, 2021 by jeff Rock Song Of the week 18