After finally having listened to everything on my iPod, today I went for shuffle play. Over the course of a few hours, I heard:

David Bowie – Oh! You Pretty Things (from Hunky Dory) – too much Rick Wakeman for my tastes, but still a killer tune from an amazing record.

Bjork – There’s More to Life than This (from Debut) – Ok, so she totally rocks, not matter what. I wrote arrangements of Hyperballad and Joga for a concert in 2005. Given that the instrumentation was vox, soprano sax, bass & drums, well it was pretty different sounding but great fun to do, and quite eye (or ear?) opening I guess. In fact, one audience member started a band after having heard our versions of the Bjork tunes.

Bob Dylan – It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue (from Lovesick , and about a dozen other records) – Bob totally rocks. My wife and I went to see him in November 2004 at Harvard, and he was totally amazing. That was my daughter’s first concert, albeit one she attended in utero. Oh, and yes, this CD is the very Lovesick that you know of from Victoria’s Secret.

Beach Boys – Don’t Worry Baby (Single version, from Sounds of Summer) – Yes, I own a Beach Boys collection of singles. No, it is not one of those cheesy K-Tel things that used to get advertised on summer afternoon television in the 1980s, but it is just about as bad. Let me just say that the mono version of Pet Sounds is better.

Peter Gabriel – Steam (from Us) – This tune doesn’t work for me. It’s like some kind of less hip version of Sledgehammer or something, and considering how “hip” Sledgehammer was, well, ok you get what I’m saying. But let me just say that PG is great, or was great, or something. I think he’s fantastic mostly.

Bjork – Enjoy (from Post) – Very Tricky. Post was an amazing record, and I remember at the time being totally blown away by the album. It sounds like something from another world, or at least Iceland, but there was also novelty in the music, so it wasn’t quite serious and wasn’t quite funny. Very Tricky.

Cannonball Adderly – Exodus (from Live at the Lighthouse) – Among the greatest bass/drum teams in jazz, Sam Jones & Louis Hayes swung harder than just about anyone. I love listening to Louis Hayes’ ride cymbal because even though it is not as rhythmically active as, say Tony Williams’, he can make quarter notes swing so freaking hard, man it’s unbelievable. This tune is my favorite track from Live at the Lighthouse, even though each tune is amazing. Victor Feldman plays and writes fantastically, well everyone plays incredibly. This is a must own CD for sure.

Dusty Springfield – In the Land of Make Believe (from Dusty In Memphis) – Yes, Dusty. I think she’s pretty incredible, but mostly it’s the production of the Dusty in Memphis that slays me. Reminds me, unfortunately for Dusty, of The Onion article “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood Gerrymandered to Serve King Friday’s Make-Believe agenda.”

Bob Marley – Five Days to Go (from a live bootleg, 1980-09-23) – This is from Bob Marley’s last concert, which was at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Blessings.

King Sunny Ade – Untitled (from a live bootleg at Pier 84 in NYC, 9/8/1984) – What to say about Ade?

Pat Metheny – 45/8 (from Letter from Home) – This piece of music is beautiful and interesting. I really admire the way that Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays write, since so much happens that most people don’t even notice.

Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic (from Pretzel Logic) – Dirty blues tune, and by dirty I don’t mean vulgar, necessarily. Very hip. Maybe too hip. This record is amazing, actually, but I prefer the nuttier tunes on this album to the singles.

John Coltrane – Cousin Mary (alternate take, from Giant Steps) – So the single greatest harmonic invention in the 20th century is Trane’s Three Tonic System. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out the tune Giant Steps. Having said that, I also recognize that it is a decidedly musician-oriented thing to dig this. I saw Paul Schaffer’s band do Giant Steps on the Late Show with David Letterman once and Dave banned it forever. Oh, and incidentally this record features the great Paul Chambers on bass.

Horace Silver – Que Pasa (from Song for My Father) – A favorite record of mine since I was very young, this record really captures a mood – I have no idea which one, but it’s great. Yes, the opening to the Steely Dan tune bears a striking resemblence to the opening to Horace’s tune Song for My Father. I think they even fessed up to it but I can’t seem to lay my hands on a quote…

Oscar Stagnaro – Calypso (from The Latin Bass Book) – Ok, so this is an oddity. It is a track from a play-along CD from a bass styles instruction book that Oscar wrote called The Latin Bass Book . It’s a fantastic book, and just for kicks one day I listened to the play-along CD as if it were a real record, which of course it is not designed for. Most of the stuff was great listening, and so unlike the Jamey Aebersold recordings, when a tune shows up in shuffle, I actually listen to it.

John Cale – Hallelujah (from the soundtrack to Scrubs) – Yes, I own the soundtrack to Scrubs. Actually, my wife bought it. Cale is amazing, but I prefer the duo record he did with Lou Reed called Songs for Drella . Oh, and as you’ll see if you follow the link, this is a Leonard Cohen tune. I like it anyway.

Oscar Stagnaro – Joropo (from The Latin Bass Book ) – more from the same Oscar Stagnaro book.

The Clash – Revolution Rock (from London Calling) – This album is amazing, but like the Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks , I like it more as an intellectual exercise than as actual music. It’s amazing, really, I love it, I just don’t find myself dying to listen to it.

Fela Kuti – Mistake (live, from Zombie) – Fela’s music had a profound impact on me. Actually, I discovered his music shortly after returning from some gigs in Ethiopia and Uganda. In Ethiopia I played with, as a member of the Either/Orchestra, Mulatu Astatke (among others). I have since written a fairly detailed analysis of the music of Kuti and Astatke in which I examine their relationship to jazz, based in part on Edmund John Collins’ fantastic article “Jazz Feedback to Africa.”

Feqadu Made-Mesquel – Asmarina (from Ethiopiques 4) – Speaking of Mulatu Astatke, this is from an edition of the Ethiopiques series dedicated to his music.

Mahmoud Ahmed – Mela-Mela (from Ethiopiques 6) – I am also proud of having had the opportunity to play with Mahmoud twice, and both times were sold out shows in Paris. He’s amazing. Sounds like Getachew Merkuria is on this record, too. I played with him in Ethiopia (aka Ethiopiques 20 ) and Paris also.

Tlahoun Gessesse – Alegntaye (from Ethiopiques 17) – Tlahoun is the voice of Ethiopia, and totally incredible. This sounds like a Mulatu arrangement to me, although it could be a Girma Beyene arrangement. I have yet to meet Tlahoun, but thankfully there is still time.

Prince – Musicology (from Musicology) Serious great Prince. I would like to have seen him on the road with Larry Graham and Maceo Parker …

James Brown – Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag (from Star Time) – The Godfather of Soul, you dig?

Griffin Technology – 88.5 (from iTrip) – Ok, so this isn’t actually a tune. It’s a terrible way of dealing with the iPod’s inability to interface to a car stereo. I never use this anymore because it’s completely inferior to anything else on the market. (Update – I used this again over Thanksgiving weekend and for the first time ever it seemed to work in a reasonable way. There is always a first time, I guess.)

Sex Pistols – Seventeen (from Never Mind the Bollocks) – See my comments on The Clash above.

Hana Shenkute – Endew Zim (from Yigir Bega) – I worked with Hana last January in Boston at the Berklee Performance Center where we played for the Bank of America Celebrity Series. She’s incredible, to be sure.

Messele Asmamaw – Ethiopia Hagere (from Ethiopiques 2) – I love the recording quality of this. It’s a recording of, I think, two krar players. Fantastic.

Settegn Atenaw – Achawchign (from Zefen Duro Kere) – I worked with Settegn on that same gig with Hana. It was an Either/Orchestra gig, really, but with guests from Ethiopia, and it was totally great. Among the more hilarious moments was a masinqo lesson from Settegn with 3 of us gringos (or, in Amharic, firenji) as students – on stage.

The Rolling Stones – Honky Tonk Woman (from Hot Rocks) – Yes, the Stones. ‘Nuff said.

That’s it. No more time today.
Rick