So my folks are coming in to town for a couple of weeks to hang out with me on the lake and generally relax and get away from things. I expect to be spending a lot of time in the courtyard enjoying some wine and food and generally catching up and enjoying their company. I have one of those portable Boss SoundDocks (which is amazing, by the way), and usually have it playing some tunes lowly in the background while entertaining my friends. My folks aren't going to be into the same tunes I usually play, so am looking for the TiB Brain Trustâ„¢ to help me out a bit. FOCUS: Recommend some casual, dinner music. Jazzy, bluesy stuff... the stuff that makes you slow down and enjoy the moment, not jack you up to go wrestle a bear. The plan is to download albums from artists that are recommended and just hit shuffle. Or, if you have a torrent to a compilation somewhere, that'd work too.
Personally I just put on the "Cool Jazz" station on Pandora for dinner music, but here's a few good dinner jazz musicians/bands: -The Wayne Marsh Quartet -Bud Shank Quintet -Shelley Manne -George Shearing -Pete Jolly
John Scofield and Jaco are who I put on the radio when I want to pretend to know anything about jazz.
My suggestion would be to download the Cowboy Bebop soundtracks. Pretty amazing jazz tunes, although that's not a genre I would say I am an expert in. Some examples Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler A little more quick tempo, but still quite good Spoiler
Wow WTF? I mean, would a US-based proxy work (if the trouble is worth it)? Some other Jazz stuff: -Tommy Dorsey -Stan Getz -Cannonball Adderley
Skip James might be "too" blues for them, but he is one of a kind when it comes to good blues. My favorite song from all time: (If you like that, I can suggest some other blues in a similar style.)
This guy: http://www.alanpasqua.com/whatsnew.htm He has written and played for everyone from Santana to Sammy Hagar, but his wheelhouse is good, mellow jazz. Check out his discography. And he may just be related to me. Don't be fooled by the website - he has more recent stuff on itunes.
I've got some more recent stuff that I've explored in the last couple of months. White Denim, Street Joy from their album D. They're from Austin, Texas and are of the more light rock, acid blues venue of life. Spoiler Gil Scott-Heron, if you've followed GSH, he's a spoken word musician; very poetic and jazzy, his main body of work is from the '70's and '80's but the collection is still worth owning. He recently released a new album last year, shortly before his death and it's called I'm New Here and this is the first track. A highly recommended album to own and was recently remixed by Jamie from The XX; which is quite electronic. Spoiler Gayngs is an interesting bunch. A little more uptempo and very complex music. They might be a little eclectic for most peoples tastes but it's an interesting album. This is my favorite track off the album Retalyted and it's called The Gaudy side of Town. Spoiler Now, the most interesting person I've listen to in the last year is a guy named Yoav. He's a one man act from Israel; the amazing part is that everything you hear of his is made with a acoustic guitar, a giant loop pedal and his own voice. He is beyond amazing and one of my favorite musicians, I got the chance to see him live last year and his act absolutely blew me away. There have been very few acts that have left me with my jaw on the floor and his is one of them. This is Beautiful Lie, which is one of his singles off the album Charmed and Strange. He also has a second album A Foolproof Escape Plan, which is just as amazing. Spoiler Now, I realize that not all of these bands can be quite classified as jazz or blues solely but they are all quite worth giving a shot. I forgot to mention Local Natives. Pretty chill music to hang out and listen to. Spoiler
Buckethead's "Colma" CD. Seriously. It's completely awesome, very relaxing, and you can just let it play. It has stuff like this: Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler
I listen to hep jazz too and all, but for something more mainstream but still appealing to kids of all ages, I'd go with Adele. She sets all kinds of moods.
Miles Davis- Birth of Cool. Miles is Jazz. Portishead- Dummy and Portishead. Since they're trip-hop they're "different", but the have an untouchablably cool, soothing vibe and are never heavy. Anything by Sade. I use her a lot at weddings. Jessie Cook has horribly creepy hair but plays great flemenco acoustic guitar instrumentals. Jack Johnson- Brushfire Fairytales and On & On. If you want an upbeat, summer vibe that maintains a mellow quiet as well, this is your go-to guy. His songs are also fun and incredibly catchy. Michael Franti- Songs from the Front Porch. Ultra-upbeat, just plain great acoustic reggae. This is the perfect time of year for this album, kids. Diana Krall- Slow, minimal sultry-voiced jazz.
Duke Ellington is always nice. I personally love Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, but there stuff can be sort of upbeat. J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding are phenominal trombone players. Maynard Ferguson is spectacular. Older Johnny Lang stuff is great as well and so is B.B. King.
Vinx, a friend of my Dad's who sang background on this video: Spoiler has a CD of pretty cool, jazz flavored stuff: Spoiler Spoiler
Anytime we have people over for dinner/drinks before going out, I bust out the same mix... Buena Vista Social Club Raphael Saaqid (probably going to want to sift through his stuff as he's funk/RB, lots of "I want to fuck your facehole" crooning songs in his canon) Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers (Okay, this one is out of place but I play his CD's whenever I get a chance. Huge fan of his comedy, and I'm a bluegrass nut, so...makes sense. I'm annoying) I'm awful at this... just go with Sade or John Legend or Sinatra or something.
Semi-related: I once had to pick some intro/outro music for a presentation at an old job. Something vaguely upbeat, but not excessively distracting. I picked Herbie Hancock. My boss said "Take out whatever that 1970s porno music was." Scowls were had.