My Favorite Music - 2

So here’s the second installment of my Top 100 favorite songs.

We’ll start with the Smooth Jazz genre, which is actually one of my most-listened-to genres, but being mostly instrumental music, I reasoned that it wouldn’t come across well in video form. So I eliminated all but a handful of the best of the best.

Anita Baker has a reputation in the music industry as an absolute perfectionist. Some people have said that she’s hard to work with. I think she just wants it right. I can relate to that.

During this editing/selecting process, I discovered that many of my favorite songs are written in praise of musicians. Brenda Russell’s “Piano In The Dark” is just one of those songs that gets to me.

Not only do I love Smooth Jazz, and musicians, I love the saxophone. And I love me some Candy Dulfer.

The next selection was popular before Jazz went smooth. Otherwise, it might have been classified as Smooth Jazz. Felix Haug and Kurt Maloo, the Swiss duo forming Double (pronounced “doobəl”), hit the Pop scene with “The Captain of Her Heart,” reaching No. 8 on the UK Singles chart and No. 16 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1985.

It’s hard to believe George Benson is 83! He was born in the “Hill District” of Pittsburgh, PA, not far from where my mom grew up. He’s won 10 Grammy Awards and has a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was hard to choose a favorite.

Trumpeter Herb Alpert is another Smooth Jazz fixture who has crossed over into the Pop charts. Fun fact: He cofounded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. And now you know where the “A” and the “M” came from. Alpert is the only musician to have reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 as both a vocalist (”This Guy’s in Love with You”, 1968) and an instrumentalist (”Rise”, 1979). Still, I’m partial to “Route 101.”

The Manhattan Transfer was a vocal group that formed in the 1960s and underwent several iterations until they retired in 2023. I became aware of them in the 1980s, and bought their vinyl albums until the world moved to CDs, which I then bought. I had heard “Birdland” before, composed by Weather Report member, Joe Zawinul, and thought it was a only Jazz Fusion instrumental, which it was, until several years later, Jon Hendricks wrote lyrics for it. The Manhattan Transfer got ahold of it and won a Grammy in 1979 for their rendition.

Oleta Adams was born in 1953 (same as me) and was a preacher’s kid (same as me). Obviously, her musical roots are in church. She mostly wrote songs at first, and got her big break in the music business when the band Tears for Fears asked her to write their next album. That led to her solo career. She was nominated for a Grammy for her rendition of “Get Here.” Oh, look who’s playing sax!

Paul Hardcastle hails from Great Britain (as many of my favorites do) and is the consummate musical multitasker, as composer, musician, producer, songwriter, radio presenter and multi-instrumentalist. He creates music under his own name, plus several pseudonyms. He’s the creative force behind the group Jazzmasters.

Helen Folasade Adu, known professionally as Sade, was born in Ibadan, Nigeria, and moved with her family to England (surprise!) at age 4. She actually got her start in the fashion industry, working as a designer and part-time model. In the early 1980s, she formed an eponymous band and got a contract with Epic Records. Hers is no ordinary voice.

Spyro Gyra is a Jazz Fusion group formed by saxophonist Jay Beckenstein in Buffalo, NY. The band name is based on the name of an algae, spirogyra, which fascinated Beckenstein for some reason. The prolific band has received numerous Grammy nominations, but never a win. “Morning Dance” is one of their best-loved releases.

Now, let’s slide smoothly from Smooth Jazz to New Age, starting with another Welshman, Karl Jenkins, a composer and multi-instrumentalist. He’s written a lot of music tracks for advertising and received acclaim for “Adiemus,” which has also turned up in advertising. Additionally, he formed a vocal project by the same name, voiced primarily by Miriam Stockley. If you’re trying to figure out what language his lyrics are written in, don’t bother. It’s a “language” that exists only in Jenkins’ mind. The words have no meaning. But then, if you’ve ever encountered spoken or written Welsh, you’d come to the same conclusion. A Welsh friend of mine named her Virginia estate “Glaswellt a Choed.” Translation: Grass and Trees.

The album, Deep Peace, by Bill Douglas and the ARS Singers is a recommended listening for those moment when you are certain this insane world is going to get the better of you. Here is the title track.

I have a “routine” programmed into the Amazon Echo device in my bedroom. With my beloved dog Mackie already waiting on the bed with her bedtime toy, I crawl in and say, “Alexa, good night.” The smart speaker begins to play a two-hour stream of soothing music from my playlist that helps both of us fall asleep. Mike Rowland’s “Land of Hope” is in the rotation. Unfortunately, there’s no interesting video with this piece, but I think it’s worth sharing.

Another selection in my bedtime playlist is “Myth” from the album Through the Veil by Unita, a vocalist from the Nashville, TN, area. She supplies only background vocals on this synthesized piece.

The next genre is what I’m calling Folk, because the songs don’t fit into Pop, Rock or any other category I’m naming. Some are a little Bluesy or countrified or Folk-Rock. These songs are a little more thoughtful, without being preachy. For example, “Teach Your Children” from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young fits that description.

Here come a few songs of regret. Don McLean is a singer/songwriter who seems to specialize in melodies of lament. His “American Pie” was a major hit, and it’s on my playlist, but I chose “Vincent” to share instead. It’s a tribute to Vincent Van Gogh, the tortured painter. Through his song, McLean argues that we shouldn’t dismiss Vincent as “nuts,” but understand that he struggled with mental illness.

No list of songs of lament would be complete without the work of Dion Francis DiMucci, known professionally as just Dion, an American singer/songwriter who started out as the lead singer of Dion and the Belmonts, with hits including “Runaround Sue” and “The Wanderer.” Dion faded from popularity and “got religion,” as they say. It was during this period that he released his major hit, “Abraham, Martin and John.” I think the sense of national sorrow resonates even today.

Harry Chapin, a fellow New Yorker, was a singer/songwriter and a humanitarian activist. He made the most of his brief 38 years, but often sang about loss and regret, as in the story-ballad, “Taxi.” Sometimes, we get what we want, then we find out too late that it’s not what we wanted after all.

Jim Croce was born to Italian immigrants in 1943 near Philadelphia, PA, and didn’t take music seriously until he got involved in the music program at Villanova University, where he graduated with a BS in social studies. His hit “Time in a Bottle” takes on more poignancy, in light of his tragic death at the age of 30, in the crash of a chartered aircraft, leaving behind his wife, Ingrid, and their son, A.J.

Eva Marie Cassidy was born in 1963 in Washington, DC, and grew up in Maryland. She’d always been interested in music, and at age 9, her father started teaching her to play the guitar. When she finished school, she was invited to gig with local bands, which eventually brought her recognition, but only in the DC area. She barely got started in the music business before she died of melanoma at age 33.

Linda Marie Ronstadt was born in Tucson in 1946 and grew up on the family ranch. She sang lead with The Stone Poneys, then went solo. She’s won 11 Grammy Awards and a slew of other awards for her work, including a Kennedy Center Honors award. She has collaborated with countless luminaries in the music business, singing all genres. In August 2013, she announced her retirement, saying she “couldn’t sing a note,” due to the ravages of Parkinson’s disease.

Continuing in the theme of musical pathos, next up is “Mr. Bojangles,” by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, founded in 1966 by Jeff Hanna and Jimmie Fadden in Long Beach, CA. Their cover of “Mr. Bojangles” was their biggest hit in 1970. They’ve collaborated with Linda Ronstadt and many other prominent artists from all genres, especially Country, which has become their musical home since the 1080s.

Okay, enough with the maudlin music. I want to leave you tapping your toe and reaching for a beer. Let’s pick up our spirits with an irreverent ballad from The Charlie Daniels Band. Charlie Daniels was born in Wilmington, NC, in 1936. He formed his band in 1972, which pioneered in the Southern Rock and Progressive Country genres. He continued playing and touring until his death in 2020 at the age or 83. “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” was the band’s Number One hit.

Wrapping up this installment of my Top 100 131 Favorites is a fairly recent discovery for me, The Tedeschi Trucks Band. The Florida band was formed in 2010 by a married couple named (shockingly) Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks. Their debut album, Revelator, won the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Blues Album. My favorite is “Made Up Mind” from their third album of the same title.

And there you have it, the second installment of my Top 100 131 Favorites … and we’ve only just begun! Keep an eye out for Part 3. What genre do you think we’ll explore next? I haven’t decided, but watch this space.