Listening

This is by no means an exclusive list… and most of this requires an underlying foundation of mood. How that mood gets quantified is a good question. Honestly I don’t give it much analysis; the experience is more sensual, barely intellectual. There’s no hierarchy; the constraints of language imply one but think of it as a dependent rotation.

Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy – Louis Armstrong

A old friend once pointed out that Pops made possible every modern singer, from Doris Day to Iggy Pop to Aaron Neville to Kendrick Lamar. But this record for me goes even further: somehow the codas, the choruses after all the vocals are done, are transcendent. They just go deep and wide.

Lust For Life – Iggy Pop

Yeah, the first dozen bars of the title track; man, if you’re not in the mood… But, if you are, this is as good as but in a very different way as…

Kind of Blue – Miles Davis

To be continued.