I've been listening to a lot of McCoy Tyner lately, so I thought I'd write about his performances on the wonderful John Coltrane minor blues called "Mr. P.C." (written for the bassist, Paul Chambers). I've heard about ten different versions of the tune played by the quartet on various recordings over the years, without ever feeling anything other than astonishment. In fact, it might be the best way to appreciate the artistry of the group, as both the theme and the harmonic structure are very easy to hear. The wealth of ideas, the speed at which they're being found, the powerful sounds that each musician variously harnesses and unleashes always at the service of the whole - it's remarkable stuff. Here's a wonderfully played version (but, unfortunately, not the best recording) in two parts: 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz2PzXuxwts 2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umgJi6QXNEg&feature=watch_response

And Tyner, who found a vocabulary with which he could match the dynamic range and power of the others, is still doing it. Here's a link to his upcoming tour dates: http://mccoytyner.com/schedule.html.

Before I give you the six through ten slots of my Radiohead top ten, I should mention that it's really tough to do this sort of list with this group, and not just for the usual reason (i.e. too many good songs - although that is true here, too), but because the albums from which they're selected are very carefully balanced and really should be listened to in their entirety. That said, the center of their craft is always the song, and it's interesting to note that almost all of their tracks clock in at between 3:30 and 5:30 - average radio-friendly pop song length, in other words. You might also notice that many of the tracks are guitar-based. Now I don't think that the fact that I play the guitar influenced my choices, but it may have: one of the first things that I noticed about their sound was that all three guitarists have both great touch and great originality on the instrument. Anyway, here goes:

6. "Paranoid Android" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF8khJ7P4Wg): The astonishing texture of the opening gives way to all kinds of wonderful musical moments. A through-composed masterpiece. 7. "Climbing up the Walls" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbtZyuOMdHI): In which they turn their gifts for cinematic musical expression to the genre of horror. All kinds of beautiful (and frightening) details to discover. 8. "Knives Out" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRzRbxd5YKA): In one way, it's probably the most straightforward song on either Kid A or Amnesiac, but in other ways, it isn't. I think its interesting structure and chord changes will make it a jazz standard some day. (Check out Brad Mehldau's version, if you don't believe me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaXHgdUirkE) 9. "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNRCvG9YtYI): Another beautiful guitar-based texture. The seeming simplicity of the opening is deceptive. Another song that could only have been created in the Radiohead way of working. 10. "All I Need" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgYBeuM5KHY): A rare love song, but a wonderfully strange one. The song's formal and harmonic ideas will be studied in music theory classes for many years to come.

I've been getting a kick out of this top ten list stuff, so I'm going to do a few more in the days ahead. Today, here are the first five of my top ten Radiohead songs: 1. "How to Disappear Completely" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAF8D0ugyVk): The amount of development that this track underwent between its sketch stage, heard in Meeting People Is Easy(1998), and Kid A (2000) demonstrates what they're about. Thematically, musically (this band can swing!), lyrics that at first might seem inconsequential but then resonate with possibility - pure Radiohead. Best place to listen to it: a country road, a starry sky, a good car stereo. 2. "Reckoner" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOoCixFA8OI&feature=related): Their conception of rhythm seems to grow and expand with every album. This song amazed me in October of 2007, and my admiration has only increased since. 3. "Everything in Its Right Place" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onRk0sjSgFU): On Kid A, they left aside almost every characteristic for which their work had become famous in the first place: the three-guitar attack, Yorke's expressively human vocals, etc. To do something that daring, right after OK Computer, and to succeed beyond anyone's expectations, well there's a reason that it's been named the album of its decade in several polls. 4. "Dollars & Cents" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_v2OsC9yT0): My favourite track from Amnesiac, which is certainly their most under-valued album. Has there ever been a rocker who has has done string arrangements with the depth and variety of Jonny Greenwood's? 5. "These Are My Twisted Words" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiJj_8yjLnU): Just in case anybody forgot that they can still be a guitar band when they want to.

Tomorrow: the other five.

One of the greatest pleasures in listening to jazz is found in the walking bass. Its role is to provide the connection between the harmony and the rhythm, both of which are usually very complex. But in the hands of a master, when every note is chosen and played with knowledge and care, it creates a streamlined logic and sense of resolved expectation that is largely responsible for what Ellington called "the feeling of jazz". One such master was Ray Brown, who was the kind of bassist who elevated every date (live or recorded) that he played on. I had a teacher once who said that what he'd been enjoying the most in his personal listening over the previous year or so was "anything with Ray Brown". Here's an excellent clip of him playing Luiz Bonfa's "Black Orpheus": (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bJu2owDM2E).

There are musicians that expand not only what an instrument can sound like, but what music itself can sound like. Eric Dolphy was one. The instrument in question was the bass clarinet (although he also played alto sax and flute), and during his too-short career, he played it in ways that no one else had even imagined. He created a vocabulary that sounds adventurous even today. His 1964 recording Out to Lunch is rightly considered a jazz classic, as he and a stellar band (Richard Davis on bass, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Bobby Hutcherson on vibes, Tony Williams on drums) find just the right balance between freedom and discipline.

Records like this one remind us that jazz is a very open type of music in concept, and personally, I hope it stays that way. The extraordinary achievement that is this album proves that jazz can't (and shouldn't) be defined.

The album's opener, "Hat and Beard" with its 9/8 theme, is a tribute to Thelonius Monk (another musician to whom today's first sentence applies). Dolphy's solo is first: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tnPkQufnZY

Claude Debussy's orchestral works rank among the most beautiful and daring pieces of music ever written. Not an everyday combination that, but I suppose that's why his work has only increased in importance and prominence. One CD that never seems to get far from my player is my trusty old Naxos disc of performances of Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune, Nocturnes and La Mer by the BRT Philharmonic conducted by Alexander Rahbari. It just doesn't get old, probably because there is so much in the music - it seems to be entirely free both rhythmically and harmonically and yet every gesture is at the service of an underlying logic, which is frequently inspired by another art form. In the case of the Prelude, the poetry of Stephane Mallarme, and in the case of the Nocturnes, three Whistler paintings. There is some disagreement over whether Debussy liked the term impressionism to be applied to his music, but either way, there's no doubt that it has an overwhelming pictorial quality. Here's an interesting version of "Nuages", the first of the Nocturnes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fljlEf9iCCM.

My Who top ten, continued: 6. "I Can't Reach You" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LGS0h83Lns) Not only were the Who a great rock band, they were also a great pop band, as this track shows. Lyrically, the seeds of Tommy are apparent. Of course, The Who Sell Out was a concept album of a different type (see post of July 28, 2010 for more). 7. "Tattoo" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxLjUzKhdJM) Another classic from the same album, it's brilliant both musically and lyrically. Is the last line the sound of the tattoos growing without stop? 8. "How Many Friends" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as5LM7kHXGE) Another narrative-driven song, which also features one of Daltrey's most amazing performances. 9. "Pinball Wizard" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFrDpx7zLtA) For three reasons: It's Tommy's centerpiece. They manage to bring the machine to life without resorting to gimmickry. It's one of Pete Townshend's greatest rhythm guitar performances, among many. 10. "My Generation" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=594WLzzb3JI) One of the most emulated rock songs, but there's still nothing quite like it. Townshend wrote it when he was twenty, if you can believe it, and it set the tone, and the standard, for the rest of their career. The clip linked here doesn't have great sound, but the video shows their unmatched performing brilliance, and the fact that it didn't lapse over the years.

OK, here's the first five from my top ten by the Who: 1. "The Real Me" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzLky4U-xCg&playnext=1&list=PLCBC70BF02EFAA779&index=1). Saw Quadrophenia in theatrical release at the age of seventeen and thought it was thrilling and still do, in fact. The opening scene sets the tone for the film, as the song does for the opera. It's the Who at their best: Entwistle showing his Jamerson influence, Moon inventive and whirling, Townshend displaying his Cropper chops and Daltrey his powerful upper range. Thematically, it's a very representative piece, as the lyrics look both inward and outward with equal toughness. 2. "My Wife" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0iA_rOcn9Y). John Entwistle was a great bassist, everyone agrees, but he was also a much better songwriter than most people realize. Check out So Who's the Bassplayer? The Ox Anthology from 2005 if you get the chance. The song selected here is a standout even on the Who's best album. And the lyrics are hilarious. 3. "Going Mobile" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToxymSLzJeM&feature=related). Could be considered Keith Moon's greatest recorded performance, and that's saying something. Townhend's vocals, interjections, guitar: all perfect. 4. "1921" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p3RNuhZZ54&feature=related). My favourite from Tommy. It's just a beautiful song, even though I didn't understand the storyline until I saw The Who's Tommy on Broadway. The link here is to a cool live clip from 1970. 5. "Slip Kid" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4xjr9v5ehk). A killer song from one of their most under-rated albums.

Six to ten tomorrow.

I must say that making the list of my top ten Beatles songs turned out to be good fun. I think I'll do some more lists in the posts ahead for some of my other favourite groups. The Stones, Led Zep, Radiohead, Steely Dan, Wilco, and Sly and the Family Stone come immediately to mind. Wait, there's also the Who and the New York Dolls and Roxy Music and... Maybe it's not such a great idea after all. We'll see.

Speaking of the Dolls, apparently we have a new album to look forward to (Dancing Backward in High Heels) within a couple of months. Can't wait. Their last two (you know, the ones released in 2006 and 2009, after a short hiatus of thirty-two years), One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This and Cause I Sez So, are both among the very best rock and roll albums ever made (as were their first two, but we knew that already), up there with the best work of any of the artists mentioned above. Like I said: Can't wait. Here's "Dance Like a Monkey": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_XEiV-l97o (opening line: "You designed so intelligent/ Ain't no way that was an accident...")

Choosing the 6 to 10 slots of my top Beatles songs is going to be a lot harder than 1 through 5, because now I have to think about all the songs that I'm excluding. Bit of a drag, that. But I did start this thing, so here we go:

6. "Run For Your Life" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUrOmy9RiGg). It's impossible to say enough about John Lennon's honesty, demonstrated here by the fact that he wasn't afraid to show his dark side. This one comes from my top Beatles album, by the way, Rubber Soul - the North American release. Sorry, but it's the one I grew up with. And my LP version was the one with the full stereo pan mix, which meant that you could listen to nearly all of the tracks a cappella - a real treat. 7. "Michelle" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OhV1Mq2HFU). McCartney's masterpiece from the same album. For one thing, it's harmonically brilliant: the melody starts on an F major chord, but the rest of the song, starting on the following chord (a Bb minor), is in F minor, with a brief detour into Db major. And it's all entirely convincing. Also, the form shortens as the song progresses, which creates a telescoping effect. The singing is good, too, you'll notice. 8. "A Day in the Life" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ2AoCUFsjY). The most adventurous song ever recorded by a rock group? There'd be an argument for it. And it's a beautiful song, wonderfully played and sung. 9. "Here Comes the Sun" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7h1IphPfeU). It's interesting to note the trajectory of the importance of Harrison's songs to Beatles albums. On earlier records, there would be one or two, treated almost as asides by most listeners (although they shouldn't be). But on later albums, they're centerpieces; imagine the White Album without "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" or "Savoy Truffle", or Abbey Road without "Something", or this one. 10. "Eleanor Rigby" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jZ5-Jyie6g). Allen Ginsberg called it the first time that he was convinced of the presence of high intelligence in popular music. I think I'll leave it at that.

I've seen a few lists of favourite Beatle songs on the internet lately, probably because of the iTunes thing, and I thought it might be fun to list a few of my own. Starting at the top: 1. "Hey Jude" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42A0qNayFRE). Why? Because it demonstrates so clearly the two greatest qualities of their musicianship: "heart and timing", in the words of Ringo. And then there's the singing. McCartney's lead is strong and balanced throughout, but the entry of the backups (at 0:45) is, for me, one of the most beautiful moments in their entire recorded output. 2. "Hey Bulldog" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WBelmO65J4). Because I love to hear the Beatles rock. Have you ever noticed that John Lennon is a really good singer? Man! 3. "If I Fell" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ets2eNJzhY). A really adventurous song, harmonically speaking, and beautifully arranged and sung in a way that would have made proud the Everly Brothers. 4. "It Won't Be Long" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5drpgVPusVg). Because I find it the song that best captures the Beatlemania spirit. 5. "Something" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ5JM0inqGU). Had to get one of George's in there. Check out Ringo's drumming during the bridges. Also, I don't like to disagree with Frank Sinatra, and it was one of his favourites.

OK, that was fun. Five more tomorrow.

When jazz musicians discuss their favourite players, one name that often comes up is the late great trumpet giant Freddie Hubbard. Even by the high technical standards of jazz, his work is awe-inspiring. He was what some jazzers call a conversation-stopper: a player who could make musicians in the club stop talking, even in the middle of a sentence, to avoid missing a note of his solos. And he had a full and varied career, recording many albums as a leader as well as playing in groups led by Herbie Hancock, Ornette Coleman, and Sonny Rollins, to name a few. He was a standout contributor to some of the most important albums in jazz history, including Oliver Nelson's Blues and the Abstract Truth, Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch, Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage, Wayne Shorter's Speak No Evil. As this list shows, he was able to shine in pretty much every conceptual context - tonal, modal, or free. Here's a really cool clip of him with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, circa 1962: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4noNAphDFA8. And if you haven't heard even one of the albums mentioned above, you know what to do.

Radiohead's Thom Yorke is probably the most interesting singer in rock, and has been for some time, in my opinion. His work ethic is what makes him so; the fact that he has spent so much time writing music using piano, guitar and voice is one factor that gives him a sound that's sensitive and subtle, but also very powerful. It's also clear that he's learned a lot from great singers of the past and present. In an earlier post, I mentioned how he's indebted to John Lydon, a fact that's particularly evident on the more manic material (like "Bodysnatchers", for example), and Neil Young is also a big influence, and there are several great videos on YouTube of him and Radiohead doing Young songs. Here's a version of "Tell Me Why" that is terrific (despite the crowd noise): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHIJcx9EB94. Another singer that can be heard in Yorke is Bryan Ferry, and the version of "2HB" from the soundtrack of Velvet Goldmine, a 1998 film, is quite surprising for Yorke's uncanny impersonation of the Roxy frontman. It's definitely worth a listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxcDwzsx8OQ

In my post of September 15, 2010 I wrote about Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Only, his 1958 album arranged by Nelson Riddle and produced by Voyle Gilmore. Today, I'd like to mention another brilliant recording by the same trio, an earlier one in fact, In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning from 1955, which must be considered among the greatest albums in history. Riddle's arranging is of such originality and beauty that the album would be worth a listen for it alone. And Sinatra's work matches it on both fronts. I'm quite sure that he was one of those rare artists who inspired the very best in his collaborators, elevating them to their best moments (Miles Davis was another with that ability). The recording, though done with what would now be considered primitive equipment is, to put it simply, sparkling. I can never believe how good it sounds. And the songs, selected to show both the variety and the commonality of the experience in question, provide a cross-section of the work of some of the greatest American song-writers. Even the cover is great. It's a masterpiece, a must-hear. Here's the title track: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ImGP33hcc4

I can't remember where I read this, but it doesn't really matter because it's not true: It was something along the lines of it being necessary to have at least two musicians to play jazz. The writer was probably simply repeating something heard in another context, about jazz being conversational in spirit or something. And it is, to a considerable degree, but it can be played solo at the highest levels as well. The listening and responding aspects are still there, but it's one's own statements (along with the structural elements of the piece) that have to be used in the process. In fact, it could be argued that some musicians reach their creative peaks on their own. Keith Jarrett is one, in my opinion, and Joe Pass, the great guitarist, another. Here's a good video of Pass doing the Ellington classic, "Do Nothin' Til You Hear from Me": (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZfQUYOEzpg).

Gustav Mahler's song cycle, Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the death of Children), was based on poems written by Friedrich Ruckert in 1834. Not intended for publication, the 428 poems were composed as a way of trying to cope with the grief that he felt after losing his two children to scarlet fever. Mahler, born into a large family in what was then called Bohemia (now the western part of the Czech Republic), lost seven of his thirteen siblings before they had left infancy, and so he was very familiar with both the causes and effects of such tragedies. His decision to set the poems was a difficult one; it's certain that his wife, Alma, was strongly opposed to the idea. Mahler's response was: "I don't choose my material. It chooses me." It's hard to disagree with that assessment after listening to the program, and particularly the fifth and final section, "In diesem Wetter!", which is one of the most extraordinary sound paintings ever written: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9GXIHvwGqM&feature=related

What's your favourite song? Tough question, isn't it? I've had it asked of me, and I've never yet been satisfied with any answer that I've given. For one thing, I've had several different ones over the years. In any event, the best answer that I've heard anyone give it was provided in an interview with Julian Casablancas, the frontman of the excellent New York rock band known as the Strokes: "Probably 'A Change Is Gonna Come'," was the succinct, and very cool, answer. The song is sort of like a called shot in baseball - Sam Cooke (apparently impressed with "Blowin' in the Wind") said he was going to hit one out of the park, and did. It combines the personal and the universal; it's beautifully orchestrated; and it's sung by Sam Cooke:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbO2_077ixs

I think it's safe to say that there are very few, and perhaps not any, rock guitarists who've used the instrument to as many ends as Queen's Brian May. Over the course of his career, he's experimented with all sorts of overdubbing techniques in his famed guitar orchestrations; used delay to extensive effect (particularly on "Brighton Rock" on both live and studio versions); arranged all sorts of accompaniments in countless styles; and played some of the most beautiful (and varied) solos ever recorded. He strikes me as part George Harrison (i.e. he puts the the band first and thinks like a session musician) and part Clapton (i.e. he can wail). I also think that working with Freddie Mercury must have pushed his abilities a great deal, as frequently Mercury would be quite precise in what he wanted from the guitar, but because he would use the piano to demonstrate, May would then be required to find ways of playing parts that were not in the standard bag of rock guitar tricks. Of course, he made large contributions to Mercury's development, and to the other members' as well. If I had to pick one track as representative of May's six-string artistry, it would be "Death On Two Legs", the opening track from A Night at the Opera (1975). Every note that he plays is brilliant, but the sound sculpture guitar solo is amazing, even by his standards: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4zmv1IFCOA.

Oscar Peterson is the most famous jazz musician from Montreal, and probably from Canada, in fact. He was one of the greats, certainly. And I don't mean this as a slight in any way, but I'm not sure that his will be the longest-lasting influence. I think Paul Bley's is, and will be, more significant for two main reasons: his conceptual contributions, and the importance of the people that he shared them with during his astonishing career. Aside from Miles Davis, I don't think anyone has a list of collaborators with the diversity of Bley's: Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, Charlie Haden, Ornette Coleman, Pat Metheny, Chet Baker, Bill Evans, Gary Peacock, Carla Bley, and many others. Not only is this list of giants impressive on its own, but it seems as if Bley was involved with them at pivotal moments of their careers, and therefore of jazz history itself. A good place to learn about Bley's work is his 1999 autobiograpy, Stopping Time: Paul Bley and the Transformation of Jazz. It's surprising, insightful, funny and moving: sort of like his music. Here's "When Will the Blues Leave?" from his 1962 album, Footloose (with Steve Swallow and Pete LaRoca) one of his great trio recordings and a major contributor to the style of Keith Jarrett, among others: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyjis-gBwAM.

In case there are any big Steely Dan fans out there that have never heard the great song called "Dallas" that was left off their brilliant debut album, Can't Buy a Thrill (from 1972), here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFM-xKKb6pw&playnext=1&list=PLF2E659FEDDFC2A23&index=12. Sung by the late Jim Hodder, who also sang "Midnight Cruiser", it brings this big Steely Dan fan back to the sense of astonishment that I felt in hearing them, and the above-mentioned album, for the first time. It takes a heck of a good album to exclude a song like this one, don't you think? Anyway, Poco, the excellent country-rockers originally formed by ex-Buffalo Springfield members, did a very good cover of it on their 1975 Head Over Heels album, but I can't find it on YouTube. But you might also want to check out "Sail the Waterway", if you like this one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8TAxYE-x-E&feature=related).

Another interesting moment in the Keith Jarrett: The Art of Improvisation DVD, that I've referred to a few times, comes during a conversation with the Standards Trio's incomparable rhythm section, Jack DeJohnette and Gary Peacock, when Peacock has a tremendous insight into the process required of an improvisor: "First, the music enters us. And if the music enters you, you don't have to worry so much about what to play; the music's telling you what to play." The reason that this is so helpful is that it happens very often that a musician begins to solo on a tune before the tune has been thoroughly learned. And until it has, nothing sounds right, even things that should be correct, technically speaking. But once the tune has been integrated, it's hard to go wrong. I think of it as the song-writer telling the player the following: "Now let me get this straight - you want to use my work as a vehicle for improvisation, but without really learning it." Strangely enough, the most important resource for playing ideas is the piece itself; if we're willing to take the time to let it in, it'll tell us all we need.

I read a revealing comment recently in an article about Elvis Costello in the November 8, 2010 New Yorker. His long-time producer/associate T-Bone Burnett said something along the lines of Costello having the ability to "knock off an album in an afternoon". And while I don't like to get negative in this blog, and despite the fact that in my younger years I was a very big Elvis Costello fan, I feel that the remark may explain a great deal about something that has troubled me for a while: why a recording artist's early albums often outshine later ones. This is not the case for Costello only, by the way; the same could be said about other important artists, including the Rolling Stones and David Bowie. And I don't want to extrapolate too much from the comment - Burnett said he could do it, not that he did. All that being said, here was the moment of realization: The only thing that makes music sound good (and last) is work. Without it, all the skill in the world just sounds like going through the motions.

Further to yesterday's post regarding Orwell's influence on rock, I can't leave the topic without discussing it in terms of Radiohead. I don't think it's too much to say that there's probably never been a band that owes so much to a writer. From their album art (which, because of the integrative process by which it's created - i.e. at the same time and place as the music - adds great layers of meaning to the albums) to their lyrics (which consider themes of mind control and the individual versus faceless power structures) to the music (which often sounds like it's made by a synthesis of man and machine), the single most descriptive word for all of it is probably "Orwellian". Which is fine. The issues that Orwell raised in his incredibly sophisticated fictions are front and center in our time, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. And knowing their importance, the fact that he inspired the most important rock artists of the 21st century isn't really a surprise. Here's "2+2=5": (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lln2tSRuk_Q)

Aside from Shakespeare, no writer has had more of an influence on rock and roll than George Orwell. The primary reason for this, I believe, is the matter of subject and tone. Because as rock has entered into a more technologically-driven age, the music has gradually moved from having social origins and intentions toward an emphasis on isolation, power relations and paranoia. Of course, 1984 is the work that deals with these things most apparently, and it's also the one that has inspired the most allusions in terms of lyrics, song titles, and a little trickier to prove, world-views. This all came to me the other evening, as I was listening to David Bowie's classic, Diamond Dogs (1974), which was at least partially written with the intention of creating a stage production based on the novel. And although that didn't happen (and it would have been cool), we do have the amazing three songs that take their titles directly: "We Are the Dead" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUflIrTSwK8&feature=related), "1984" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KByxC7B9WH0&feature=related), "Big Brother" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EOlZyD26T4&feature=related).

There's a quality to Hank Williams' songs, a logic found deep in the harmonic structures which hold up the beautifully contoured melodies, that is still a model for songwriters in every field of popular music, not just country. It can be heard in all of his songs, but a good one to start with is "Jambalaya" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnKOVPXhlnE), in which an incredibly distinctive tune is supported by seemingly simple chords. But they aren't, of course; there's a great complexity to them, and not in a predictable way either. I've still never heard a cover version of this song that I find convincing.

"Cold, Cold Heart" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQmzp-NA5PM) is another exquisitely crafted song, but I can't say that I haven't heard it done well, because of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GERZo2wnaCY

In writing about Donald Fagen's tribute to Ray Charles ("What I Do" from his 2006 album, Morph the Cat), I said that irony is his primary mode, and I stand by the statement (although "default position" might've been more accurate), but it got me thinking of the important tradition of irony in American art. Perhaps its source is Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has been in the news again lately, and it's partially for this reason that Hemingway said that "all modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn", in his famous pronouncement. The controversies, seemingly never-ending, surrounding the book are due to the language, and while the appropriateness of such language in our time is fair to debate, I don't think that it makes sense to question Twain's intentions. They're obvious. As he put it, the novel "is a book of mine where a sound heart and a deformed conscience come into collision and the conscience suffers defeat". Put more bluntly, during the story, Huck comes to realize that everything he'd learned was wrong, and he was willing to stand to it, come what may.

OK, what does all of this have to do with music? Well, another great American artist, Randy Newman, has been trying to achieve similar goals in a similar way for many years. And he too has been at the center of a few firestorms - the one about "Short People" was a good one, for example. And his 1974 album, Good Old Boys, one of his finest and most complex, is a masterpiece, like Twain's, with a sound heart and good intentions. Here's "Louisiana 1927" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGs2iLoDUYE) about another episode in the history of the Mississippi.

"Come Sunday", from Duke Ellington's 1943 jazz symphony entitled, Black Brown and Beige, is one of those moments at the mountaintop of music. Featuring the great Mahalia Jackson, the piece is rarified in every possible way; the performance, arrangement, lyric and melody are all awesomely beautiful. And while the recording that I found on YouTube is fine, it should be heard in the best possible version for its full appreciation.

As I was listening to it again, the thought occurred to me that much of the greatest American culture is overlooked, and that the music of artists like Ellington and Jackson should be an integral part of what young people are taught in today's schools. In my experience, students respond with the greatest interest when they are presented with the best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLXYK6n8PQ4&feature=fvst

Jackie Mason once said, in answering a question regarding why his comedy is "mean", that "compliments aren't funny". This helps to explain why it's been said that what comedians fear the most is sincerity. And although I wouldn't classify the tone of Donald Fagen's lyrics as comical or anything like that, I would say that irony is his primary mode. Therefore, finding a song such as "What I Do" on one of his albums (Morph the Cat, from 2006) was a real surprise, because the song is basically a straight-ahead tribute to Ray Charles (in the liner notes, Fagen calls it a "conversation between some younger version of myself and the ghost of Ray Charles"). One of the really cool things about both Fagen and Becker, as their fans know, is the way they are constantly paying tribute to the great musicians who have inspired them in the past - and the ones who do so in the present too, for that matter. But recording this song must have been a bit nerve-wracking, even for an artist of his caliber, because he had two significant problems to surmount: the aforementioned tone issue, and the fact that the music would have to be worthy of one of his heroes. Have a listen to the song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQdu6ju1fBw) and a look at the lyrics (http://donaldfagen.com/disc_morphthecat.php) and see if you think that he accomplished both. I know I do.

Say Amen, Somebody, a 1982 documentary about gospel music directed by George Nierenberg, is the only movie that I would qualify as viewing essential to properly appreciate a particular style of music. There are a few others that come close: The Last Waltz comes to mind, but its subject is a band (the Band, actually) and not an entire genre. This film not only acquaints viewers with founding figures such as Thomas A. Dorsey, and great performers including the Barrett Sisters and Edgar and Edward O'Neal, but it also presents with amazing directness the feelings of involvement and community that are central to gospel music. And even though gospel has been borrowed from by virtually every major r&b artist (starting with Ray Charles), and by artists of other styles as well (jazz, rock, and country to name three), it's rarely received the musical respect it deserves. Not by people who've seen this movie, though: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLgk0WMI1-Y.

One album that I've been meaning to write about for a while is Eliza Lumley's She Talks in Maths (2007), which is comprised of ten Radiohead covers done with piano jazz instrumentation and Lumley's pristine vocals. A classically-trained interpreter of early music, she treats these songs in the same respectful manner that would be appropriate for pieces by Tallis or Byrd. It makes for a very interesting listening experience, both beautiful and unsettling. And it's wonderful to hear a song such as "Black Star" in an austere setting (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPwbmhk8MMY); it's a reminder that the heart of Radiohead's music is great songwriting.

Variation is one of the most important concepts in music. And no style of music does more with it than jazz. While maintaining some type of constant, usually involving melodic material and the harmonic structure, the musicians are free to add layer upon layer of ideas. In fact, one of the measures of the quality of a jazz player is how much variety they are capable of adding to a piece, during both the accompaniment and the soloing in the case of the rhythm section (i.e. bass, drums, piano and/or guitar, generally). A listener will be able to hear much more deeply into the music if he or she can pay attention to what is going on, while still being able to keep the melody and form of the song in their minds. (The musicians certainly have to do so - most improvisors like to have even the lyrics running in their minds, along with the chords and the tune.) At that point, everything that is played takes on much more meaning, because it is then heard as what it actually is: variation. So here's a great track to listen to in this way, the Standards Trio (Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette) playing "Autumn Leaves": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io1o1Hwpo8Y. Try closing your eyes and listening to the number and depth of ideas in DeJohnette's drumming. Then try using it to do the choreography for an imaginary tap dancer. Also, notice the ending, as Peacock and DeJohnette instantly follow Jarrett to an unusual conclusion that quotes from "Speak Low".