I've got to be more careful in doing my top ten lists, because when I did my Radiohead one this past Saturday and Sunday, I completely forgot to consider songs from Hail to the Thief, their under-estimated release from 2003. This happened because of my working procedure, which has been to check out artist websites, fan websites and Wikipedia to jog my memory, and work from there. Well, obviously there are still a few bugs in the system, because I forgot about the album entirely, which kind of makes the list that I posted not entirely accurate. So what I'll do is call that one my top ten Radiohead songs that are not from Hail to the Thief, and post my top five that are from Hail to the thief tomorrow. Not an ideal solution, but the best I can do at this point.

In yesterday's post about early Marvin Gaye classics, I mentioned that Martha and the Vandellas sang backups (really well, by the way) on "Stubborn Kind of Fellow". Well, they did so on quite a few of his other records as well, and on both these and their own masterpieces, they bring an astonishing intensity - what one writer (I can't remember who) called a political quality - to their vocals and music. I think you'll hear it right away in these two examples: "Nowhere to Run" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQRIOKvR2WM&NR=1) and "Dancing in the Streets" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdvITn5cAVc) (which became code for rioting in Watts and elsewhere during the sixties).

The singles from early in Marvin Gaye's career are some of my very favourite recordings. Along with Smokey Robinson, he bridged the gap between the fifties and sixties, and pointed the way forward for Motown. Unlike many of the singers that became stars at the label, Gaye came to Motown an accomplished musician, originally as a session drummer, and having sung with the doo-wop group, the Moonglows. His charisma, and the fact that he could translate his rhythmic abilities to singing, soon put him in front of the band, where he remained for the rest of his great recording career.

The first song co-written by him to make the charts was 1962's "Stubborn Kind of Fellow", which might contain my choice for all-time best opening of a pop single (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmuDfPBTGDg). The string of r&b masterpieces that followed in the next few years included "Hitchhike", "Pride and Joy", "Can I Get a Witness", "You're a Wonderful One", "Baby Don't You Do It", "I'll Be Doggone" and "Ain't That Peculiar". They can all be heard on YouTube, but here are links to the last two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umuSuOlX1xg / http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfpzePp5y8s. By the way, "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" (linked above) features Gaye on piano and drums, and Martha and the Vandellas on backups.

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