Some Random Songs I Have on MP3

“Baroque and Blue” by Claude Bolling

This song played not so long ago for the first time on one of my Pandora stations, a song featuring classical flute and jazz piano. It immediately caught my attention. The station had been playing songs I liked reasonably well, but when this song came on, I had to rush to the computer to see the title and artist and give it a thumbs up. I remembered then that as a preteen, my sister-in-law had introduced me to Claude Bolling. I liked it so well that I recorded off her vinyl LP record – I’m showing my age -- onto cassette tape.

I am not a musicologist or even a student of music theory, so I’m not sure I can adequately describe it except for the mood it evokes. Maybe, what I like about it is the element of surprise. First, you hear the “Baroque” elements and then the “blue” elements, and it strikes you as unexpected in a very pleasant way. Shortly afterwards, I bought three Claude Bolling CDs and this particular track on MP3.

Here is a different quartet playing “Baroque and Blue.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F53kNIIHXA

”Shenandoah” by Hayley Westenra

I first discovered Hayley Westenra while shopping in Borders. I heard her voice, and it made such an impression on me that I had to go to the customer service counter and see what demo CDs they were playing that day. It was her first album, “Pure.” That’s exactly what her voice sounds like to me, pure. It has a clear, beautiful tone. I like a number of other female vocalists and a number of other sopranos, but I think, judging on the quality of voice alone, Hayley would be my number one favorite. She’s been classically trained. Sometimes, when I’m listening to a more mature opera soprano – Hayley’s first album came out in 2003 when she was 17 – I am very aware that the soprano is employing special vocal techniques. When Hayley sings, I am not overly aware of techniques. She makes it sound easy and natural. Her voice sounds lovely with this simple but pretty melody.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_No4g5ZULI8

”Pachelbel Meets U2” by Jon Schmidt

This is another discovery from Pandora radio, a pretty instrumental weaving together of Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” and U2’s “With or Without You.” The two melodies intertwine. As the song progresses, it seems to shift from a little Pachelbel to more U2, building in volume, drama and power but remaining easy listening.

”You’ve Got a Friend in Me, in the Style of Bernstein”

Somehow, poking around on Amazon music, I came across two unusual Disney music albums, “Bibbidi Bobbidi Bach” and “Heigh Ho Mozart.” Yes, it would seem the theme of this post is classical style music with some fusion with another genre or some other surprising twist. The music on these albums are Disney songs arranged in the style of various classical composers. I picked a few of my favorite Disney songs combined with some of my favorite composers. This one is, of course, from the first “Toy Story” movie. The arrangement does sound reminiscent of Bernstein, but not like one of Bernstein’s more lively compositions, so the tempo seems slower than the original Disney tune. But there are parts where the chords sound exactly copied out of “West Side Story.” My favorite actually from these albums is “I Wanna Be Like You” from “Jungle Book” played Spanish guitar style after the manner of Villa-Lobos. That one is performed by Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.

I thought I would throw in a few extras, ones I don’t actually own on MP3. Since we are on the subject of Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and, earlier, on Pachelbel’s “Canon in D,” I thought I would include this “’Loose’ Canon” by LAGQ. They insert a little of every guitar style in there from Spanish to jazz and even a little hard rock.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yflWG-e38OU

Here is another fun extra. I had fun playing “Name That Tune” with this electric string quartet’s medley of songs through music history. I think I named nearly all of them except for three or four at the end. From what I heard, they are: “Greensleeves,” “Hallelujah Chorus” (Handel,) “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik”(Mozart,) “Ode to Joy” (Beethoven,) “William Tell Overture” (Rossini,) “Nessun Dorma” (Puccini,) “Ave Maria,” “Fifth Symphony” (Beethoven,) “Thus Spoke Zoroastra,” the can can song, “The Toreador Song” (Bizet,) “Hungarian Dance No. 5” (Brahms,) “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” (Tchaikovsky,) “In the Hall of the Mountain King” (Grieg,) then “James Bond theme” and back to Grieg, “The Entertainer” (Joplin,) “Singin’ in the Rain,” “Do a Deer,” “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” “Summertime” (Gershwin,) “In the Mood,” “New York, New York,” “You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog” (Elvis Presley,) “Pretty Woman” (Roy Orbison,) “Yesterday” (Beatles,) “Stayin’ Alive” (Bee Gees,) “Money, Money, Money” (ABBA,) “Another One Bites the Dust” (Queen,) “Billie Jean” (Michael Jackson,) ?, “Jaws” theme, “Psycho” theme and then ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG6Ef-NQCi4