Angelique Kidjo: Oremi Majek Fashek & POC: Spirit of Love Towa Tei Pizzicato Five Saint Etienne Robert Fripp -- separate page Discipline God Save the King I Advance Masked Let the Power Fall Thrill Kill Kult: Hit & Run Holiday Tell you the truth, I *hate* every album Thrill Kill Kult has ever made -- except this one. It's totally unlike the others -- the production is perfect, it's eminently listenable, even dance-able, a nice disc for dance clubs or parties. Favorites: [1], [2], [4], ... Certain albums you gotta have around, like you'd have toilet paper and clean glasses for guests. (You knew you should have toilet paper and clean glasses for guests, right?) So my saying this makes you think of: Pink Floyd, Dark Side Rolling Stones, Some Girls Well, that's all true enough; but the HO was thinking of these albums too: Miles Davis: Kind of Blue plus: Bill Evans Trio: Portrait in Jazz Bill Evans was the man. In the end he shot himself to hell with cocaine and heroin, but while he was alive he played a cool piano, and left behind some gorgeous, lyrical albums. Some people will tell you that *Explorations* is the best album by the classic Bill Evans Trio, with Motion and LaFaro; but for me the very first album, *Portrait in Jazz*, captures the trio best. It has none of the sulleness that seems to haunt the other three albums. Favorites: [1] Come Rains or Come Shine; [8] Spring is Here; [11] Blue in Green (second take) John Coltrane: The Gentle Side You might think of Coltrane as that "Jupiter Variations" maniac who killed himself with tenor madness; but this album is actually a nice collection of tunes that won't drive anyone out of the room. Let purists sneer at a "compilation" disk -- fact is, it offers a great variety of pieces -- all "gentle," as the title says, and two with Johnny Hartman singing (including "Lush Life"). If you're not gonna buy some boxed set of Coltrane discs, even if you're not especially interested in John Coltrane generally, you should still consider this album. It doesn't even cost that much. Eberhard Weber: *Silent Feet* A lot of people started listening to jazz with Miles Davis or Dave Brubeck, or what have you. As a teenager growing up in the Appalachians, naturally I first listened to German bass player Eberhard Weber. Don't ask me why -- I heard a piece on the radio, and wrote down the name, and went to the record store, (and eventually figured out it was spelled with a "W," not a "V,") and then I was hooked. *Silent Feet* is a great lyrical album, perfect for mystical teenaged Catholicism with Lenten bread and eggs dyed red for the blood of Christ and little flowers coming up through spring snow and visions of William Blake lambs -- a very pretty album, with lyrical swings from the depths of sadness to the heights of exhaltation (if you like that kind of thing). The quartet kicks it, and Weber in particular has a fabulous wide, lowing sound to his bass. [Favorite track: "Eyes that Can See in the Dark".] Pat Metheny Group: Watercolors I've met jazz purist-types who scoff at Pat Metheney, and the truth is I'm not nuts about a lot of stuff he's done; but this album is a favorite from undergraduate-dom, when I lived with a bunch of musicians for a while. Hey, they worked as jazz musicians, and *they* liked Pat Metheny -- so there! Bonus: Eberhard Weber on bass! and don't overlook some retro faves: John McLaughlin & OTB McLaughlin had a lot of different projects, and maybe you heard some you didn't care for. That's OK, try this album out anyway. Like the liner notes say, this album holds up a lot better than most 70's fusion stuff. Favorites: Blues Brothers: Maybe the idea was a joke off of the original, good Saturday Night Live, but the fact is the band already existed, and they're great. Another album people won't think to play, but like when they hear it. The Cars: Ah c'mon -- who doesn't like the first three cuts off The Cars first album? Pure 1978 pop gold, I tell you (and yes, I had the album in 78 -- no, not *on* a 78, smartass....). Throw one cut in at a party -- practically everybody recognizes it, practically nobody hates it. Sade: Go ahead and buy "The Best of Sade" -- I won't make fun of you. I like "Best of " albums, and hers is really good. But if you want to buy one of her original albums, I'd say buy: Stronger than Pride A lot of people remember Sade (the woman, and the group) best from the first album *Diamond Life*. I love that album too -- I still have it on *vinyl*, kids (and yes, I bought it when it first came out, in 1985). But I say the songs and the sound really came together on the third album, *Stronger than Pride*. Every song is good -- you can put the CD player on repeat for the whole afternoon, and never be annoyed. (Of course, I love all of Sade's albums, and I recommend you buy them all.) You wanna know a nice album that you might not own? OK, I'll tell you: Cecilia Bartoli: Se Tu M'ami I know, I know -- Cecilia Bartoli. Could anybody get more attention? She's the Brittney Spears of the white wine crowd. Still, even bona fide singers attest that she's got a set of pipes. So even if she, and the kind of stuff she sings, is not your bag, this is a pretty little album that goes well with candlelight dinners and such, and if your guests aren't especially artsy themselves you might pass for being cultured, or worse. OK, maybe not; still.... Antonio Carlos Jobim: