You've got the menu planned, the bar stocked, and the halls decked to impress for your holiday party. Now all that's missing is the music.
Image caption: Alex Norris
Don't worry. The Hub's got you. We've reached out to a handful of faculty and staff members of the Peabody Conservatory and asked them to compile their own party playlists, which we'll share with you over the next few weeks.
The first playlist comes courtesy of Peabody professor and alumnus Alexander Norris, who teaches jazz trumpet. Norris performs all over the world with his group, the Alex Norris Organ Quintet, and has recorded on over 80 albums as a side musician.
Norris created a playlist featuring jazz standards and quintessential figures from jazz history. You can preview his selections on Spotify.
"This is a comprehensive list that a sophisticated Jazz listener would enjoy," Norris says. "However, these songs are certainly not 'far out' and would not alienate a newcomer to jazz. I've been hearing these songs for decades and I'm not even close to being tired of them."
Alex Norris' playlist
- "Summertime" by Miles Davis
- '"Stardust" by Ben Webster
- "A Foggy Day" by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald
- "Hot House" by Charlie Parker
- "Harlem Air Shaft" by Duke Ellington
- "Cousin Mary" by John Coltrane
- Solo piano version of "Round Midnight" by Thelonious Monk
- "God Bless the Child" by Billie Holiday
- "I've Never Been In Love Before" by the Oscar Peterson Trio
- "April In Paris" by the Count Basie Orchestra
- "Seven Come Eleven" by Charlie Christian and Benny Goodman
Posted in Arts+Culture, Voices+Opinion
