Honestly, I’m not much of a jazz person. But I’ve been trying to get into it as we enter fall because life is very short, and there’s no telling when I’ll go deaf and utterly regret not making a Tattler article about a Spotify playlist with pieces I’ll probably never listen to again.
“Autumn Leaves” by Ryo Fukui
If you’ve been on YouTube for more than a month, you’ve probably seen Ryo Fukui’s 1976 album, Scenery, pop up in your video recommendations, which is a great album all on its own. Most notable is his version of the 1945 standard “Autumn Leaves,” which builds up perfectly with a clarity that the Bill Evans version, in my opinion, fails to capture. Sue me.
“Clair de Lune” by Kamasi Washington
A common theme you’ll see in this playlist is the transcription of popular classical pieces into jazz interpretations. Everyone knows Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune,” the third movement of his Suite bergamasque, but Washington’s eleven-minute version not only retains some of the piece’s most famous sections with its original piano but uses them as motifs for saxophone solos and chords. Additionally, he throws in an orchestra and a backup choir to vocalize along with the melodies, as if that wasn’t good enough.
“Après Un Rêve” by Sean Harris and Claudia Hommel
Another converted classical piece, except this time from French composer Gabriel Fauré’s collection, Trois mélodies. Sean Harris and Claudia Hommel focus on clarinets and drums instead of violins in order to capture that jazzy feeling, but still sing in the original French lyrics as if to defy all expectations. Is this classical? Is this jazz? Who knows? Who cares? I don’t.
“Green” by Robohands
A rather modern jazz piece that could easily fit in with one of the many lo-fi hip-hop compilations out there today, making excellent use of electronic synths and drum beats.
“Autumn in New York” by Chet Baker
I don’t know why my friends all laugh at me whenever I talk about Chet Baker. What’s wrong with Chet Baker? You know, I remember listening to this piece while walking down the desolate and rainy sidewalks of North Cayuga Street after school, with nothing in my mind except how much I hated Ithaca.
“Hong Kong Blues” by Hoagy Carmichael
If you’ve been keeping up with the news lately, you can tell that Hong Kong isn’t the best place in the world to be in right now. Here, Hoagy Carmichael teleports you back to a simpler time: when the most scandalous crimes back then consisted of good old-fashioned opium.
“Full Moon and Empty Arms” by Freddie Hubbard
Taking a page from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s playbook, “Full Moon and Empty Arms” borrows a theme from the third movement of his second piano concerto, which is the only reason you should listen to it.
Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3bbN04AyVM0nudKUzuQsFJ?si=H-0XehYqTzudhgZ2hC858A