Sunday, September 12, 2010

Song suggestions requested ...

I'm planning a return to playing solo piano live, and need some help putting together the repertoire. I've always had the "American Songbook," original jazz standards, classic rock/pop on my radar, but I really stopped paying attention to contemporary music -- on any level -- about 10 years ago. I think I crammed all my musical geekery into the front 3-4 decades of my life. Whereas I used to hit every worthy concert I could possibly finagle and spent a lifetime collecting and listening to recordings, now I rarely even listen to music.

So, any help you can give me would be appreciated. Typically, I love a great melody, powerful emotion, and a nice groove. In the realm of pop music, I'm not expecting anything harmonically revelatory, but please don't hesitate to send me jazz suggestions. I'm open to anything. If Justin Bieber has a great song, I'll check it out. By the same token, I haven't heard the most recent Bill Frisell record either. I know there are a lot of great artists and bands out there writing compelling stuff (and have been for a long time). If you've heard something that sounds up my musical alley, please post a suggestion here or email me.

Coming up with music other than my own to perform used to be a natural outgrowth of my listening habits, but now I could stand some advice. At least for now; perhaps this project will re-ignite the thrill of the chase for me once again.

Thanks in advance,

Michael