Tuesday, September 22, 2009

An Addition To My Double's Playlist

If we all must have a doppelgänger, then I hope mine is 17 years old. I hope he’s pedaling his bicycle through the maze of suburbia to get to his local library, where he wants to live like some nerdy kind of orphan. And I hope he’s listening to Dragonslayer, by Sunset Rubdown (e). The bombastic three-penny-opera posing, the art-haus ambition that wavers somewhere between Ziggy Stardust and Men Without Hats, and — good lord! — the noise. My 17-year-old double would eat it up.

As for my 44-year-old self, he’s having more fun discovering the early jazz recordings of Andre Previn. Like Previn! (e) and Duet (A) with Doris Day are a delicious introduction to this man’s incomparable piano chops. I think it’s remarkable he segued from the jazz scene into the world of classical music and became an unmistakable entity in both. If he ever took a stab at public explication (a la Yo-Yo Ma), I’d sit down for it without hesitation. (Thanks for the intro, Che!)

No comments: