Music To Be Thankful For!
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
We asked reporters, on- and off-air talent from around PBS and Thirteen this question: “What music are you thankful for?”…and they answered.
So what music are YOU thankful for? Please share what artist, song, or album means a lot to you, below, in our comments.
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Gwen Ifill, NewsHour and Washington Week
“When I think of music that makes me feel thankful, I think of Walter Hawkins and the Love Center Choir’s’ “Love Alive II.” It was released in 1978, and I remember singing many of the songs on the album when I was a member of my church’s gospel choir. Hearing any one of the songs now brings a rush of memory and, yes, thankfulness.”
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“I’m thankful for the tremendous variety of genres, styles and performers that we are lucky enough to feature in our series. As a former musician, however, I am thankful that the world has gotten smaller, enabling different cultures to influence each other to create music that is new. I discovered this first in a 1974 recording called “Native Dancer” (listen) by jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter in a collaboration with Brazilian singer/songwriter Milton Nascimento. It remains a favorite over 30 years later.”
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“I love a fairy polka after a big helping of Pumpkin Pie, but I am truly thankful for Ms. Ella Fitzgerald (listen)! My Fairy Grandmother introduced me to her, and she is sparkalicious!”
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Susie Gharib, Nightly Business Report
“I am thankful for the Beatles. The stock market is collapsing and the economy is in turmoil, but when I listen to “Here Comes the Sun”, I smile…as George Harrison sings “Here comes the sun, here comes the sun, and I say it’s all right”, I really feel everything will be all right.”
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“This time of year I love listening to classical holiday music such as Handel’s Messiah and Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. I also enjoy choruses and organ composition around the holidays, as well as Vivaldi, Mozart and Bach. When New Year’s approaches I’m drawn to Strauss’s celebratory waltzes.”
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Rick Karr, Blueprint America
“I’m thankful for the undeservedly obscure Cleveland band Pere Ubu (listen), a one-band desert-island disc: pop, rock, noise, and compelling stories. They’ve persevered: 30 years, 13 studio albums, seminal singles. They blazed a trail and kept going after the rest of the world turned right, onto the Interstate. I’m thankful because they give me something great, time and again.
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Tom Stewart, ‘The Voice of Thirteen’ (13’s Announcer)
“My wife, Maureen Kelley Stewart, is a cabaret singer and performs a song called “Grateful” (listen) by the contemporary composer John Bucchino (he wrote the recent Broadway musical “A Catered Affair”). As you might imagine, it’s a song about gratitude, and is a great reminder of all we can be thankful for, even in times of adversity. ‘Giving thanks for what I’ve got makes me so much happier than keeping score…I can’t stay depressed when I remember how I’m blessed…grateful, grateful, truly blessed and duly grateful’.”
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“Joe Jackson’s “Look Sharp!” (listen) This is the first album I bought after moving to New York City to go to NYU back in ’79. Every day back then was a wonder, a dream come true. I went to the movies almost every afternoon; would often run into poets Allen Ginsberg and Ted Berrigan at the St. Mark’s Bookstore; saw Mick Jagger at the St. Mark’s Bar & Grill, and within a week spotted both Dustin Hoffman and Octavio Paz on Bleecker Street. So whenever this old world starts getting me down I don’t have to go to no roof top. I just remember to “look sharp” and “to see the pretty, pretty, pretty girls in the streets, see them walking with their pretty shoes on their feet, damn dooby doo doo wop a doo doo wop a doo doo wop, damn dooby doo doo wop a doo doo wop a doo doo wop!” That’s a vibe to be thankful for!
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I’m thankful for the music of Coldplay, to me they are consistently better then other recent bands.I also enjoy Travis.As for the classics give me The Rat Pack, Ella, Johnny Mercer,the Beatles, Elvis,Paul Simon and the angelic Eva Cassidy.
Funkadelic for “Maggot Brain”
and
Louis Armstrong for “What a Wonderful World”
50’s & 60’s Oldies, Cal Tjader, Queen, old Cuban & Puerto Rican music (El Negrito Bembon), AOL’s Latin Jazz Channel & Classical Channel; Salsa, Strauss Waltzes, George Gershin Rap. in Blue, Spanish & Engl. Christmas music, Bebo Velez & the gypsie “Lagrimas Negras”, and many more. We’re blessed with youtube to hear old music. Cable music & internet music is a blessing also.
60’s British Rock – Beatles, Herman Hermits, Hollies, Dave Clark 5, Rolling Stones, Animals, Dusty Springfield, Petula Clark, Gerry and the Pacemakers. Also summer of Love bands, Mamas & the Papas, Beach Boys, Turtles, Peter Paul and Mary
Mark Knopfler is the best! John Prine and Randy Newman write about life as it really is. Aretha is still “The Queen” of soul and Steely Dan never let’s me down.
How ab out some recordings or videos of Ruth Ann Swenson. This artist does not get the kudos she so rightly deserves. A tremendous talent.
I am thankful for Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Chopin, Elgar-music that expresses such rich,at times raw, emotion.
I am thankful for the song titled “One Song.” The music was written by Marvin Hamlish. The lyrics were written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. I teach music in a Bronx elementary school and I feel that this song unites us. There is a strong connection in music and our humanity. Music is the only international language that can lead to peace in this turbulant world. Thank you Marvin. Thank you Alan and Marilyn.
John Denver and Placido Domingo’s duet, “Perhaps Love”. It’s a lovely song AND an attempt to enlarge the audiences for pop and opera. I first heard it on WPAT, but I recognized that glorious tenor voice immediately.
I am thankful, first and foremost, for The Beatles, and last and certainly not least, for Radiohead. But, my tastes are quite varied, so overall I am thankful to my mother for sharing her collection of LPs with me.
carmina burana
One of my favorite songs is “The Prayer” sung by Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion. It moved me to tears the first time and continues to speak to me at some level beneath words. Another is “How are We Gonna Save Tomorrow?” by Pete Seeger – the foremost folk musician and humanitarian of the 20th and 21rst century – these songs move one to want to do something
John Coltrane–A Love Supreme
Miles Davis–In A Silent Way
Dennis Sandole
Gustav Mahler–Symphony #9
I’m with Abernathy – the American hymn tradition – the music that helped our ancestors get through times even more difficult than ours.
I love the music of the great operetta composers, like Friml, Romberg, the great songs of Gershwin, Kern and others who contributed to the great shows of yesteryear. For singers, I run the gamut from Richard Tucker to Frank Sinatra. I miss them all.
i am thankful for the music of the Divine Sarah Vaughn. Almost anything by Stan Kenton. Les Brown, who doesn’t get the play time he deserves.
My favorite music is classical: Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Bach,Mendelsohn, Chopin, etc. –How melodic and relaxing—something to be thankful for.
In responding to what type music or what singers are you most ‘thankful’ for, my answer is the genre of Girl Groups. To name several, they are Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Shangri-Las featuring Mary Weiss, The Shirelles, Ronnie Spector & The Ronettes, The Flirtations, The Toys, The Marvelettes, Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles, The Chiffons, The Velvelettes, The Angels, et al. This great genre was especially evident during the Stonewall Era of 1966 to 1969. All of these groups are represented in the “Songs of The Stonewall”. Girl groups never out of sight: think “Dreamgirls” the play, the movie and the touring company. As we all know, the Girl Groups music lives on and on and on….
For Christmas music I am thankful for the Celtic Woman Christmas album. It’s a great mix of your favorites without being afraid to emphasize what Christmas means. I’d be most thankful to see a Libera Christmas album. Maybe you can get Libera on PBS!
anything by andrea bocelli, i absolutely love him. he can sing courses on a menu and it would sound beautiful.
I am thankful for all classical music, but at this time two opera choruses appeal to me most: Wagner’s Tannhauser–Pigrims’ Chorus, and Verdi’s Nabucco–Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves.
I am thankful of Jane Sibery’s “Child” album. It is a recording of a holiday concert she did in New York which I attended years ago with a friend who later committed suicide. I love the music and the remembrance of my friend who left me all too soon.
Stevie Ray Vaughan, Riviera Paradise and every other song He has performed. He was the greatest Guitar Player of his time, right up there with Jimi Hendrix.
I love many different types of music, from opera and classical to Broadway to folk and rock. At the moment, if I had to pick just one thing: the trio from the last act of Rosenkavalier.
Barbara Carroll! She’s what makes New York New York. Whether on LPs, CDs or, best of all, live at that other New York wonder, the Oak Room, she really does play all the things I love.
I’m thankful for so much music – classical, jazz, show tunes, the American Songbook, rock & roll – my life would be so different without music. What just jumped into my head when you asked the question was Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” album.
I’m thankful for so many kinds of music, not just one type. How about Arlo on Thanksgiving, Mozart on the plaza, the Beatles on my old vinyl, the Who live, Haydn at Tanglewood, and anything at all on Pete Fornatale’s show on WFUV!
“Wonder Child”, by Helen Reddy..she sang it on Sesame Street, when I used to watch it in the early 80’s, with my children. Still touches me deeply…..
I am still so grateful we had Beverly Sills as a spectacular singing actress. I remember not only her operatic performances, but at least one recital broadcast on PBS. If you could dig up some of those for another posthumous tribute to Beverly, I think you’d see a lot of gratitude from opera lovers.
Andre Rieu means the most to me. When my husband was on his death bed, he asked me play our DVD of Andre Rieu from Maastrict in Hollan. Myt husband ws born in Holland, and he cried as he watched it. He died on Jube 5th of 2008.
I love Andre Rieu, Sarah Brightman when she does Classics, Yo Yo Mah & Friends, especially playing Handel’s “Hail the Conquering Hero Comes”, “Ein Kleine Nacht Musik”, Il Divo, and on and on and on!
The late MS. M. Mekeba: I love that lady, she always think of her people, “Africa is where my heart is.” During the holidays I think of my forefathers who was brought here. The blame for this is not only on the whites, the black african must also share some of the blame.
My (2) FAVORITE ARTISTS ARE bARBRA STREISAND WHO SINGS PEOPLE AND HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN,AND THE OTHER NEW ARTIST IS LINDA EDER WHO SINGS ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS VIENNA,HER SIGNATIRE SONG.
Bocelli, Bocelli, Bocelli! Any CD, any song, any language! Most especially his encores at concerts not on cd yet: “My Way”, New York, NY” etc. His latest album “Incanto” is amazing! What a master he is!
I am so thankful for music and for “13″’s wonderful program of Arts. My favorites are Antonio Carlos Jobim with Astrud Gilbreto singing on the album Brazil’66!! I would love to hear you play it.Also great Jazz, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Yusef Latiff, Cole Porter love songs, Sondheim, Chopin’s waltzes, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, early Dylan, the Beatles, Joan Baez, Shirley Bassey’s greatest hits, Sinatra, music from Rodger’s & Hammerstein, Kismet, The King and I, James Taylor, Barry Manilow, Edith Piaf, Nina Simone, Barbra Streisand’s concert live in central park Thanks again, Eileen Lebegue
Bette Middler singing The Rose
I am thankful to be able to listen to and appreciate music of all genre. Whether it’s jazz,latin,pop,swing,classical or instrumental there is always something to lift my spirits or relax me. How dull life would be without music in it! One of my favorite pieces is On the wings of a Song – Mendelssohn.
As a musician, ideally the notes that I am playing every moment that I am playing should be my favorite ones! But if I had to pick a favorite piece just for fun, I would have to say that George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm” would about sum it up for me.
Outstanding should-be classic: an undiscovered Brooklyn-by-way-of-Boston band called Goats In Trees. Find their out-of-print first album from ‘98 and listen to “Dead of Winter” – still a gem waiting to be discovered. New discovery: School of Seven Bells, coincidentally also from Brooklyn. Their new CD “Alpinisms” has “Half Awake,” “Connjur” and “Chain,” three catchy and creative wonders (hear them on MySpace). Note: My interest in these artists is just personal, not professional; I music-directed radio stations for many years, and discovering exciting new music is still on of my life’s great joys, for which I am eternally thankful.
I’m thankful for two artists: BILL WATROUS, a jazz trombonist who is marvelous, and BEETHOVEN, who wrote such beautiful music..
My favorite music of all times is, MUSIC. Any type brings sheer joy and happiness!
The one and only Elvis Aaron Presley— my favorite singer. Since the first time I saw him and heard him in 1956, I have been in love with this special man. I am thankful for his artistry today and every day.
I am thankful for timeless classics such as The Beatles White Album and American Beauty by the Grateful Dead. I am always listening to the music onf my youth, whether it be Cream, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin or Jimi Hendrix. But I also love Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, etc etc. I could go on forever.
I am thankful for the body of work composed by two great contemporary artists, Elvis Costello and Tom Waits. If you love lyrics, as I do, you can never tire of their music.
The Beatles album “Abby Road” it brings back memories of wonderful days of my youth. I loved so much that I bought it sung in Salsa. GREAT ALBUM OF ALL TIME.
I actually prefer to get my music at Lincoln Center or on my own CD’s and would much rather have more “Mystery” programming…
Addition to #67: John Lennon’s, “In My Life” and probably the best song ever written: “Imagine.”
Holly Cole is the musician which makes my life more pleasant. Recently while writing she inspired me while putting the finishing touches on a book. Her song ” I Told Him that My Dog Wouldn’t Run” is timeless. Thank you Holly and Happy Thanksgiving all.
OK, I posted that the artist I’m thankful for is Neil Young, but I certainly cant help adding two more artists that I listen to chronically these days — Wilco and the Drive-by Truckers. To know the DBTs think of a a mix of Skynard and The Clash.
I’m thankful for the music Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder and Prince. All genius, all original and all not willing to rest upon their own lofty laurels.