steel city tunes

Tunes of the Day stay top right sidebar a few days. Then they’re laid to rest here, in reverse chronology of appearance, like yesterday’s hits on the jukebox. Please report broken links.

Why not get a handel on the day with a touch of George Frederic’s Water Music

Lucas Imbiriba with a dashing Malagueña

Roger Waters – Mother

Christian singer-songwriter Garth Hewitt – My name is Palestine

The Corries sing of the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond

1988. In Donostia the Basques understand resistance. Leonard Cohen: The Partisan

From Henryk Gorecki’s 3rd, Dawn Upshaw sings the second movement

2019. Pushing 80, Ringo and his All Starrs plead, don’t pass me by

Víkingur Ólafsson and his piano are in Iceland to play Philip Glass’s Études, No. 2

Led by Peter Dijkstra, Holland’s Radio Philharmonic plays Gabriel Fauré – Pavane, Op 50

2017. From the Catholic School in Jerusalem – My blood is Palestinian!

2018. Roger Waters is in Amsterdam with Us and them

You likely already knew this but Bob Marley says man to man is so unjust

Jacquelin Du Pre, husband, and the London Phil with Elgar’s Cello Concerto

From Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite, a touch of Morning Mood

On alto sax, here’s Gilad Atzmon with some early blues

Mohammed Assaf – Salam Le Gaza

Sir Joseph Porter is Gilbert & Sullivan’s satirised WH Smith in when I was a lad

After scolding Peron’s defeatism, Evita works the crowds for him: a new Argentina

Madonna as Evita, and Antonio Banderas as Everyman, sing Goodnight and thank you

Bassam Challita &  Orchestra with the St Elias Choir – Fantasy of a pianist

Lowkey on one Genocide Joe

Soundtrack to an addictive series. Nicholas Britell’s A Succession Suite

The late Billy Bang leads his Trio in Chiba, Japan, for rainbow gladiator

Slane Castle on the Boyne, 2019. Metallica have found whiskey in the jar

Pace Mae West, Christina Aguilera likes a guy what takes his time

Paul Robeson – Sometimes I feel like a motherless child

Poland’s Kasia Pietrzko and her jazz trio play Foggy dreams

“Hineni, hineni, I’m ready my Lord.”  Leonard Cohen sings You want it darker

Ralph McTell offers his hand for a tour of the streets of London

Mick and the boys are in Newark NJ with something about wild horses

Dirty dancing indeed as Swayze & Co jive to Do you love me and Love man

Again tango dances with electronica from Gotan Project. Vuelvo al Sur

Dub meets acid jazz and much besides for Thievery Corporation. This is Lebanese Blonde

Khatia Buniatishvili plays Franz List’s Hungarian Rhapsodies No. 2

John Mayall RIP. The Godfather of British Blues’s last gig – Room to move

Amsterdam ’88. Oud maestro John Bilezikjian near steals the show on Cohen’s there is a war

Tango meets electronica as Paris based Gotan Project do Santa Maria Del Buen Ayre

From Carlos Rafael Rivera’s soundtrack for The Queen’s Gambit – Final Game

1964. If you wanna dance with Beatle John, it’s gotta be rock’n roll music

Garbarek’s sax and Erskine’s drums join Miroslav Vitous’s bass for Clouds in the mountain

It’s 1982 Frank Zappa and Steve Vai are in Rome for a spanking

Now don’t you be bothering Mingus. He’s at a Wednesday Night Prayer meeting

Samer on Gaza – World goes blind

Maher Zain – Palestine will be free

Russian men sing of a birch in a field – Vo pole bereza stoyala

1961. From Oliver Nelson’s, The Blues & the Abstract Truth, this is Hoe Down

“You bring a line and I’ll get a pole …” The Petersens do the Crawdad Song

60s hit for Dusty, 80s hit for UB40, but here it’s Lorna Bennet offering breakfast in bed

Blockheaded nonsense? You ask Joyce and Vicky about Billericay Dicky

Dublin 1966. Bob Dylan, reviled for electronic high treason, sings Leopard skin pill box hat

David Bowie tells the tale, immortalised by Prokofiev, of Peter and the wolf

Jennifer Warnes says to Let the sunshine in

Camille Thomas is on cello, Beatrice Berrut on piano for Franz Schubert’s Ständchen

A J Lee is joined by the Brothers Comatose for Neil Young’s Harvest Moon

Bluegrass/country from A J Lee and Blue Summit. He called me baby

Helped by Bill Charlap’s piano, Dee Dee Bridgewater is beginning to see the light

Nashville 2015. Even with Mick onstage, Taylor Swift can’t get no Satisfaction

From Fab 4 album No.6, Rubber Soul – Norwegian Wood

US rapper Macklemore’s ode to an IDF-murdered 6 year old: Hind’s Hall

American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton sings Elgar, where corals lie

Russell Malone’s blues chops meet Diana Krall’s piano and vocals on Route 66

A disenchanted John Lennon gives his Maharishi a new name – Sexy Sadie

Sheryl and Eric pay homage to Jimi with Little Wing

From Argentinian maestra Evangelina Mascardi, Bach’s Lute Suite in E Major

Japan meets North Africa as lutist Naochika Sogabe plays a spherical taqsim

Emmylou Harris and a quietly supportive Mark Knopfler tell of a Red dirt girl

Grateful Dead segue from Mr Fantasy to the Fab 4 and Hey Jude

More Purcell. Countertenor Reginald Mobley, Brandon Acker on theorbo: music for a while

France’s Gérard Lesne does Purcell proud with cold genius

It’s a rough world and Bruce is looking for someone to “come on and cover me”

From Love’s 1967 gem, Forever Changes, this is Red Telephone

Lindsey Stirling now in Paris 2023 to strut her stuff with Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir

Lindsey Stirling and her burning violin are in Moscow’s Crocus City Hall with a wild mix

Tenor saxist Melissa Aldana, with neat bass, guitar and drum play, gets to tell A story

Kate Stables, aka This Is The Kit, in Bashed Out

Sinead and The Chieftains recall the Easter Rising of 1916 with The Foggy Dew

Siberian folk-rock fusionists, Otyken, with a storm from the east

Aditya Prakash Ensemble – Naiharwa (Kabir)

Iceland’s Gyða Valtýsdóttir has a Diamond Dove

From her 2021 album, Pause, Poppy Ackroyd’s Reimagined by Hinako Omori

Mahdi Diaz takes the same risk

Jake Thackray laments a “brief” visitation from one Leopold Alcocks

1969. Miles leads a six piecer full of future stars, but does so in a silent way

It’s Beethoven, Jim – but not as we know it – Moonlight Sonata

From Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem – Sanctus

The world’s greatest rock ‘n roll band is in New York to paint it black

The late great Jeff Beck at Ronnie Scott’s with pork pie

Russian rock: Debakr on the war the West never noticed: we will not leave our cities

East meets West in James Whitbourn’s sublime Lux in Tenebris

Texan schoolkids cover a Grateful Dead gem from American Beauty – Ripple

Live for sure, but are they in Leeds? Who? Yes. In ace form on a Magic Bus

Old Blue on a man who jumped so high when he danced – Mr Bojangles

Australian-Taiwanese pianist Belle Chen – and it rains

The amazing Stevie Ray Vaughan testifies

60 years ago the Kinks were looking back another 60 in Victoria

Kora maestro Toumani Diabaté is joined by son Sidiki for a Mandinka love song: Jarabi

The Louis Sclavis Quartet stroll through Asian Fields

Dami Falsteeni

It’s 1965. His Bobness is in Leicester, England, talking WW3 blues

The trumpet of Chris Botti, the voice of Sting and some elegant piano: My funny Valentine

Gypsy music from Russia with love – Two guitars

Rappers for Palestine Karter Zaher, Jae Deen and Shadi Akhi say We won’t forget

An anthem of resistance for Gaza – Rajieen

Maher Zain – Palestine will be free

Lowkey – Palestine will never die

Ramallah children appeal to the world with their take on Little Drummer Boy

Live in Montreal with a sparkling quartet, here’s jazz violinist Billy Bang

On his 1974 gem, The Age of Steam, Gerry Mulligan eases out the One to Ten in Ohio

Emerald Isle music at Dolan’s pub, Limerick

Featuring the viola da gamba, Jordi Savali’s Canarios

His fire and virtuosity the equal of Jimi’s, Stevie Ray Vaughan does Voodoo Child

From the vaults of 1832, Frédéric François Chopin’s Nocturne No 1

Here’s Finnish mandolin maestro Jarmo Romppanen with Polska No 745

Getting a Handel on the tinsel turmoil is easier with the Hallelujah Chorus

French pianist Riopy breathes life into a dead power station with his Lullaby

Erland Cooper, Scottish Ensemble and Simon Armitage: Folded landscapes, Mvt 6

Linton Kwesi Johnson reflects on early 80s black British youth – It noh funny

One of John Lennon’s many odes to Yoko: You are here

Senegalese kora player, Seckou Keita, with the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Hector Berlioz pays homage to the bard with Morte d’Ophelia

Leonard’s spiritual surrender: If it be your will

Janis Joplin pines for Bobby McGee

Michael Heart’s song for Gaza: We will not go down

Jackson Browne says to bring your own redemption to the Barricades of Heaven

Third in a row from Esbjorn Svensson Trio – Believe, beleft, below

Swedish jazz maestros, Esbjörn Svensson Trio, offer an Elevation of Love

Esbjorn Svensson drowned on a scuba dive after asking: Did they ever tell Cousteau?

The Bootleg Beatles with the Liverpool Philarmonic for Day in the life

Yuja Wang joins the Weiner Philharmonic for a touch of Gershwin – Rhapsody in blue

The Who live at Kilburn, ’77 – Substitute

The greatest rock ‘n roll band in the world – Angry

Dublin folksters Lankum: Go did my grave

“If you’re down he’ll pick you up”Doctor Robert

The Fab 4 made jazz passé, but nobody told Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames. Yeh yeh

Aretha, live in ’67, is asking her man for a little respect

Thelonius Monk and his quartet on a subject dear to my heart – evidence

The incomparable Dizzie Gillespie, live for a night in Tunisia

Renata Scotto, RIP – O mio babbino caro

Sinéad vents her fury at the mother who ‘tortured my child’. Fire in Babylon

Jazz giants – Getz, Hancock, Herman, Carter, Jones – have Tony Bennett’s back for Danny Boy

Leonard remembers Janis well at the Chelsea Hotel

Berlin, 2007. Sinead joins Roger Waters for a song from The Wall. Mother

Mahogany Sessions bring us RIOPY’s Lullaby

Sinéad O’Connor, may she rest in peace, tells of black boys on mopeds

Fred and Ginger are Groovin’ with Mr Bloe

Pete Townsend said Purcell’s Fantasia Upon One Note inspired The Who’s Pinball Wizard

From Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Rowan Pierce’s Belinda urges: Pursue thy conquest, love

The film Living has Bill Nighy’s rendition. As the credits roll we hear Lisa Knapp’s Rowan Tree

What’s the harm in a kiss? Henry Purcell’s Mopsa sees all the pitfalls in Purcell’s Fairy Queen

1961. Barbara George is in a New Orleans studio to tell her man (and the world) that “I know

German bass legend Eberhard Weber gives a flawless solo

Joaquin Rodrigo didn’t care for the Miles Davis/Gil Evans take on his Concierto d’Aranjuez

Sarah left Bob. Bob wrote a string of love songs. Like You’re gonna make me lonesome …

Stanford Chamber Chorale with Will Todd’s My Lord has come

Pulp at London’s Finsbury Park with – what else? – Common People

From his flawless album of that name, bass ace Eberhard Weber plays Pendulum

John Bilezikjian’s mandolin enhances Leonard’s evocation of a Hebrew prayer in Who by fire?

Joan Baez on Wild Mountain Thyme

It’s 1964. Dexter Gordon’s outfit is in Holland for a Blues Walk

Here’s a touch of heavy metal from White Stones – Chain of command

Sutherland joins Pavarotti for Verdi’s quartet from Rigoletto, Bella figlia dell’amore

Ben Webster’s sax and Oscar Peterson’s piano move us along nicely in Soulville

A forgotten gem, B-side of the Stones’ best known single, Satisfaction, is Spider and the fly

Maria Muldaur’s raunchy 1974 hit from her album of the same name, Midnight at the Oasis

Wynton Marsalis et al pay their dues to Jelly Roll Morton with  Sidewalk Blues

How could he know how little time he had left? Here’s John Watching the wheels go round

Béla Bartók – Romanian folk dances to strings

Weyes Blood (aka Natalie Mering) says It’s not just me, it’s everybody

‘I love you baby but I just can’t ball.’ The Kinks’ ardour flags in the face of ducks on the wall

Syd was still an elemental force, having not yet lost it, as Pink Floyd do Astronomy Domine

Xmas ’63. The Dave Clark Five are feeling Glad all over

The Police – Don’t stand so close to me

Roger is in Madrid to say Wish you were here

John Adams has Mr & Mrs Mao taking to the floor in The Chairman dances

Surely at the very pinnacle of the Fab 4’s magical output. Eleanor Rigby

A touch of 17th century Spain. Jordi Savall with Gaspar Sanz’s Canarios improvisation

It’s good to know His Bobness will be with us when the deal goes down

Ella – Miss Otis regrets

Bob – Spirit on the water

It’s 2013 and Caro Emerald looks to Paris

Paul pines for his Honey Pie

Leonard is back on Boogie Street

Try telling Barry McGuire you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction

From their Heavy Weather album, here’s Weather Report: A remark you made

1969. John and the Plastic Ono Band say Give peace a chance

Saxman John Surman and bassist Dave Holland join oud player Anouar Brahem for Bahia

From the sublime Requiem of Gabriel Fauré – Sanctus

Eric Clapton pays homage to Prince – Purple Rain

Spot the match: the Fab 4’s All My Loving (1963) vs The Dave Brubeck Q’s Kathy’s Waltz (1959)

Catchy tune from Ludwig van B – Für Elise

For the sons of touchline dads the world over. Richard Dawson’s two halves

Great cover of a Leadbelly classic. Nirvana – My girl (where did you sleep ..?) 

His Bobness says it’s alright ma (I’m only bleeding)

Let’s to the slow black, crow black fishing boat bobbing sea to begin at the beginning

It’s October 1958. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers are Moanin’

Jules Massenet’s intermezzo for solo violin and orchestra in his opera, Thaïs Meditations

In memory of Jeff Beck, here’s The Yardbirds and For your love

João Gilberto, Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto and The Girl From Ipanemo

His Bobness, no less, penned an essay on this song from The Clash – London Calling

Beatle George warns of dire dental consequences after the Savoy Truffle

From the Cole Porter playbook, Tony Bennett advises that we Experiment

RIP Terry Hall: December 12, 2022. Lead singer of The Specials, who gave us Ghost Town

Of a zillion covers of this Cole Porter gem, my vote goes to Ella Fitzgerald’s Love for sale

Time for some Ludwig Van B, no? Bologna 2018. Movement 2 of Oboe Concerto in F major

From Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, Non piu andrai

The bard from Minnesota yearns for a little intimacy in Lay Lady Lay

As with Greensleeves and Favourite Things,’Trane hit melodic gold with Chim Chim Cheree

This played in the BBC series, The English. Rodriguez: Crucify Your Mind

The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra: Bela Bartok’s Romanian Folk Dances for Strings

It’s 1965. Eric and his Geordie pals are saying we gotta get out of this place

A 1964 B-side for the 4 Seasons, in ’67 The Tremeloes went to No. 1 with Silence is Golden

Don’t get caught out! If asked to give an example of a tone poem, say Sibelius: The Bard

Holland Baroque’s unorthodox approach to Hildegrade von Bingen’s Karitas Antphon

October 26, 2022: Sons of the East at the Peppermint Club with California

Bob Dylan is in soul-searching mode for What good am I?

From her splendid album, Diva, Annnie Lennox tells of the Gift

His Bobness and Susan Tedeschi revisit Highway 61 Revisited

Lady sings the blues – Strange fruit

Born with a golden voice, Leonard Cohen serenades the Lady Greensleeves

Rhiannon Giddens is joined by Francesco Turrisi for Avalon

Three young musicians do Schubert proud – Trio No. 2, Op.100

Jeff Beck is live with Freeway Jam

A Polish youth orchestra delivers a percussion driven Danse Macabre

50 years ago Von Karajan applied wellie to this slice of Dvorak’s New World

The joy of jass fusion. Snarky Puppy in Holland with Lingus

Composed after going deaf, this is Smetana’s stirring Die Moldau

Greek soprano Agnes Baltsa with a song by compatriot Manos Hadjidakis – O tahidrómos

It’s 1977 and the Queen of Disco, aka Donna Summers, is saying “I feel love

A beautiful and timely reminder from David Rovics that we are everywhere

From Perth, Australia, Riley Pearce says to keep moving

Glastonbury ’22: Sam Fender is Seventeen going under

From Van Morrisson’s sublime Astral Weeks, here’s Madame George

What a year 1967 was! Sgt Pepper, Forever Changes – and Strange Days

Glastonbury magic as John and Paul reunite (virtually) for I’ve got a feeling

Jazz guitar great Pat Metheny pays homage to the Beatles. And I love her

Phenomenal at Glastonbury 2022, here’s a younger Paul: Got to get you into my life

Tabla virtuoso and improviser extraordinaire, Zakir Hussain, evokes a horse running

In Breaking Bad, S3 E13, Mike rescues Chow as the Beastie Boys do Shambala

Gnarls Barkley on the subject of his Blind Mary

Street boy hiphop as Polish pianist-composer-improviser Aleksander Dębicz plays Toccata 1

The amazingly versatile Rhiannon Giddens goes Gaelic for S’iomadh Rid

Back in the day this got played plenty in my stoned household. The Byrds – Lover of the Bayou

The transcendental Rhianna Giddens on a certain Lousiana Man

As featured in Better Call Saul, here’s Bennie Green just Glidin’ along

Sinister strings and a counter-tenor looking immaculately frightful in Purcell’s Cold Song

Boy George: someday soon he’s gonna tell the moon about the Crying Game

1969. Jimi wows Woodstock. Buzz Aldrin moon-walks. Zager & Evans mull on the year 2525

From Leoš Janáček’s piano cycle, In the Mists. Hélène Grimaud plays the opener, Andante

As Shelley in Top Boy, Little Simz showed she can act. Here she is on the day job: Venom