The vibraphone consists of tuned metal bars which the player hits with mallets. It is common in classical music, but especially prevalent in jazz and there is no-one better on 'vibes' than Milt Jackson. Here he is with Modern Jazz Quartet, the group founded and led by pianist John Lewis and in which Milt spent much of his career.
So shut down the laptop, kick off your shoes and let John and Milt sink you in to summer. They start slow. Then get a little less slow. But never get too fast.
What do you call someone who hangs out with musicians?
A drummer.
Okay, drummers get stick (sic). John Lennon, when asked if Ringo was the best drummer in the world, said he wasn't even the best drummer in the Beatles (actually that is probably apocryphal). But drummers are important and even cool, and none cooler than Honey Lantree. This is 1964 and women are not drummers.
The song itself is a piece of classic pre-lapsarian sixties pop produced by legend Joe Meek. Go Honey (especially from 1.27).
If you had wandered in to Hyde Park in the summer of 1966 you might have seen a bunch of barely twenty somethings making a cheap promo film and launching a mod anthem. The mods (from 'modernist'), sharply dressed, riding their Lambrettas (mopeds), had evolved in London in the 50s, listening to jazz and blues and ska, but by the following decade were also listening to the likes of The Who.
The kids were alright.
Some pieces of music, especially classical music, are often familiar, but you can't name the composer...
Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg wrote this short piano piece in 1896 in memory of his and his wife Nina's recent 25th wedding anniversary celebration. It is played here by Alice Sara Ott.
And today sees the start of the BBC Proms, eight weeks of largely, but not exclusively, classical music from all eras in the Royal Albert Hall in London.
A familiar story: album released, ignored for years, then slowly hailed as a masterpiece.
This is the title track. Enjoy the weekend. Linda is determined to enjoy hers.
This song, St Etienne's first single, was literally recorded in a member of the band's bedroom studio. It's a cover of a Neil Young song.
The band were named after the French football team that lost the 1976 European Cup final to Bayern Munich. Apparently the band really liked their kit.
70s disco from Tina. Her voice gets higher and higher as the song goes on. It's kind of a relief when she stops.
There used to be a radio feature called 'Bigger than the Beatles' which was a light-hearted way of featuring bands who should have perhaps have done a lot better than they did. These guys fit the bill.
This is a version of an aria from 17th and 18th century composer Alessandro Scarlatti's opera 'Il Pompeo' by Nora Fischer & guitarist Marnix Dorrestein, taken from Nora's 2018 album.
'O cessate di piagarmi, o lasciatemi morir (wound me no more, leave me to die)'
Some Bond songs are memorable, and there's Lulu's 'The Man with the Golden Gun'.
Nancy Sinatra nails it.
'Zep' are known for hard rock based on the blues, but they had a melodic side as well as 'Ramble On', from their second album, demonstrates. Singer Robert Plant liked his Tolkien and the song references 'Lord of the Rings.'
Yes
In the second half of the nineteenth century, Richard Wagner revolutionised opera which he saw as a total work of art with music part of a wider visual, poetic and, especially, dramatic experience. 'Das Rheingold' is the first of the four operas in his 'Ring Cycle'. This prelude describes the River Rhine, calm and majestic.
When Paul McCartney released his first post-Beatles solo album it didn't do well, at least with the critics. Compared to his radical bandmate John Lennon, he just seemed twee and lo-fi.
Many years later the album is seen as hugely influential. In fact the pendulum has swung on so much of his solo work. Even so, it is hard to believe no-one at the time thought 'Every Night' a great song.
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (aka Eminem) has announced that he is finishing off his alter ego, Slim Shady. A highly controversial and comic creation he gave vent to what Eminem saw in everyone, though, as is perhaps inevitable, the artist gradually turned in to a grumpy old dad, moaning at what rap had become. Marshall also had his addictions and became close friends with Elton John who helped him through them.
Fanny Mendelssohn was a prolific composer of over 400 works, mainly piano pieces and songs, most of which were never published in her lifetime (the first half of the nineteenth century). She was also a very talented pianist herself.
Dance away the heartache
Dance away fears
'The Harder They Come' is a 1972 Jamaican crime film that achieved international success and played a major role in bringing reggae to a wider audience. Ska and reggae artist Jimmy Cliff was its star and this is the title track.
Beyoncé's country album (she cannily calls it a 'Beyoncé' album not a 'Country' album) is inevitably causing much debate, not least about the origins of country music itself. In fact one of the key moments in the emergence of Country was the 1927 Bristol session, recorded in Bristol, Tennessee. The Carter Family were one of the artists at the session and they became one of the first big Country recording stars. This song is from that 1927 session.
Single girl, single girl
She goes to store & buys
Oh, she goes to store & buys
Married girl, married girl
She rocks the cradle & cries
Oh, she rocks the cradle & cries
David Bowie wrote this song for Mott the Hoople who at the time were about to break up after limited commercial success. Drummer Dale Griffin said that when they heard the song they thought: "He wants to give us that? He must be crazy! We broke our necks to say yes!" Some vintage socks on view as well.
The Pandemic was tough on many artists as they were unable to perform. But some thrived, such as Sophie Ellis-Bextor with her live weekly "Kitchen Disco" concerts featuring herself and her family, streamed live from their kitchen on Instagram. All of which helped revive Sophie's career culminating in the appearance of this track in the movie 'Saltburn' and a spot at the 2024 BAFTAs.
It's Murder on the Dancefloor, but it's worth the wait (DJ).
Brahms only wrote four symphonies and the first one took him 21 years, but he had hit his stride by the time of the third which he composed in 1883. This is the famous third movement.
Grime music emerged in East London in the early 2000s out of UK jungle and hip-hop with a signature sound of speed to the tune of 140 beats per minute.
Lady Leshurr is one of its female stars.
Mr Pitiful at his best with the band smashing it. From the 'Otis Blue' album.
'Night Mail' is an iconic 1936 film made by the Post Office about the night mail train collecting and taking post to Scotland. The words in this last three minutes of the film are by poet W. H. Auden, then still in his twenties, and the music by composer Benjamin Britten, then only 22. The dog is not credited.