Periodically I like to make short lists of books and recordings that I would not want to do without. It helps to focus the mind. Lately I've been thinking about the 25 albums (not individual songs or pieces) that I would want on a desert island. Here's the current list, in alphabetical order by performer:
Abbey Lincoln, You Gotta Pay the Band
Claudio Arrau, Chopin: Nocturnes
Dave Brubeck Quartet, Time Out
Bob Dylan, Blood on the Tracks
Duke Ellington, And His Mother Called Him Bill
Ella Fitzgerald, The Intimate Ella
Aretha Franklin, The First Twelve Sides
Glenn Gould, Bach: Goldberg Variations (1981)
Michael Hedges, Breakfast in the Field
Paul Hillier, Troubadour Songs and Medieval Lyrics
Keller Quartet, Bach: Art of the Fugue
Alicia De Larrocha, Granados: Goyescas
Jakob Lindberg, Lute Music from Scotland and France
Jacques Loussier, Plays Bach
Patricia McCarty, Bach: Cello Suites
Joni Mitchell, Blue
Tim O'Brien, Traveler
Panocha Quartet, Dvorak: Cypresses & String Quartet #10
Joe Pass, Virtuoso #3
Marcus Roberts, If I Could Be With You
Andras Schiff, Bach: Keyboard Partitas
Steeleye Span, Hark! The Village Wait
Westminster Cathedral Choir, Palestrina: Missa Papae Marcelli, Missa Brevis
Yes, Close to the Edge
Subject to change. :)
And what about the 25th recording? I'd make a miscellany of individual songs and pieces of music that I love. One of these days I'll figure out which tunes would make the cut...