TurningPAGES Rationale (Aug ‘23)
Turning PAGES Playlist
Quarter III, Issue II
Curated by: Nannearl
Playlist: Listen on Spotify
New songs this issue:
Nature Boy x Nat King Cole
Rain Sometimes x Nancy Wilson
I Can’t Help It x Esperanza Spalding, Joe Lovano
Someone to Watch Over Me x Amy Winehouse
Where Are We Going? x Venna, Marco Bernadis
Forever, For Now x Harry Connick, Jr.
Two Hearts x Terri Lyne Carrington, Ravi Coltrane, Samara Joy
Prisner x Julius Rodriguez
You Turned the Tables on Me x Billie Holiday
We’re doing jazz! *does jazz hands*
I’ve been the person tagged with going “against” Tha Homie Kev for this genre and what I can say for sure is that our shit’s probably going to be different, lmao.
There were a few different ways I thought about approaching building this list. I thought about including those whom many consider to be “the greats” and/or “the classics” like Duke Ellington and Miles Davis. I gave thought to adding in some old favs from the smooth jazz era that overtook the 90s and nearly every radio playing in the houses I grew up in. Kenny G, anyone? I reflected on all of those things and landed with a mixture of my younger days, my more present days and some things in between. Surprisingly, (or maybe not?) most of the songs that I’ve chosen for this list also have vocals. I don’t think I’d claim that the vocals make these songs “less jazz” but I’m also not totally convinced that people think of vocals more than they might a sultry saxophone when they think of jazz. Regardless of what you might more immediately think of, we got vocals on this joint, lol.
In this list, I’m pulling from some childhood favorites and some newer inspo that I’ve more recently come to know since jazz is a genre that I only listen to when the mood calls for it (and these days, it hasn't been called often). Growing up, my mom introduced me to big band and vocal jazz, and so that inspired many of the songs that fall into that category like Nat King Cole’s Nature Boy and Harry Connick Jr.’s Forever, For Now. We got some throwback representation including Billie Holiday and Nancy Wilson along with more recent sounds from Venna, Terri Lyne Carrington and Julius Rodriguez (with Julius and Venna being the only instrumentals on this list). Added on some Esperanza Spalding and Amy Winehouse for a little earlier 2000s razzle dazzle, and wala, there’s my list.
It’s a nice, chill time that attempts to narrate a few experiences of love that I’ve both felt and suffered from. I don’t believe any of these songs to be “happy” per se. I think many of them actually contain a nice touch of irony if not for the lyrics, then definitely for the way in which I conceive of love these days. Listen, enjoy and let me know your thoughts in a comment or on the socials.
