Every week, CKUA’s hosts submit their songs for our weekly House Blend playlist: an exciting new release, a beloved classic or just an old personal favourite. We mix it all together to create a sonic concoction that’ll help kick off your week. Check out what’s on this week’s playlist.
The Playlist
The Picks
Orest Soltykevych: Rachel Podger, Marcin Swiatkiewicz, Daniele Caminiti, “Chiacona” by Antonio Bertali
Antonio Bertali was a 17th-century composer who began his studies in his native Venice but settled in Vienna at age 19. There he worked as a violinist and composer and focused on writing dramatic works, such as opera and oratorio. Bertali spent the last 20 years of his life as music director in the Viennese court. This is Bertali’s best-known work.
Baba: Danny Michel, “The Red Fox”
Danny Michel is now in the Paul Simon territory, and that’s saying something! The brand new single, “The Red Fox”, is a perfect teaser for the new Danny Michel album, to be released one track at a time. Cinematic music with childlike innocence, adventurous and fearless.
David Ward: Charles Lloyd & The Marvels with Lucinda Williams, “Blues For Langston and LaRue”
Back to the well this week and another piece from Vanished Gardens, the new album from jazz master Charles Lloyd which finds him paired with singer Lucinda Williams on half the pieces. For this week’s House Blend, an easygoing, mid-summer afternoon instrumental blues for your listening pleasure.
Tom Coxworth: Wallis Bird, “Home”
An artist who is a combination of influences — an expression of the folk process telling personal stories that relate to the world.
Grant Stovel: Ruthie Foster, “Joy Comes Back”
It’s hard to imagine a sound as joyful as that of Ruthie Foster’s voice. This loose, buoyant track finds that glorious voice paired up with Derek Trucks’ soaring slide guitar. It’s kind of both the title tune and the focus statement of Ruthie’s latest record, which she’ll have in her back pocket when she returns to Alberta to hit the Canmore Folk Fest this weekend.
Mark Antonelli: Philharmonia Orchestra, Geoffrey Simon, “Butantan (In A Snake-Garden Near Sao Paulo)”
Last week it was spiders, this week its snakes. This piece was written after Respighi visited Brazil’s Butantan Reptile Institute. He was afraid of snakes and included a melody from the Catholic Mass for the Dead and wanted the movement to be played “Strisciante” (“slitheringly”). Listen for the tambourine sounding like a rattlesnake!
Kodi Hutchinson: Laila Biali, “Let’s Dance”
Laila is the headliner for the upcoming Sylvan Lake Jazz Festival running August 17-19, 2018. She performs August 18th at the festival and this song is quite often her show closer. One of Canada’s vocal jazz greats!
Cathy Ennis– Hop Along, “Prior Things”
Hop Along is an indie folk/rock group from Philadelphia.
1) I really love the singer/songwriter’s sound. She’s Frances Quinlan.
2) I love the wild violins; and
3) The album title, Bark Your Head Off, Dog, makes me laugh.
Dianne Donovan: Blossom Dearie, “I’m Hip”
I thought that we could all use a laugh at this time. This song is a Bob Dorough and Dav Frishberg classic. The words are hilarious and it’s poking a little bit of fun at us jazzers.
Roy Forbes: Judee Sill, “The Kiss”
It’s a shame that Judee Sill isn’t up there with gals like Joni Mitchell on the list of trailblazing singer-songwriters from the dawn of the ’70s. I saw Judee opening for Crosby & Nash in early 1972. Her strong performance at that gig leads me to both of her Asylum albums, especially Heart Food, where “The Kiss” comes from. Andy Partridge, of XTC, calls “The Kiss” “one of the most beautiful songs ever written”. He could be close to right.
Note: Judee was the first artist to be signed to David Geffen’s Asylum label, before the Eagles, Joni, Linda Ronstadt, et al.