Musical Moments – Does this happen to you?

After 2 soul fulfilling sets with 50 cent Haircut, my belly full of the best fried chicken LA has to offer and some great Zin courtesy of Chef Greenspan and Luke behind the bar at the Foundry, I pressed play on my iPod and settled into the 30 minute car ride home. Once in a while the iPod’s shuffle feature hits the nail on the head and a musical moment slaps you in the face and reminds you that it’s great to be alive.

One of those moments happened to me…

Press “play all 5″ below now:

Digestivo – Mark Dresser Trio
Totally heady and so, so grooving with dissonance. Listening to this song reminds me of Tyler Suchman, my old roommate and the gentlemen who helped me get this site together. Tyler worked at Tower Records and would come home with jazz recordings from all the greats… Davis, Monk, Mingus etc… Tyler and I would sit on the couch and wax philosophic about music, politics and women. Tyler would later worked at Cryptogramophone, the avant-garde jazz label out of Venice California that put this recording out. As I listened to the crazy melody and dissonant harmonies I was swept away by the skills of the players and the improvisational contributions and textures… each note a surprise… synapses snapping and deep connections reforming in my brain. Mark Dresser is a first class bassist and an inspiration to my journey on the contrabass.

My Art College Days Are Over – Hefner
I found it serendipitous that as I was remembering my college days and jazz exploration when this song came on reminding me that those days are over… but they were fun. I discovered Hefner using the illegal Napster. They put out the finest sing along indie rock. I, of course, sang along at the top of my lungs despite the fact that I did not know the words.

Serenade – Steve Miller
But my craving to sing… and desire to feel in command of the lyrics was fulfilled when this Steve Miller classic came on… Steve Miller has a special place in my heart because my dad used to sing a bunch of their songs to my mom when I was a kid. I loved it when he sang to my mom. Funny thing is that when I finally heard the original recordings I was shocked that he got all the words and melodies wrong. Totally bugged me as a teenager but now I find it endearing. Well anyway if you can’t get your fill singing along to this one then… well I don’t know what to tell you.

Tite Rope – Harold Alexander
Hitting the 10 to 405 interchange this insane funk song came on. Now I was in true heaven… as a bassist funk is totally where it’s at. The groove is undeniable… I mean listen to that… my God is it rad or what? I was totally tempted to press rewind to instantly listen to the song again… but fate was treating me so good I had to press on. I will be doing research on this one as I must know who all the performers are… first class!

Let’s Get It On _ Maceo Parker
Then this soul classic covered instrumentally by legendary horn player Maceo Parker came on… Smoothing out the excitement for a mellow exit from the freeway with the fade happening right as I pull in the driveway… I was like… come on….really?

Musical moments like this happen so rarely… a perfect blend of songs that take you on a journey into the past while filling your ears with unexpected experiences and tangible pleasure.

Does this happen to you?