Malcolm GauldThis list represents a double-first: Not only is it here before New Year’s Day… it’s here before Christmas! And all you have to do is steer over to Spotify and click on a playlist titled “Little Malcolm’s 23 for ’23 Playlist.”
True to form, you’ll have to look long and hard to find any of the following songs on any of the “Best of 2023” lists flooding the media as the year comes to a close. (See #5.) This year’s list has about 50 songs I liked… a lot. Here are 23 that hit my sweet spot the hardest during the past twelve months. In alphabetical (by artist) order:
1. “Mercy” by Lakecia Benjamin, w/ Dianne Reeves on vocals. Lakecia’s superb sax plus Dianne’s vocals add up to a thing of classic beauty. “Turn the page. Dare to be brave. Build with the joy and the light that shines between the stars above.”
2. “Night Into Day” by Toini & Rio Bravo – Country/Western swing. Catchy. Old School. “Yesterday I had another dream of you. The night before I walked the streets ’til two. If I could never ever close my eyes again, I’d pretend I’d keep forgetting all the same.”
3. “Don’t Wait Too Long” by Paul Carrack & The SWR Big Band – Never heard of this guy, but definitely a pro doin’ his thing. “Take a chance, play your part, make romance, might break your heart. But, If you think that time will change your ways… Don’t wait too long.” Words to live by. Tight.
4. “Let’s Play One” by Paul Chambers – Since I started doing these yearly reviews, when it comes to Song of the Year, I have ruled out re-releases. Not sure of the exact year this was recorded, but since bassist Chambers died in 1969, it was over a half-century ago. I don’t care. (Did I mention that this is my blog?!?) In any case, I have a short list of jazz “go-tos” that I 100% know will appear and remain on any jazz playlist I ever make for the rest of my life. This song now takes its place (and totally belongs) with Carla Bley’s “Lawns”… Brubeck’s “Take 5” and “Blue Rondo a la Turk”… Miles’ “So What” (a tune that Chambers plays on) and “It Never Entered My Mind”… Bill Evans’ “Waltz for Debby”… Erroll Garner’s “I’ll Remember April” (That one’s for you, Pops, RIP)… Eddie Harris’ “I Waited for You”… Oscar Peterson’s “On a Clear Day”… Stanley Turrentine’s “Pieces of Dreams”… Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s “Jitterbug Waltz”. (Check out my Spotify “Mal Jazz” playlist for all those and more.)
5. “Keep It on a Burner” by Margo Cilker – Off Valley of Heart’s Delight. This song is one of the very few on this list that appear on any of the requisite “Best of…” lists. Mojo lists it on its Top 75 albums and NPR on its Top 50. “Sometimes I feel it dipping beneath the water line; But I keep it on a burner in the back of my mind.”
6. “Second Hand” by Slaid Cleaves – Kept going back to this song throughout the year. “So much of who I am today, I just picked up second hand.” Ain’t that the truth?!?
7. “Forgiving Ties” by Deer Tick – Upbeat Song of the Year. Catchy. Got (and still gets) a lot of play in my private listening moments. “I’m not looking for forgiving ties. I’m just lookin’ for a way to survive.”
8. “Workin’ On a World” by Iris Dement – Always love me some Iris. (Also check out “The Sacred Now” on this playlist.) A hopeful message — esp. relevant to those of us in the teaching professions! — to remind us to stay true to the best versions of ourselves. “I’m workin’ on a world I may never see.”
9. “Reject” by Alice Faye – Keep an eye on this one. This/she is catchy! Call it a new approach to a love song. “I’m a reject baby, now, that’s what you made of me. I don’t know what I lost, I don’t know what you didn’t see. I’m a reject, baby, but so are you…too.” So, there!
10. “Waiting on the Sidelines” by Lee Fields. Fifty years have passed since this state-of-the-art soul man recorded his first song. This takes me back to that classic 60s Philly sound — think Stylistics, Spinners, O’Jays, Herman Melville… “I lost the love I found when my baby put me down. Feel just like a king that lost his throne all because the girl is gone.” (Love the casual rhyming of “throne” and “gone.”)
11. “Spinning” by Filly. She’s described as a “UK club sensation.” I can’t say that I know what that means but I can say that this song can get in your head and make a roomful of people pick up their pace. “Uh-oh, I’m spinning out of control!”
12. “Exhausting Lover” by Ben Folds – Had trouble choosing between this and “Winslow Gardens.” “Don’t know what came over me, Out the door in my boxer briefs. Some dude live tweeted as he ran half-naked past a Cracker Barrel.” Twisted and… er…”Fold”ed. (lol).
13. “Rushin’ River Valley” by Fruit Bats — Their song “Balcony” was on my Best of 2021 list. These guys are great. “Could I be your North Star? Or maybe a river running to your heart? My love is what the flood can’t wash away.”
14. “The Wondering” by Hiss Golden Messenger. Love these guys. Their song “Sanctuary” was on my Best of 2021 list and still gets a lot of play with me. “I’m still here. Just can’t quit wondering. I’m still here with my back to the wondering.”
15. “Love Go By” by Elle King — Some vocalists just put it out there raw and unfiltered — Tom Waits, Doctor John, Taj, Janis Joplin — and hope for the best. Suffice it to say that Ms. King is in that group. “Don’t even tell me, ‘Cause I don’t need to know about the others. Why you trippin’, babe? We got each other. I don’t want nobody but you.” ‘Nuff said.
16. “Charlie on the MTA” by The Kingston Trio — The current rendition of these folk pioneers serving up a remake of their 1959 hit. Hyde alums of the late 70s might remember that we did this number in an in-house performing arts show. The theme of the show was “The American City” and the director was the rookie teacher: Yours Truly. Fun Show. “Did he ever return? No he never returned, And his fate is still unlearn’d. He may ride forever ‘neath the streets of Boston. He’s the man who never returned.”
17. “Taking Me Higher” by Keb Mo. Last year’s song of the year (“Good to Be Home”) awardee — according to me, anyway — offers up this gem from the Sweetwater film soundtrack. “All I know and all I see is calling me; and it’s taking me higher than I’ve ever been before.”
18. “Follow Me” by Caroline Muir — Country. Damn good, too. “My bags were packed. The tank was filled. My dreams were calling. I was going to Nashville. You never wanted a part of that life. It’s the whole reason we said goodbye.”
19. “More than Friends” by Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, w/Lainey Wilson – Willie’s boy indeed proves that it does not skip a generation. And Lainie’s a got a great voice. “Forget tomorrow. We can face the music then. But I promise you tonight will never end. If we pretend we’re more than friends.”
20. “For Me It’s You” by Jobi Riccio. Slow Song of the Year. Beautiful. Just a beautiful song. Wow. Just Wow. “Everyone has a person who’ll never feel the way they do. For me it’s you.”
21. “Old Chunk of Coal (Luckenbach Session)” by Billy Joe Shaver – An updated, newly recorded classic that Billy Joe originally released over 40 years ago. I don’t know, but given the chorus, I’m thinking the man is talking about Unique Potential: “I’m just an old chunk of coal, but I’m gonna be a diamond someday.”
22. “Some Cold Rainy Day” by Tuba Skinny – a New Orleans street band started in 2009. Love these guys. Here, they bring new life to a song that is almost 100 years old. I imagine my parents as kids and this playing faintly in the background on radio. Hauntingly soothing. “You’ll come back some cold rainy day.” Probably.
23. “The Way We Move (Romero Thrasher Version)” by Langhorne Slim – New version of a ten-year-old song. New to me, straight ahead stuff. “And here we are, extending into shooting stars. In our houses, in our cars. You didn’t know it, now you do. This is the way (this is the way) we move.”
Given that these affairs come with a guaranteed sin of omission, but hopefully there’s some that will grab you. Know tjat there will be “More in 24.” In fact, that just may have to be the name of the playlist.
Happy Holidays/New Year!
Onward, Malcolm
