Musings in Search of a Muse

On the way home from my girlfriend's tonight, one of those songs that just puts a smile on your face started playing on the car CD player: Santana's "Oyo Como Va." Genius can fade like a sunset or improve with age like good scotch. "Maria Maria (Radio Mix)" from Carlos Santana's Supernatural album is very much like the latter ... smooth, crisp, and reminiscent of good times with promises of more. Urban themes and mixing techniques update the legend and introduce a much needed touch of quality to late-20th Century popular music. Latin rhythms again dominate with a freshness from urban Hispanic flavor. Nicely done, Carlos. And that Grammy was long overdue.

Apparently Sheryl Crow has been around long enough to produce a "best of" album, The Very Best of Sheryl Crow. Maybe I haven't really been paying attention to her work. Some of it has been good, but "Steve McQueen" is the first one I've wanted to purchase. Opening with a gritty, acoustic guitar, this track instantly invokes the character of its namesake. Mr. McQueen can be considered as the height of cool: Simple, sophisticated, yet a very real man's man that women can't resist. The chorus tells it all:

This song caught a fair bit of popularity when first released, but its the type that is more likely to become something of a legend with age. Like Mr. McQueen himself.

Most of the music I acquire with my Pepsi/iTunes caps, and all the ones in this post are such, tend to be tracks on which I would hesitate spending. They aren't "must haves," but are likely to have spent some time in my Wish List. So where "Race with Devil On Spanish Highway" (Al DiMeola from Al DiMeola: Anthology) came from, I don't rightly know. The 30 second clip didn't do it justice. No, it's not better than the clip; it just isn't what I expected. But I was in a Latin mood and had just been listening to some really good contemporary Jazz so I went for it. Probably not something I would have spent money on, but it will likely compliment a playlist or two.

Another Jazz track made it in this round of cap redemptions, but I could swear I already have it somewhere. Danged if I can find it, though, so I picked up "Also Sprach Zarathustra" from Prelude by Deodato. Sort of a Meco-meets-quality-Jazz cover of the theme most frequently associated with the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, it is a nice blend of zip and panache married to a commercial appeal that means neophytes will like it and aficionados won't be bored as they usually are with the trite. The artist's site relates that the "... song sold at least five million copies and was awarded by Billboard Top instrumental LP, Top Jazz LP, Top Pop instrumental single, Cashbox, Record World, and Playboy magazines, also winning a Grammy Award in the Best Instrumental Pop/Rock performance in 1973 and becoming the most successful record in the label's history." Must be pretty good then. Probably that's why I didn't hesitate hitting the "Buy Song" button.