Music for Thanksgiving
We are spending much of this weekend in high preparation mode for Thanksgiving. The last of the groceries have been obtained from supermarket, farmers market, specialty shop or our own back yard. Jars of succotash from summer canning have been brought out of the pantry and the greens have been torn and are soaking. Cranberry sauce bubbles in the pot, some to be decanted into the serving dish for the Thanksgiving table, some to be ladled into small jars for guests to take home. Later this week, we will pick up the turkeys, taking care as we snuggle the cleaned birds into their briny bath to respect them for their sacrifice and to thank them for it. There are pie crusts and fillings to prepare, rolls to ready, sourdough and corn breads to dry.
The home must be readied. Linens from tablecloths and napkins to guest towels are brought out of storage, inspected, laundered and ironed, as we make notes of pieces that will need repurposing and replenishing. Silver, from a generational heirloom set to one whose heirloom status is just begining, is buffed and shined. The best dishes are unpacked and washed, and it doesn’t matter if these are fancy pieces from a registry or a box set from a discount house. Relish trays and appetizer plates are rinsed, along with as many cocktail, beer and wine glasses as we can corral. We can’t forget dessert plates, coffee cups and cordial glasses. We even remember to clean out the coffee maker!
Preparation is fun because it is both anticipatory and practical. Accomplishing a task is its own reward, but for a holiday, every task accomplished is also a marker along the journey to the big day. As that day dawns, we move from sleepy breakfasts to focused preparation. Members of the household are shooed out of the kitchen and put to work straightening up the house before the first guest arrives. In the war zone, turkeys are positioned in roasting pans, often to be served alongside ham or, as was the case in Mama Diva’s kitchen, barbeque. The table must be set, with a serving piece positioned on each trivet. We never know how we’re going to make room on the table for all of the dishes, but we always do .
And, of course, guests charter in and out. During prep week, we fielded phone calls and emails to answer the neverending question “what can I bring?” After so many years of attending Thanksgiving in our urban home, our guests know to bring the heirloom dish or family specialty without which their Thanksgiving is not complete. Not everyone cooks or wants to, but everyone wants to contribute, and there are many ways to do so. It is a common practice to deputize a couple of guests as sommelier. Working together, they can choose both red and white wines as is the correct practice for turkey; perhaps an after dinner pour such as port or Cognac; even the Madiera for the gravy. Someone else can bring the beer. Someone who likes to eat and drink more than they like to cook or mix volunteers to bring plastic containers so that everyone can take home leftovers.
And someone is put in charge of the music. Though we do allow for the morning news and parade broadcasts, it is a rule for Thanksgiving in our urban home that the tv goes dark and stays that way once the first guest arrives. Anyone who must catch a few moments of the big game is welcome to tune it in on the bedroom set, but we have never found that anyone avails themselves of the option. Among all of the other things it also is, Thanksgiving is a dinner party, and dinner parties are better served by music and conversation than by the glare and blare of the television set.
Selecting and playing music for a party is a specialized skill. Music for a party is as much a part of the setting for the event as the décor, the table service, the food and drink themselves. Because it sets the scene, the music should be reflective of the event while evoking the atmosphere for it. Party music always succeeds best when the selections are curated with this in mind. For Thanksgiving in our urban home, we take a few hours on an afternoon such as today to create playlists on the home computer and then burn CDs from songs we have down- or uploaded from legal purchases. On Thanksgiving day, we will place these CDs in the multi-changer, which is wired to play in the living room, dining area and kitchen. One press of the RANDOM button and the soundtrack, curated thoughtfully, will play all day long.
For Thanksgiving, we focus on American music. We have found that a mixture of jazz, heartland standards and, yes, show tunes provide the right atmosphere for this party. Below are our suggestions for Thanksgiving music. In the spirit of generosity, we have curated a public playlist at Spotify (look for Urban Home Thanksgiving at Spotify; account required). Thanksgiving playlists often focus on songs about food and drink, and we’ve included a lot of these, but our first consideration is the mood and history of the selections. As a grandchild of the Oklahoma dust bowl, I had to include some Woody Guthrie, both in honor of my grandmother and of all of those whose Thanksgivings have been or are lean. Likewise we included some shoutouts to our beloved Mama Diva, for whom Thanksgiving was not complete without Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan. I had to include Ethel Merman as an ode to both Sally Adams and herself, and Doris Day as a tip of the pillbox hat to all of those sixties romantic comedies where the interior design worked almost as hard and as stylishly as the leading lady did.
MUSIC FOR THANKSGIVING
Throughout the year, we keep an eye open for CDs to add to our collection. In Los Angeles, spending an afternoon at Amoeba is a given. Unfortunately, record stores are becoming a rare breed in New York City. Tower, Virgin and HMV are all gone. The venerable Spotlight Records has long since abandoned its brick and mortar sanctuary at the gate of the East Village. Academy is still open on its atmospheric side street in the Flatiron. Other than online, a surprising source for buying CDs is the local chain coffee house. Whoever manages the music department at Starbucks earns their daily Venti; they often have great compilation albums right at the register. This year, these have included great folk-rock, be-bop and speakeasy collections.
Jazz and Jazz Vocals. Many believe that jazz is the great American musical artform. There are a lot of subgenres of jazz, which can make this artform intimidating to venture into by new listeners. Almost any outlet that sells jazz records, including online, will have informed staff and customers who can make recommendations based on what a new listener is interested in or willing to listen to. Try pretty much anything recorded by such legends as Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker or Chet Baker. Dave Brubeck’s Take Five defined cool jazz through its exploration of unusual time signatures. Beat poets were heavily influenced by jazz; sneak a few of the resulting jazz poetry recordings into the mix.
Jazz vocalists define musical range both by their pipes and by their catalogs. No mention of jazz vocalists is complete without including such greats as Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, or Sarah Vaughan. As with Monk or Dizzy, you can’t go wrong with anything in their catalogs. Try any of Ella’s Songbook recordings, Washington’s historic What a Diff’rence a Day Makes, and Vaughan’s Swingin’ Easy. Peggy Lee started out as a big band singer before hitting her stride in the 1950s with a succession of swingin’, smokin’ albums; try Black Coffee or Things are Swinging. As anyone who’s been on a birthday cabaret juggernaut with me will affirm, I am powerless to resist the fluttery voice and precision musicianship of Blossom Dearie. Try such delights as Once Upon a Summertime, Give Him the Ooh La La and My Gentleman Friend.
Indigenous American Music. Another great American musical artform grew not out of clubs and streets but along highways and side roads. It’s hard to imagine a more authentically or inherently American singer-songwriter than Woody Guthrie. The “dust bowl troubadour” recorded what was virtually the soundtrack of the American road. Try any of his legacy recordings not just for the purity of their sound and spirit but to recognize their place as the oral history of an era and its people. You could say the same about another expression of indigenous music – one that, arguably, bridges citified jazz and dust bowl folk as it poured out of the gramophones of the time. Speakeasy music is instantly atmospheric and a great deal of fun, and if that isn’t the definition of party music, I don’t know what is. Try Starbucks’ Speakeasy Times compilation, or any of the volumes in Rich Conaty’s Big Broadcast series. Finally, to honor the Native American roots of both this holiday and the people whose land this was this land before colonization, consider weaving some of this truly indigenous music into your mix. We are big fans of Robbie Robertson’s contemporary native recordings, as well as the archives of First Nations music at the Library of Congress.
Movie and Show Tunes. One could (and many do) argue that film and musical theatre are inherent American art forms, and soundtracks and show recordings reflect this American scope. For a Thanksgiving mix, songs culled from these recordings provide a fun, tonic note to the serious melodics of jazz or heavy content of depression era chorals. Musical performers often had profitable studio careers; try any of the compilations from such legends as Judy Garland, Ethel Merman, Doris Day, Carmen Miranda or Mary Martin. From the screen, the Mad Men soundtrack hits a sophisticated retro groove. In our urban home, the signature soundtrack for Thanksgiving is Rolfe Kent’s jazz ensemble music from the film Sideways, which focuses, appropriately and melodically, on the pleasures of food, drink and companionship.
The home must be readied. Linens from tablecloths and napkins to guest towels are brought out of storage, inspected, laundered and ironed, as we make notes of pieces that will need repurposing and replenishing. Silver, from a generational heirloom set to one whose heirloom status is just begining, is buffed and shined. The best dishes are unpacked and washed, and it doesn’t matter if these are fancy pieces from a registry or a box set from a discount house. Relish trays and appetizer plates are rinsed, along with as many cocktail, beer and wine glasses as we can corral. We can’t forget dessert plates, coffee cups and cordial glasses. We even remember to clean out the coffee maker!
Preparation is fun because it is both anticipatory and practical. Accomplishing a task is its own reward, but for a holiday, every task accomplished is also a marker along the journey to the big day. As that day dawns, we move from sleepy breakfasts to focused preparation. Members of the household are shooed out of the kitchen and put to work straightening up the house before the first guest arrives. In the war zone, turkeys are positioned in roasting pans, often to be served alongside ham or, as was the case in Mama Diva’s kitchen, barbeque. The table must be set, with a serving piece positioned on each trivet. We never know how we’re going to make room on the table for all of the dishes, but we always do .
And, of course, guests charter in and out. During prep week, we fielded phone calls and emails to answer the neverending question “what can I bring?” After so many years of attending Thanksgiving in our urban home, our guests know to bring the heirloom dish or family specialty without which their Thanksgiving is not complete. Not everyone cooks or wants to, but everyone wants to contribute, and there are many ways to do so. It is a common practice to deputize a couple of guests as sommelier. Working together, they can choose both red and white wines as is the correct practice for turkey; perhaps an after dinner pour such as port or Cognac; even the Madiera for the gravy. Someone else can bring the beer. Someone who likes to eat and drink more than they like to cook or mix volunteers to bring plastic containers so that everyone can take home leftovers.
And someone is put in charge of the music. Though we do allow for the morning news and parade broadcasts, it is a rule for Thanksgiving in our urban home that the tv goes dark and stays that way once the first guest arrives. Anyone who must catch a few moments of the big game is welcome to tune it in on the bedroom set, but we have never found that anyone avails themselves of the option. Among all of the other things it also is, Thanksgiving is a dinner party, and dinner parties are better served by music and conversation than by the glare and blare of the television set.
Selecting and playing music for a party is a specialized skill. Music for a party is as much a part of the setting for the event as the décor, the table service, the food and drink themselves. Because it sets the scene, the music should be reflective of the event while evoking the atmosphere for it. Party music always succeeds best when the selections are curated with this in mind. For Thanksgiving in our urban home, we take a few hours on an afternoon such as today to create playlists on the home computer and then burn CDs from songs we have down- or uploaded from legal purchases. On Thanksgiving day, we will place these CDs in the multi-changer, which is wired to play in the living room, dining area and kitchen. One press of the RANDOM button and the soundtrack, curated thoughtfully, will play all day long.
For Thanksgiving, we focus on American music. We have found that a mixture of jazz, heartland standards and, yes, show tunes provide the right atmosphere for this party. Below are our suggestions for Thanksgiving music. In the spirit of generosity, we have curated a public playlist at Spotify (look for Urban Home Thanksgiving at Spotify; account required). Thanksgiving playlists often focus on songs about food and drink, and we’ve included a lot of these, but our first consideration is the mood and history of the selections. As a grandchild of the Oklahoma dust bowl, I had to include some Woody Guthrie, both in honor of my grandmother and of all of those whose Thanksgivings have been or are lean. Likewise we included some shoutouts to our beloved Mama Diva, for whom Thanksgiving was not complete without Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan. I had to include Ethel Merman as an ode to both Sally Adams and herself, and Doris Day as a tip of the pillbox hat to all of those sixties romantic comedies where the interior design worked almost as hard and as stylishly as the leading lady did.
MUSIC FOR THANKSGIVING
Throughout the year, we keep an eye open for CDs to add to our collection. In Los Angeles, spending an afternoon at Amoeba is a given. Unfortunately, record stores are becoming a rare breed in New York City. Tower, Virgin and HMV are all gone. The venerable Spotlight Records has long since abandoned its brick and mortar sanctuary at the gate of the East Village. Academy is still open on its atmospheric side street in the Flatiron. Other than online, a surprising source for buying CDs is the local chain coffee house. Whoever manages the music department at Starbucks earns their daily Venti; they often have great compilation albums right at the register. This year, these have included great folk-rock, be-bop and speakeasy collections.
Jazz and Jazz Vocals. Many believe that jazz is the great American musical artform. There are a lot of subgenres of jazz, which can make this artform intimidating to venture into by new listeners. Almost any outlet that sells jazz records, including online, will have informed staff and customers who can make recommendations based on what a new listener is interested in or willing to listen to. Try pretty much anything recorded by such legends as Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker or Chet Baker. Dave Brubeck’s Take Five defined cool jazz through its exploration of unusual time signatures. Beat poets were heavily influenced by jazz; sneak a few of the resulting jazz poetry recordings into the mix.
Jazz vocalists define musical range both by their pipes and by their catalogs. No mention of jazz vocalists is complete without including such greats as Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, or Sarah Vaughan. As with Monk or Dizzy, you can’t go wrong with anything in their catalogs. Try any of Ella’s Songbook recordings, Washington’s historic What a Diff’rence a Day Makes, and Vaughan’s Swingin’ Easy. Peggy Lee started out as a big band singer before hitting her stride in the 1950s with a succession of swingin’, smokin’ albums; try Black Coffee or Things are Swinging. As anyone who’s been on a birthday cabaret juggernaut with me will affirm, I am powerless to resist the fluttery voice and precision musicianship of Blossom Dearie. Try such delights as Once Upon a Summertime, Give Him the Ooh La La and My Gentleman Friend.
Indigenous American Music. Another great American musical artform grew not out of clubs and streets but along highways and side roads. It’s hard to imagine a more authentically or inherently American singer-songwriter than Woody Guthrie. The “dust bowl troubadour” recorded what was virtually the soundtrack of the American road. Try any of his legacy recordings not just for the purity of their sound and spirit but to recognize their place as the oral history of an era and its people. You could say the same about another expression of indigenous music – one that, arguably, bridges citified jazz and dust bowl folk as it poured out of the gramophones of the time. Speakeasy music is instantly atmospheric and a great deal of fun, and if that isn’t the definition of party music, I don’t know what is. Try Starbucks’ Speakeasy Times compilation, or any of the volumes in Rich Conaty’s Big Broadcast series. Finally, to honor the Native American roots of both this holiday and the people whose land this was this land before colonization, consider weaving some of this truly indigenous music into your mix. We are big fans of Robbie Robertson’s contemporary native recordings, as well as the archives of First Nations music at the Library of Congress.
Movie and Show Tunes. One could (and many do) argue that film and musical theatre are inherent American art forms, and soundtracks and show recordings reflect this American scope. For a Thanksgiving mix, songs culled from these recordings provide a fun, tonic note to the serious melodics of jazz or heavy content of depression era chorals. Musical performers often had profitable studio careers; try any of the compilations from such legends as Judy Garland, Ethel Merman, Doris Day, Carmen Miranda or Mary Martin. From the screen, the Mad Men soundtrack hits a sophisticated retro groove. In our urban home, the signature soundtrack for Thanksgiving is Rolfe Kent’s jazz ensemble music from the film Sideways, which focuses, appropriately and melodically, on the pleasures of food, drink and companionship.
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