Big Band and MoTab

Music stirs my spirit and invigorates my mind more than anything else, I think. More, even, than food! More than baking, more than rowing, more than writing, and more than the beach.

I went to two free concerts downtown tonight. One was in a small park across the street from my house and featured the Stratford Street Big Band,* and one was at the Salt Lake City Tabernacle and featured mostly secular pieces from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I had a bazillion things to do after work, but I dropped it all for music. That's just the way with me, I guess; I'm a sucker for good music. Heck, I'm even a sucker for mediocre music -- I just want to listen to a live set.

My favorite pieces of the evening were:

Big Band

• Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)
  This song is definitely the best swing song ever written, and it's certainly in the top 20 songs of all time. Easy. I dare you to listen to it and not start at least tapping your foot.
• Blue Moon
  If you know my dad at all you're probably familiar with The Marcels version, but this one is nice and slow. There was a cute old couple dancing on the grass during this song; I loved it.
• Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
  The Andrews Sisters were the best vocalists of the 1940s.

MoTab

• Betelehemu
  This song brings a tear to my eye every time I hear it. I never tire of it.
• Battle Hymn of the Republic
  Another tearjerker. Especially when the men sang the fifth verse.
• There was another one, but I don't know the name of it. Suffice it to say, it was partly a Hebrew song, so you know I was all about that. I love minor chords.

Anyway. There you have it. A list of songs that made me want to get up and dance and a list of songs that made me happy-cry. (Maybe a little bit sad-cry, but it's okay because sometimes I like to feel sad. Melancholy, at least.)

*Okay. Let's seriously talk about big band. Big band is some of the best music the world has ever seen, and I was actually a bit annoyed that I was one of the only young people at this outdoor concert (i.e., one of the only people under the age of 60). Good grief! Benny Goodman was a musical genius! So was Glenn Miller! And Duke Ellington! And so many more! Agh!

Thing I'm thankful for: not having to use my car at all today