I would pick Dick Hyman from "From the Age of Swing" on Reference Recordings: "You're Driving Me Crazy/Moten Swing", "Moonglow" or "Dooji Wooji"; from Marian McPartland, "Reprise": "In Your Own Sweet Way","Tickle Toe","Symphony" and "Things Ain't What They Used to Be", from Duke Ellington, "Three Suites" (Columbia): "Overture", "Toot Toot Tootie Toot", "Sugar Rum Cherry" and "Entr'acte". These last four are jazz arrangements of well-known movements from Tchiakovski's "Nutcracker" and show the absolute musical genius of Ellington. Recording ain't bad either. From Charles Mingus' "New Tijuana Moods" (RCA), I choose "Dizzy Moods", "Los Mariachis" and "Flamingo" and from "Louis Armstrong Sings Back through the Years" I choose "A Kiss to Build A Dream On", "Dream A Little Dream of Me", which he sings with Ella Fitzgerald, "La Vie en Rose" and "Blueberry Hill". Leaving jazz, from Gloria Estefan's CD "Hold Me, Thrill Me , Kiss Me" (Epic): "Everlasting Love", "Traces", "Turn the Beat Around" and "Cherchez la Femme". For an unclassifiable CD, try "Bob and Ray Throw A Stereo Spectacular" a reissue of an old RCA LP available from Classic Records.
Which track do you demo to your friends?
You know when a friend arrives at your house, sees your stereo and says "how much did all this cost". You tell him/her the $$$ and they say "are you mad?" Of course, the next step is to justify it by playing something that will make their jaw hit the floor. Which track do you play? Me, I play a track called "Spanish Harlem" by Rebecca Pidgeon off an album called "The Raven". Works every time :-) Their jaw hits the floor, and no-one speaks till the song is over. Then they something along the lines of "Oh, I see what you mean". Follow up/alternate demo tracks for me would include "Fire and Roses" by Mimi Goese and "Ordinary Life" by Christen Barry. What track do you play in this most demanding of moments?