If you wanted to impress someone, which track?

Kurt_tank wrote: To be honest, I always prefer that my friends who come over and want to listen to my system, pick their own music. I have found that people tend to be more excited listening to music they know and love, rather than somebody else's favorites.

Yes Kurt of course you are right and this is my policy. People are generally more interested in the music rather than how it sounds, really audiophiles are 5%ers. I also agree that the 45rpm of St. James Infirmiry is a stunning recording and will suggest it to anyone that shows an interest in jazz in general and Louis in particular.

Last time I suggested this (and it WILL be the last time), I got "Let's hear the Rachmaninoff 2nd piano concerto." That REALLY slowed things down :-)

Along Map's line:

The Theme From Shaft.
Not audiophile and panpotted to within an inch of its life, but a pretty "showy" recording that usually gets the desired response.

At the other end of the scale, the earlier recommendation of St. James Infirmary is great, as are the Duke Ellington Small Band recordings on Pablo. Choose any cut from Intimacy of The Blues or The Queen's Suite.

Marty

The Theme From Shaft.
Not audiophile and panpotted to within an inch of its life, but a pretty "showy" recording that usually gets the desired response. 05-27-10: Martykl

Glad to see you mention the theme to the "Shaft" movie soundtrack. It is arguably some of the best music ever recorded for a soundtrack. (timeless) I recommend it highly to those of you who are not familar with it.

"The Theme From Shaft."

That is good!

It is on this:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000KP62UM/3dgazo391-20

Lots of classics to recommend on this recent and nicely mastered release!

Not just "Theme From Shaft" but "Son Of Shaft" to boot!