Dinner Music Anyone?

[Natasha]

Okay, I KNOW you re all whizzes at entertaining and have exquisite taste (you can stop blushing now) so I thought I d ask you this:

Do you have any favorite types of music, favorite music artists, or favorite CDs, for when you have dinner parties, brunches, barbeques/cookouts, or simply a romantic dinner for two?

I d like to know for two reasons: one, I m just plain interested in what you guys like, and, two, I m always open to learning about new artists, CDs, types of music (especially ones that go well with good food, wine, and company!) I find that music, while in the background, can be an important ingredient in making an evening special.

I should mention that I like pretty much everything: some of my past and present favorites for dinners are all kinds of jazz; Spanish guitar; and light classical. (I listen to other kinds of music, too, but not all kinds of music are amenable to quiet conversation and good digestion! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif )

Thanks!

[This message has been edited by Natasha (edited 07-11-2000).]

[Mamasue]

Well I usually have Pavoroti or Andrea Bocelli in the background or soft classical. Of course if my husband has his way Elvis would be on stage. Sometimes he sneaks him in there when he thinks I am not listening. The music doesn't stay on too long though because the men will retreat to the area of TV land and watch anything that contains a ball. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif Its a man's world....sorry Ralph! Hehe http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[Gail]

I think my favorite overall music for dining matches yours, Natasha. But, there's another fun thing I've done while traveling. Besides traveling with a camera, I like to pick up tapes of their music-- so although I started doing this kind of late in my traveling career to date-- I've still got some mood music: Thai, Greek, Steel Band, Preservation Hall Jazz. If I were cooking Thai, Greek, Caribbean or Creole, I'd definitely go for one of those tapes, Mexican or other Latino, I'd probably turn on the radio. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by Gail (edited 07-11-2000).]

[Ralph]

Your profile doesn't indicate where you're located, but if there's a Smooth Jazz radio station in your area (try www.smoothjazz.com), (http://www.smoothjazz.com),) that ALWAYS goes well for a dinner party to enable conversation. You might also try some ambient music such as you can find or hear at The Nature Company store & some Sharper Images. Try also the show Musical Starstreams (www.starstreams.com).

[SandyDee]

I basically try to keep the music in tune (so to speak) with the type of entertaining. ie: casual vs formal; or even type of cuisine. For formal I usually put on The 3 Tenors, opera or light classical. I also will use certain Motion Picture Soundtracks such as Titanic, Gone With the Wind or even Phatom of the Opera. New Age is also good for all types of dinner parties. Two of my favorites are Songs from a Secret Garden and Pilgrimage 9 Songs of Ecstacy. For Casual I like Van Morrison, or Sarah McLachlan or and more movie soundtracks. (When I watch a movie I pay very close attention to the soundtrack, especially the background music, not necessarily the songs.) I have an unusual collection of movie soundtracks, Steel Magnolias, Sneakers, French Kiss & Blown Away with Jeff Bridges, to name a few. None of these were big sellers but their sound tracks jumped out at me when I saw the movies and I had to have them. I have also tried to collect music from my travels and some from places yet to be visited ( I have a tendency to listen to music from other regions (Ireland, Cuba, France, the Andes, even other regions in the U.S. like Native American and Cajun, which I happen to love) These are perfect for Casual dinner parties. Well I have probably told you more than you cared to know but as you can probably tell Music is another passion of mine. So this time my 2 cents turned into $1.02, sorry http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

[Peggy]

Natasha,

This is definately one of my favorite topics - entertaining and background music. Over the years I have collected several CDs that are real winners for this purpose.

The absolute best, as in, "my guests never fail to compliment it and run to their nearest music store to purchase it for themselves" is Hilary Stagg - THE EDGE OF FOREVER. He now has several CDs but this is the best. It is an instrumental with acoustic harp, keyboards and flute. It is beautiful background music and has a wide appeal. Hilary Stagg is originally from the SF bay area but I think you can get his stuff over the Internet and I think stores like Natural Wonders and The Nature Company carry his stuff now.

Second place for dinner parties goes to Danny Wright - PHANTASYS. It is a collection of wonderful piano arrangements. This one will also be noticed and appreciated by your guests.

Third Place goes to WIlliam Ackerman - IMAGINARY ROADS. This CD is a collection of guitar, piano, and various woodwinds. He has a lot of other great stuff out but this one is my favorite.

When your menu turns towards the Orient, don't forget about Kitaro. There are lots of good CDs including SILK ROADS.

Lastly, I would mention Gary Lamb. He is an outstanding pianist and any of his stuff is good.

For the romantic dinner for two, all of the above, plus anything Toni Braxton for an especially "sensual" evening with the hubby.

Wow! I have certainly rambled on!!! I just love music and think it is essential to the successful dinner party whether it is for two or twenty. I think I'll go and put on one of these CDs right now!

Do let me know if you try any of these and like them!

Peggy

[Mamasue]

WOW! I think I am learning something here! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[Susan]

Must add my favorite pianist, George Winston! You can listen to exerpts of his music on www.amazon.com. (http://www.amazon.com.) His Autumn CD is beyond words! I own all his CDs and never tire of his music.

In the classical realm I highly recommend Mozart: The Piano Quartets / Ax, Stern, Ma, Laredo (also on amazon).

~~Susan~~

[lorilei]

Having married a musician, I've found myself indescribably influenced. We almost never have dinner without music, except on the days (shriek!!) when the TV stays on.

I love John Pizarelli with anything... often mixed with Harry Connick Jr.

If we want to be a bit more riled, Squirrel Nut Zippers are fun and frolicky!

I'll second the Sarah McLachlan vote as well (to be played for more contemporary dinners, or romantic evenings).

Like Gail, we have collections and collections of Reggae, Japanese percussion, African and French bistro-type music, which we play as appropriate.

I'd recommend Mozart, but it's not something either of us find relaxing. We were scarred by the era of "Mozart makes you smarter" and everytime I hear a piano concerto I get a "study lump" in my stomach http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

I also have to recommend a number of compilation CD's we've picked up in odd locations:

All of Eddie Bauer's compilation disks are excellent.
Pottery Barn's "Dinner at 8" -- superb.
And I think we have a CD called "Bach for Breakfast" -- very interesting.

I'll agree with Peggy that music is an integral part of any "feast". It certainly adds to the ambience and seems to aid one's digestion http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[christinew]

Bary White!!! Because his voice is soothing(and my cooking could be spicy!) and I too agree with the recommendation of George Winston. Excellent choice indeed. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[Natasha]

Wow! This is exciting!!
I admit that I haven't yet had time to read this over as carefully as I'd like, but didn't want to wait to thank you for all these ideas. I'll be back with questions ... http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif I've said it before and I'll say it again - you guys are amazing!

[JeanneW]

Great topic! I can see I'll be hitting the music stores soon..... Thanks for all the ideas!

[Natasha]

Thank you again for all your responses. I loved reading about what you like and it has given me so many good ideas to boot.

So now, on this quiet and somewhat rainy Sunday morning, with a steaming cup of coffee at my side and my brand new Hilary Stagg CD softly playing, these questions and comments come to mind:

Mamasue - you re great! Your message gave me such a good laugh. Do you have any favorite recordings by Pavarotti or Bocelli?

Gail, SandyDee and Lorilei - I try to use theme music as appropriate but I ve bought some recordings in the past that we haven t liked at all. How do you choose your recordings while on vacation? When you hear music somewhere that you like, do you just ask what it is? Do you ask for suggestions in stores? I think this is a dumb question, but had to ask. I have had some success (French music, mostly) but also some comical experiences (where I put on a tape/CD and after two minutes we can t help but laugh and that s it for that). SandyDee and Lorilei - there s more ...

Ralph - thanks for the tip about smoothjazz.com. I visited the site and heard a clip which I really liked, then found the stations in my area. I can see that this would be nice for dinner parties. I have picked up a couple of good tapes at The Nature Company in the past but haven t been there in a while so a return visit is probably due. I will have to try the other website you recommended too!

SandyDee - WOW! I loved reading your comments. I have to admit that I probably have 2 movie soundtracks, if that, in my collection. You ve made me think again! It seems that I m missing something here. Thanks. I love your idea about regional music and will try to pick some up. BTW, congratulations on your new Member status!

Peggy - thank you!! As you probably saw, I have The Edge of Forever on right now. I bought it late last night and was so excited that I couldn t wait to put it on. I also heard clips of the other CDs and plan to buy the William Ackerman and Danny Wright ones you recommended (for starters). So far I love the Stagg CD. Thanks! Can t wait to put it on at dinner tonight.

Susan - I am definitely going to buy a George Winston CD and, as I love Mozart s piano pieces, will also have a look at the recording you mentioned. With artists like those, I know it will be a great recording. Thanks...

Lorilei - your husband is a musician - how cool! My sister is one too, and so I know how demanding a profession music is. So hats off to your husband! I will have to look for the Eddie Bauer CDs you mentioned; I was definitely surprised to hear that they were so good, but now I must try them!!

Christine - I profess that I am ignorant when it comes to Barry White, but I guess I ll be logging on to amazon.com later today to have a listen! Thanks and I bet I ll be adding to my shopping list ... Will also be buying something George Winston.

Fortunately, CDs take up a lot less space than cookbooks!

By the way, I also bought a Johannes Linstead CD yesterday, called Sol Luna Tierra. He s a guitarist that (quoting from back of CD container) blends the best of traditional and contemporary South American melodies and Latin rhythms in this passionate, original and deeply emotional music. I heard a couple of tracks and was hooked!

Okay, enough rambling for now. I just want to say that I thought for a while before deciding to post this question and now I m so glad I did.


[This message has been edited by Natasha (edited 07-16-2000).]

[lesliem]

For dinner parties I also like guitar, my very favorite is Jesse Cook, and I also really like Strunz and Farah.

[Peggy]

Natasha,

I am so glad that you like the Hilary Stagg CD. After my gushing recommendation I would have felt terrible if you didn't like it!

My Cooking Light Dinner group met at my house last night for a Summer Feast under the stars. I played Hilary Stagg quietly in the background, and two of the couples were raving about it by the second song. They are headed to the music store today to buy their own CD.

I'm so glad you posted this topic, because I have appreciated all of the other recommendations. I will definately be purchasing more music because of it!

Peggy

[SandyDee]

Natasha, The way I buy new age and regional is usually by listening to it. If there are headsets available I will do that, or if I go somewhere and they are playing music I like I will ask what they are playing and usually buy it or something by that artist. If all else fails I ask the locals. By the way I will also go back to movie soundtracks for help with regional music. If I see a movie set in another region or country and I like the music I watch the credits or buy the soundtrack and then go out and buy a CD by the artist that catches my ear. You can get disappointed this way (I have on only a couple of occasions) but most of the time I am quite pleased with it (sometimes even surprisingly more pleased than expected.) That is how I got turned on to French music and on Cajun music. Happy hunting. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif (Yeah, how about that? I made member!!

[This message has been edited by SandyDee (edited 07-16-2000).]

[Gail]

Originally posted by laden:
I don't think anyone mentioned our favorite store Williams Sonoma. They have compilation disks for different occassions (romantic dinner for two, or backyard bbq, jazz, etc) that are pretty good.

They do? I never noticed. Oh boy, something else for me to buy!!


Natasha,

In answer to your question about how I got my music on vacation, that's exactly what I did-- I asked. Walked into a little shop in Grand Cayman and they were playing music-- I asked what it was. They told me, I bought it. Similar in other places. In a couple of instances, I didn't think about buying music when I was traveling, but a friend later went who I asked to buy me a tape. (Of course you're at the mercy of somebody else's taste in music, but fortunately it worked out okay for me!)

[Natasha]

Laden - I also hadn t seen those CDs at W-S. Romantic dinner for two, BBQ, jazz - what do you want to bet I ll end up with a whole bunch? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif Thanks! I know I ll enjoy them ...

Leslie - I really like Cook and Strunz too; don t know Farah - something to check out! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

Peggy - glad to know your party was a success! I have heard the whole CD now and still love it. Thanks again.

SandyDee and Gail - thanks for answering my dumb question. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/tongue.gif

Oh! The Linstead CD I mentioned is WONDERFUL also.

Thanks for introducing some new artists to my music collection. Right now the collection is fairly heavy on the classical (of all types), jazz (esp. Big Band; I love music from that era, and also those radio shows that play back concerts from the 40s) and guitar. Nice to find some new additions!


[This message has been edited by Natasha (edited 07-16-2000).]

[Ralph]

Seeing all the raves for Hilary Stagg, I had to find out about him. Very nice! May I recommend still another harpist: Andreas Vollenweider, particularly his Dancing With the Lion album. He's not the most prolific (it's been quite a while since his last album), but enjoyable nonetheless.

[Natasha]

Originally posted by Ralph:
Seeing all the raves for Hilary Stagg, I had to find out about him. Very nice! May I recommend still another harpist: Andreas Vollenweider, particularly his Dancing With the Lion album. He's not the most prolific (it's been quite a while since his last album), but enjoyable nonetheless.

Ralph - I had forgotten about Andreas Vollenweider! It has been a while indeed. Thanks for the reminder. I don t have this album, but do like his music a lot.


[This message has been edited by Natasha (edited 07-16-2000).]

[laden]

I don't think anyone mentioned our favorite store Williams Sonoma. They have compilation disks for different occassions (romantic dinner for two, or backyard bbq, jazz, etc) that are pretty good.

[lorilei]

Natasha -- I'm responding a little late, but hopefully not /too/ late http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

Yes -- as Gail stated, definitely ask when music is being played that you love. I've even come across good CDs by asking in local restaurants!

Secondly, hats off to your sister as well! You must agree that it's very interesting to be related to someone with talent -- I myself enjoy music, but it's definitely not where my talents lie -- so, it's wonderful to be surrounded by others for whom it's a "forte"!!

[cookgirl]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lorilei:
[B]Having married a musician, I've found myself indescribably influenced. We almost never have dinner without music, except on the days (shriek!!) when the TV stays on.

I'll second the Sarah McLachlan vote as well (to be played for more contemporary dinners, or romantic evenings).
*********************************************
Okay guys...I edited this like 3 times! I'm apparently a horrible speller today!

Hmmm, that is interesting. My husband is also a musician (as is my father).

I'll have to agree with you on Sarah McLachlan. I love her "Solace" CD...it's perfect when you want to feel laid back(doesn't make you cry like "Surfacing" or "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy).

Blues is always nice, as is Jazz. Nina Simone is excellent. Sting, Shade....they are all very soothing.

PLUG: My favorite music for the holidays is my father's CD (all original classical guitar).
And my all around favorite...get ready.....
SUBURBAN LOVE JUNKIES.
Yep. That's the name of my husband's band (if you need proof go to www.suburbanlovejunkies.com) (http://www.suburbanlovejunkies.com)) http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/cool.gif I think they're great!!!!

[This message has been edited by cookgirl (edited 07-21-2000).]

[This message has been edited by cookgirl (edited 07-21-2000).]

[This message has been edited by cookgirl (edited 07-21-2000).]

[Natasha]

Cookgirl - how neat! I just visited the web site for a sec. I couldn t play the clips, and I don t know why. Windows Media Player came up as normal and seemed to be playing, but ... anyway, I ll try again later.

[lorilei]

cookgirl -- indeed, very cool. So, aren't you going to tell us which one he is?

My husband does mostly ethnic percussion, although he also plays with a marimba quartet on occasion. Nothing he'll make money doing, but he loves it -- and he's a joy to have around the house... constantly tapping!

[Don]

Around our house, Cesaria Evora is often used for dinner music, especially if the menu is Portuguese or Spanish. We've listened to some of her albums so often that I can now sing along perfectly even though I don't speak a word of Portuguese.

Another noteworthy album is "Kaira" by Toumani Diabate. Diabate, from Mali, is probably the world's best kora player. The album is stunningly beautiful and nearly everyone remarks on it at some point during dinner. Later on Diabate teamed up with some other African and Spanish artists to create an album called "Songhai," which is also excellent.

For "sophisticated" French jazz, similar to Sade, try Les Nubiennes. For jazz with a more Brazilian flavor, try just about anything by Djavan, although "Cosa de Acender" is one of our favorites. If you want Cuban jazz, try one of the albums by Mario Bauza and his Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra ("944 Columbus" is especially good.)

If you want a nice compilation of "New Age" type music, try Higher Octave Music's "Evolution: 1986-1996." The double-CD set includes artists such as Strunz and Farah, Ottmar Liebert, and Shahin & Sepehr, just to name a few. Even if you don't like all of the tracks, there is enough music to custom design a tape or CD for yourself.

Finally, we recently hosted an Arabic dinner party. We used a compilation of traditional Arabic music and an album by an artist named Amina called "Yalil." The Amina album was more accessible for the guests and provided a nice backdrop for the meal.

As you can tell, our taste in music varies as much as our taste in food! Right now, we're heavily into Turkish pop music. Go figure!

[Natasha]

Originally posted by Don:

As you can tell, our taste in music varies as much as our taste in food! Right now, we're heavily into Turkish pop music. Go figure!

[/B]

Hi Don,
Neat ideas!! Do you happen by any chance to have Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, or other recipes to accompany all this exotic music? I had meant to ask you this and our buddy Gail just reminded me ! (She was talking about Chilean food on another thread.) http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[cookgirl]

Originally posted by lorilei:
cookgirl -- indeed, very cool. So, aren't you going to tell us which one he is?

My husband does mostly ethnic percussion, although he also plays with a marimba quartet on occasion. Nothing he'll make money doing, but he loves it -- and he's a joy to have around the house... constantly tapping!

I know what that's like! Speaking of drumrolls....mine's the cowboy. He doesn't wear the hat around the house, but boy does he play his guitar and sing...ALL THE TIME!!!! Of course, it's not always loud. He can put me, the cats and the dog to sleep in about 30 seconds flat!

Natasha...I just found out that they were changing the site. I think the guy (who works on the site) is reloading new clips onto the new website (same address www.suburbanlovejunkies.com). (http://www.suburbanlovejunkies.com).) They just had a third CD released this past Friday, and they really want to include samples from that!

I'm so glad you guys visited the site!