When my partner and I started dating, our soundtrack was the pop music played in bars, restaurants, and filtered to the sidewalk from car stereos. As our relationship grew, we discovered what we had in common, as well as our differences. She loves reality television, I prefer French New Wave films. She reads historical romances (which is understandable, she is writing a novel set in post-WWI New England), I read almost exclusively literary fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction.
Our biggest difference is music. My musical preferences are wide, from the mono blues recordings from the 1920s to the latest experimental electronic band from Japan. Music with texture (some call it “cacophony,” my partner does) especially appeals to me. My partner loves oldies, smooth rock and R&B through the years.
After several discussions, trial and error, and listening parties, we found middle ground in jazz. My partner lives for “smooth jazz,” I think Miles Davis is a diety. Our evenings in the backyard are often soundtracked now by Alice Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Kamasi Washington, Nubya Garcia, and others, often with a sprinkle of the Sun Ra Arkestra and Fela Kuti added for variety.
Below is this week’s playlist, what you might hear if you were on the other side of our fence in the gloaming of an early fall day in Brooklyn.
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