Music Surprises in Public Places

[Jazzmoose]

Now I'm flabbergasted; I had assumed it was at least from Let it Be...

[AndrewHill]

Miles Davis-Jeru-off of Birth of the Cool tonight at the Olive Garden.

[BeBop]

There's a hotel on my regular rotation these days that plays a mix of stuff - most of it okay-or-better - but the mix includes some great bop and hard bop (Hank with Lee, Horace, Dex, Pepper, Rollins, Hamp Hawes) and a bit of lighter fare (Getz, Lighthouse groups, Chet-lite). It's one of few public places with piped in music where I turn OFF my MP3 player.

And, amazingly, this hotel is in a cultural WASTELAND. (Sorry if you happen to live there and love this nameless place.) It's situated at a mega mall and more than half the clientele stay at the hotel for multi-day shopping expeditions. Once in a while, someone sees me listening to the music. "Uh, you like jazz - it's jazz, right?"

[jeffcrom]

Just yesterday, on the way home from the Drive-By Truckers show in Asheville, I had to make an emergency "pit stop". We chose Panera Bread. As I sat, contemplating Keith Jarrett's merits, on the overhead was... HERBIE NICHOLS!!! What?!!!

Can't beat that, but my favorite pizza joint in New Orleans is Mona Lisa on Royal Street. I stopped in for lunch one day and Miles' Filles de Kilimanjaro was playing. When the waitress came over, I asked who was responsible for choosing the music. She sighed, got a "here we go again" expression on her face, and said she was. I think I made her day when I told her that it was one of my favorite albums.

[sidewinder]

At the old Sam the Record Man store at 347 Yonge St. in Toronto (a great store in its day) there were 3 floors - the 1st floor had rock and country and the cashiers; 2nd floor - jazz and classical; 3rd floor, I think, had sale items and concert ticket sales. When you came in at ground level, they were always playing rock music at an ear-splitting level. I don't know how anyone could have worked on that floor. You could hardly speak to any of the check-out clerks. If you were a jazz or classical fan, you raced for the stairs to get to the 2nd floor as quickly as possible. One day, and this would be around 1979 or 1980, I walked in the front door and to my absolute amazement, they were playing the Bill Evans Trio throughout the whole store - 1st floor included. It was truly beautiful, like I had walked into musical heaven. I was never so proud to be a jazz fan as I was that day.

Always good to check that place out - an outstanding musical emporium. I remember coming out of there around 1989 with a load of early Blue Note CDs (Andrew Hill 'Black Fire' and 'Point Of Departure', Joe Henderson 'Our Thing' etc, must have been McMasters) on special. The LP racks were also worth checking out on the second floor. I don't think I ever once came out of that place empty handed.

I remember reading an interview around that time by Wayne Shorter in the 'Globe' and he was mentioned as spending an afternoon checking out the jazz racks in Sams and the place next door (A&B Sound?), prior to doing a gig in Toronto.

A&B Sound were also very good for picking up new release Blue Note CDs on special offer. I think it was the basement level that had all of the good deals stacked out (on display in their cardboard boxes - which dates the whole thing quite a bit I guess ! (although it seems not so long ago... sigh) :rsmile: ).

Edited April 1, 2009 by sidewinder

[sidewinder]

When you came in at ground level, they were always playing rock music at an ear-splitting level. I

Usually Van Halen when I went in. Like you I usually made a fast bee-line for the 2nd floor.

[Hot Ptah]

The Price Chopper grocery store at 75th and Metcalf in Overland Park, Kansas, plays surprisingly hip background music. I have heard several different James Brown singles from the 1960s, including

"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" and "It's a Man's Man's Man's World." The only drawback is that in the middle of the song, suddenly an employee blasts out "We have a special on fresh strawberries in the produce section this week only!!!" I have noticed that after the announcement, the song will pick up right where it was stopped for the announcement.

[Larry Kart]

Music at my local McDonald's tonight included a stomping version of "Carolina Shout," but then is there any other kind? Next came Pat Metheny, which was OK but did sound a bit weird after James P.

[fasstrack]

Yesterday at Starbucks in Riverdale, Bronx everything they played----Jobim to Cannonball---made at least an hour in a pretty difficult morning go a lot faster. And sweeter.

[Jazzmoose]

I thought I heard John Cage's Cartridge Music while waiting at LAX for a flight to New Orleans several years ago. However, it turned out to be an audio system gone bad.

[tjluke68]

John Cage's composition 4'33" is on heavy rotation in my office cubicle complex!

:blush2:

[rostasi]

Second time visiting a new cafe just a mile away that I believe is a growing franchise:

Another Broken Egg Cafe. It was kind of hard to concentrate on anything else

while Rahsaan, then Lee Morgan and a continuing line of great artists were playing

over the sound system. The waitress said that the owner is a jazz fan and

"gets upset when it's stormy out and can't get his station to come in" (apparently satellite).

Good experience and good food with reasonable prices...and, of course, GREAT music!

[mgraham333]

I caught "Third Right On The Left" from Organissimo's Groovadelphia today on MUSIC CHOICE - our cable music service. We were having dinner at a friend's house and we turned on the jazz station for some background music and I recognized a familiar sound. I checked the on-screen display and sure enough it was our favorite group. They had some pretty good factoids about The Big-O too.

Way to go guys!

[fasstrack]

Today I was walking in the street in a hated shithole known as White Plains, NY---after 4 fruitless hours in court trying to see about getting my car back from an impound. You can imagine the mood I was in. I walked toward the library looking for a friendly face (I remember I took a class once from the children's librarian*). I heard a church pipe organ---or maybe it was bells. It was just regular backgroundy kind of stuff announcing the hour, I guess. I was trying to figure out where it was coming from (I didn't see a church steeple) when suddenly whoever was playing shifted into "Cheek To Cheek".

I swear............

* I did see her at her station. Nice enough lady.

Edited May 11, 2009 by fasstrack

[AndrewHill]

This Talbots store again in the mall (which I cut through everytime to go to Eyemasters) plays some really astonishing stuff, considereing that everyone that works there do not look like jazz fans. Yesterday, they were playing some Dexter Gordon from I think, Daddy Plays the Horn.