Jazz Recommendations // Playlist

A few recommendations of jazz music I love, from Ashlee Craft / Assemblage, Issue 11. Many of the songs on this list are lesser-known gems, like Torben Waldorff’s beautiful & comforting Alice, while some are classics, like Dave Brubeck’s hip Take Five or George Benson’s Breezin’. Each song on the playlist is followed by one word which best summarizes the feel of the song.

Jazz Recommendations From Ashlee Craft

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1 // Breezin’ by George Benson

2 // Alice by Torben Waldorff

3 // Take 5 by Dave Brubeck

4 // Time After Time – Miles Davis

5 // Blue Rondo à La Turk by Dave Brubeck

6 // So What by Miles Davis

7 // September by Smooth Jazz All Stars

8 // Cantaloupe Island by Herbie Hancock

9 // Light on the Path by Edward Wilkerson Jr.

10 // Unsquare Dance by Dave Brubeck

December 6, 2015 // Playlist

December 6, 2016 // Playlist

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1. Love Will Find a Way – Pablo Cruise

2. Call Me – Blondie 

3. Safe & Sound – Capitol Cities

4. Break the Walls – Fitz & the Tantrums

5. Confident – Demi Lovato

6. I Am Not a Robot – Marina & the Diamonds

7. I Spy – Mikhael Paskalev

8. Dreams – Fleetwood Mac

9. You Make My Dreams – Hall & Oates

10. Thunder Clatter – Wild Cub

11. Oh No! – Marina & the Diamonds

12. Bulletproof – La Roux

Playlist // Fierce & Looking for Respect

Playlist // Fierce & Looking for Respect (From Ashlee Craft / Assemblage, Issue 5)

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From Issue 5 of Ashlee Craft / Assemblage

1. Hold Your Head Up – Argent

2. Respect – Aretha Franklin

3. My Life – Billy Joel

4. F**k You – CeeLo Green

5. I Really Don’t Care – Demi Lovato

6. Shake it Off – Taylor Swift

7. This is Gospel – Panic! At the Disco

8. Already Gone – The Eagles

9. Another Day – Whigfield

10. Fly By Night – Rush

11. I’m Still Standing – Elton John

12. Mean – Taylor Swift

13. I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor

14. Take the Long Way Home – Supertramp

Note: this is a live version & not the original unfortunately, because I couldn’t find the original on YouTube.

15. Let It Go – Idina Menzel

16. You Don’t Own Me – Lesley Gore

17. Invisible – U2

Playlist // 10 Most Underrated Queen Songs

Top 10 Most Underrated Queen Songs by Ashlee Craft // Playlists

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I discovered Queen’s music when I was 17. I saw the song Bohemian Rhapsody on a list of best classic rock songs & I’d remembered hearing it years prior, so I decided to give it a listen (I listened to the live version at Wembley, then the album version). I fell in love with Queen right then & there. Then I listened to Somebody To Love, & watched the music video, & heard all their soaring harmonies, & I was hooked. I began listening to as much Queen music as possible. I’ve probably heard all their albums in their entireties at least a few times each, & listened to some individual songs about a million times. I’m not quite as obsessed with Queen as I used to be, but they are definitely still one of my very favorite bands.

One thing I noticed was that there are lots of Queen songs that are very much a part of popular culture, songs that people hear on the radio or in supermarkets or in movies & commercials when they’re growing up but maybe never know who the artist is. Songs like Bohemian Rhapsody, Somebody To Love, We Will Rock You, & Another Bites the Dust. Songs that everybody knows.

But hidden among their awesome popular songs are an incredible number of awesome lesser-known gems. These songs are seriously fantastic & just as good, if not better, in some cases, than their popular songs, & are filled with brilliant & moving harmonies, Brian May’s soaring & evocative guitar solos, epic instrumentation, Freddie Mercury’s unique & expressive voice, & let’s not forget about the perfect textbook examples of fantastic rhythm instrumentation by John Deacon & Roger Taylor.

Note : it’s admittedly really hard to narrow it down to only 10 songs, so at some point I will inevitably end up making ANOTHER list of more awesome-but-more-obscure Queen songs.

Here are the songs :

1. Spread Your Wings (News of the World, 1977)

2. March of the Black Queen (Queen II, 1974)

3. You & I (A Day at the Races, 1976)

4. Doing Alright (Queen, 1973)

5. Liar (Queen, 1973)

6. Brighton Rock (Sheer Heart Attack, 1974)

7. Long Away (A Day at the Races, 1976)

8. The Hero (Flash Gordon Soundtrack, 1980)

9. Breakthru (The Miracle, 1989)

10. Cool Cat (Hot Space, 1982)

Playlist // Songs, #1

Classic songs that remind me of my teenage years.

Songs #1 // Playlist by Ashlee Craft

 

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1. In My Life – The Beatles

2. Strawberry Fields Forever – The Beatles

3. Handle With Care – The Traveling Wilburys

4. Oh! You Pretty Things – David Bowie

5. A Hard Day’s Night – The Beatles

6. Strawberry Fields Forever – The Runaways

7. Sail Away – Styx

8. Rhiannon – Fleetwood Mac

9. Dreams – Fleetwood Mac

10. Nights in White Satin – The Moody Blues

11. Life on Mars? – David Bowie

12. Beautiful Day – U2

13. Starman – David Bowie

14. Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin

15. Something – The Beatles

16. California Dreamin’ – The Mamas & the Papas

17. I Will – The Beatles

18. Father of Day, Father of Night – Manfred Mann’s Earth Band

19. Don’t Worry, Be Happy – Bobby McFerrin

Playlist // Remember

Remember // Playlist by Ashlee Craft

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1. Somebody That I Used to Know – Gotye

2. Turn to Stone – Electric Light Orchestra

3. Here Comes the Sun – The Beatles

4. Your Song – Elton John

5. All Along the Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix

6. Heartbeat – The Runaways

7. So What – John Coltrane & Miles Davis

8. ‘Till There Was You – The Beatles

9. Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress – The Hollies

10. From Me to You – The Beatles

11. Over the Hills & Far Away – Led Zeppelin

12. Until the End of the World – U2

13. The Zoo – Scorpions

14. Hello Goodbye – The Beatles

15. Maybe I’m Amazed – Paul McCartney & Wings

16. No More Lonely Nights – Paul McCartney

17. I’m Happy Just to Dance With You – The Beatles

18. I Can Hear Music – The Beach Boys

19. Fun Fun Fun – The Beach Boys

20. Beautiful People – Melanie

21. Crazy on You – Heart

22. Sunshine of Your Love – Cream

23. Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns ‘n Roses

24. Take Five – Dave Brubeck

25. Don’t Worry Baby – The Beach Boys

Playlist // Soundtrack to My Life, May 1 Year Prior (From the July Issue of Ashlee Craft / Assemblage)

Soundtrack to My Life, May 1 Year Prior // Playlist by Ashlee Craft - Ashlee Craft / Assemblage, Issue 3

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1. Archer’s Arrows – Crowded House

2. Make You Feel My Love – Adele

3. Fix You – Coldplay

4. Jumper – Third Eye Blind

5. This is Gospel – Panic! At The Disco

6. Comforting Sounds – Mew

7. I’d Really Love to See You Tonight – England Dan & John Ford Coley

8. Who Am I? – Les Miserables Cast

9. I Can Almost See You – Hammock

10. The Ballad of Mona Lisa – Panic! At the Disco

11. The End of All Things – Panic! At the Disco

12. You Can’t Always Get What You Want – The Rolling Stones