Soul Music for 2024

A soul needs exercise, especially when confronting turbulent times in life. It needs to stretch wide, dig deep, unify the mind by way of the many senses we are born with. Music is the perfect soul exercise. Here’s a collection, without explanation, in no particular order, which means you’re free to pick your own. Hang on to this link. Come back at intervals. Don’t be afraid to stretch or dig. Being afraid is the very worst state of being. Time to overcome it and breathe again.

Maria Callas, Un Bel Di:

Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue:

Tom Waits, Hold On:

Chopin, Nocturne Op. 9, No. 2:

Duke Ellington, Mood Indigo:

Ry Cooder, Crossroads:

Rachmaninov, Sym 2, Adagio:

Copland, Appalachian Spring:

Nina Simone, Sinnerman:[Good lifelong Democrat. All the klansmen… Democrats. Still love her]

Celtic Woman, Coast of Galicia:

Mozart, Clarinet Concerto in A Major:

Gorecki, Symphony of Sorrowful Songs:

Rolling Stones, Heaven:

Johnny Cash, Redemption Day:

Maria Callas, La Bohème:

Miles Davis/John Coltrane, Kind of Blue:

Mozart, Marriage of Figaro:

Otis Redding, These Arms of Mine:

Frank Liszt, Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2:

Denyce Graves, The Lord’s Prayer:

Orff, Schulwerk (Four Short Pieces):

Copland, Fanfare for the Common Man:

Bach/Glenn Gould, Goldberg Variations:

Tom Waits, On the Nickel:

Rachmaninov, Isle of the Dead:

Philip Glass, The Hours:

Orff, O Fortuna:

Top Secret Drum Corps, The Next Level:

Mozart, Voca Mē:

Jones/Edelman: Last of the Mohicans: