Music is Key
Vocalist Diana Panton has been recording since 2005, and in her 11th record titled Soft Winds and Roses, which according to her website highlights the classics from the 1960s -- she is joined by pianist-arranger Don Thompson, bassist Jim Vivian with engineer Chad Irschick.
Panton is a two-time JUNO Award winner and, in this interview, she shares her love of music and the music she has listened to many times. special shows she has attended.
Q: If you were alone on a desert island which five CDs would you need to have with you and why those LPs/CDs?
Ok, I'll start by saying this is a not an easy task and many of my faves have been left out, however, I can say that I've listened to these albums many, many times and they never fail to disappoint.
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
I actually only ever listen to this album during take-off and landing on a plane. By the time we reach altitude, I'm usually at "flying high in a friendly sky". I get a little nervous when flying, but this album calms me right down because it reminds me that if something were to go wrong, there is more ... "Wholy holy".
John Coltrane - Ballads
Do you want music that is going to make you feel that no matter what, you are going to be ok because the universe loves you and you are part of the universe? That is what this album by John Coltrane does for me. Coltrane has very special powers.
Billie Holiday - Lady in Satin
Whenever Billie sings you know she means it. Her voice is raw and real. The emotion is direct and unadorned. She sings pain and transforms it into something cathartic. Enough said.
Shirley Horn - Here's to Life
I find this a very soothing album by jazz vocalist Shirley Horn with gorgeous arrangements by Johnny Mandel. Shirley's understated, but poignant vocals remind one to be grateful for all the joys of life "may all your storms be weathered and all that's good get better, here's to life, to love, to you".
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
This to me is solitary music. Kind of Blue by jazz trumpeter Miles Davis was the soundtrack for the year and a half when I lived in Paris on my own. Everyone in my building must have heard this coming from my apartment window (fortunately, there were no complaints). This album will always remind me of Paris and it is like a good friend when I am alone.
On a side note, I included a shoutout to this album in my animated video for "Nobody's Heart Belongs to Me" (recorded on my Blue album - also a homage to Davis) - I asked the illustrator Mariel Ashlinn Kelly to have Kind of Blue playing on the record player in the girl's apartment. View here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYAX_86vobk
Just wish to mention that on my desert island, the following artists would be dearly yearned for, and their voices would haunt me - Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Blossom Dearie, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Edith Piaf, Joao Gilberto, Sheila Jordan, Elis Regina, Roberta Flack, Stevie Wonder etc.
Panton is a two-time JUNO Award winner and, in this interview, she shares her love of music and the music she has listened to many times. special shows she has attended.
Q: If you were alone on a desert island which five CDs would you need to have with you and why those LPs/CDs?
Ok, I'll start by saying this is a not an easy task and many of my faves have been left out, however, I can say that I've listened to these albums many, many times and they never fail to disappoint.
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
I actually only ever listen to this album during take-off and landing on a plane. By the time we reach altitude, I'm usually at "flying high in a friendly sky". I get a little nervous when flying, but this album calms me right down because it reminds me that if something were to go wrong, there is more ... "Wholy holy".
John Coltrane - Ballads
Do you want music that is going to make you feel that no matter what, you are going to be ok because the universe loves you and you are part of the universe? That is what this album by John Coltrane does for me. Coltrane has very special powers.
Billie Holiday - Lady in Satin
Whenever Billie sings you know she means it. Her voice is raw and real. The emotion is direct and unadorned. She sings pain and transforms it into something cathartic. Enough said.
Shirley Horn - Here's to Life
I find this a very soothing album by jazz vocalist Shirley Horn with gorgeous arrangements by Johnny Mandel. Shirley's understated, but poignant vocals remind one to be grateful for all the joys of life "may all your storms be weathered and all that's good get better, here's to life, to love, to you".
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
On a side note, I included a shoutout to this album in my animated video for "Nobody's Heart Belongs to Me" (recorded on my Blue album - also a homage to Davis) - I asked the illustrator Mariel Ashlinn Kelly to have Kind of Blue playing on the record player in the girl's apartment. View here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYAX_86vobk
Just wish to mention that on my desert island, the following artists would be dearly yearned for, and their voices would haunt me - Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Blossom Dearie, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Edith Piaf, Joao Gilberto, Sheila Jordan, Elis Regina, Roberta Flack, Stevie Wonder etc.
