Making light. . . playlist

Making Light is all about play and having fun, and in that spirit, Tom and I thought we would share a couple of themed playlists we have enjoyed making for each other (and for you).

My playlist moves from darkness into light, from minor to major, and from murky melancholy into joy and sunshine. You’ll spot a sort of midway turning point when Ella and the Ink Spots appear; Here Comes the Sun is my favourite Beatles song; and I am particularly happy to include the two Sonnys (Stitt and Rollins) playing On the Sunny Side of the Street with Dizzy Gillespie, since I’ve loved this track since I was 9 years old, and first heard my dad playing it on his old Grundig music system.

You can listen to my dark / light playlist here, on Apple Music, or via the youtube links below:

1. Sun Ra Quartet, When there is no Sun (1978)
2. Mel Tormé, When the Sun comes Out (1956)
3. Yusef Dayes, Raisins Under the Sun (2023)
4. Freddie Hubbard, Little Sunflower (1979)
5. Fred Astaire (with Oscar Peterson) Night and Day (1952)
6. Ella Fitzgerald and the Ink Spots, I’m Beginning to See the Light (1945)
7. Sonny Stitt, Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, On the Sunny Side of the Street (recorded 1957; released 1959)
8. Stevie Wonder, Happier than the Morning Sun (1972)
9. The Beatles, Here Comes the Sun (1969)
10. Fergus McCreadie, Sun Pillars (2024)
11. The Proclaimers, Sunshine on Leith (1988)

Tom’s playlist is moon-dedicated, and fits in really well with this week’s club theme of the night sky. His list is a little longer than mine, but as he points out, it would easily fit on both sides of a C90 cassette (the format we used back in the ’90s when we first swapped playlists with each other). Both of us find the transition from Elvis to Gil Scott Heron particularly satisfying; and one of the tunes on this list has inspired the pattern I’ll release tomorrow. Can you guess which one it is?

You can listen to Tom’s moon playlist here, on Apple Music, or via the links below:

1. Mel Tormé, Swingin’ on the Moon (1960)
2. Duke Ellington, Moon over Cuba (1941)
3. Lester Young, Polka Dots and Moonbeams (1949)
4. Ella Fitzgerald, How High the Moon? (1960) (live in Berlin)
5. Van Morrison, Moondance (1970)
6. Arthur Russell, This is How we Walk on the Moon (recorded 1980s; released 1994)
7. Elvis Presley, Blue Moon (1954)
8. Gil Scott Heron, Whitey on the Moon (1970)
9. Theolonius Monk, Carolina Moon (1952)
10. Ella Fitzgerald, Paper Moon (1945)
11. Miles Davis, Moon Dreams (1957)
12. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Moon, Turn the Tides, Gently Gently Away (1968)
13. David Bowie, Moonage Daydream 1972)
14. Brown Penny, Super MoOn (2021) (there’s a nice live recording on YouTube)
15. François-Joelle Thiollier, Debussy, Suite Bergamasque L 75: III: Claire de Lune (2016)
16. Fergus McCreadie, Morning Moon (2022)
17. The Rolling Stones, Moonlight Mile (1971)
18. Audrey Hepburn, Moon River (1961)
19. Brian Eno, An Ending (Ascent) (1983)

Why not create your own playlist on a lightsome theme: day and night; winter and spring; stars and planets; starlight and sunlight? Let me know your favourite Making Light songs in the comments, or share your songs with fellow club members in the Making Light thread in the KDD Ravelry group.

Enjoy your Saturday! I’ll be back tomorrow with a moon-y pattern to accompany the planetary one . . .