Dancing in the Dark (The Heart of Darkness Playlist)

I give you a playlist fit for Joseph Conrad and his inspired creation: Kurtz. Musical relief for the darkness and an entry in the Comfort Suite. The liner notes were written 15 years ago for the heart of darkness. Thankfully, these days the songs are mostly available for streaming (youtube, spotify).

Heart of Darkness, A Playlist

• Prince Of Darkness by Miles Davis
  Our musical tour of this territory will start with Miles. This is Richard Perle's theme. Menacing and presented as noble. Righteous music. The album is called Miles Smiles, the second great quintet had found its groove and Miles reveled in it.
• Footsteps In The Dark (Part 1 & 2) by The Isley Brothers
  Again the album title is ominous, Go for your guns and quite belied by the lazy groove and Ronald Isley's lush falsetto
• Congo by Amel Larrieux
  My favorite vocalist went to Congo, she's a bravebird. I've always wanted a live performance of this song, hope springs eternal.
• Crazy Baldhead by Bob Marley and the Wailers
  Kurtz's theme.
• Down Here in Hell (With You) by Van Hunt
  The acoustic version, the Narrated Autobiography starts with the immortal line "My father was part-time painter and a pimp". Dysfunction was the original sin.
• Dancing in the Dark by Bill Evans
  Scott LaFaro, whose exploits were well documented in Sunday Night at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby, had died tragically a few years earlier. Thus it was Gary Peacock who stepped in with ghostly bass runs as counterpoint to Bill Evans's luminous piano.
• I Guess I'm Crazy by Mavis Staples
  Long before Gnarls Barkley, Mavis was telling it like it was. Prince was urging her on at the mixing console
• In the Dark by Nina Simone
  Blues are part and parcel of the heart of darkness.
• Dark Side of the Cog by Incognito
  From the album in which Incognito went electronic
• Slippin' Into Darkness by War
  Funky and dark grooves
• Darkness by Black Uhuru
  The 10' version is bouncy. Darkness seems to rule over the world.
• Dancing in the Dark by Cannonball Adderley, Miles Davis
  Something Else was going down with that first great quintet and its offshoots.
• Dancing in the Dark by Duke Ellington
  The Duke's portfolio is endless
• Darkness on the Delta by Cassandra Wilson
  The modern day blues queen
• Blues In the Dark by Count Basie and Jimmy Rushing
  Fruits of a cooking session
• Darktown Strutter's Ball by Fats Domino
  Dave Bruebeck also gives a cool version
• Dark Rapture by Count Basie
• Bohemia After Dark by Cannonball Adderley
  Birdland after dark was a magical place, the birthplace of a quiet revolution.
• Dancing In The Dark by Bruce Springsteen
  The Boss found uplift in Ronald Reagan's morning in America. Hey Iran/Contra was a ball. The seeds were sown of the great reckoning though. Would have been better off with John Wayne.
• Deep In Your Heart by Ronny Jordan
  A trifle to warm the heart
• Dark by Prince

  Somebody take this dark cloud away...
  How could you leave me in the dark?

  The remix, So Dark, which appeared on the Crystal Ball compilation is a reminder that his Royal Badness sometimes needs to leave well enough alone. But then we know that things fell apart
• Light To Dark by Ronny Jordan
  Changing the perspective
• Blues In the Dark by James Carter and Joshua Redmane
  The legendary cutting session immortalized the jook joint in the movie Kansas City
• Dance Cadaverous by Wayne Shorter
  We started with Prince of Darkness, a Wayne Shorter composition hence we'll end with another of his dark themes. I was initially thinking of Juju but that isn't quite foreboding enough. Dance Cadaverous it is then. Ominous and a little crazy, the man got lost in the jungle and is emerging slowly to face the interlocuter. The title of the album stands to reason: Speak No Evil.

See previously: Heart of Darkness

I nominate this note for the Things Fall Apart series under the banner of The Comfort Suite.

File under: music, culture, observation, obsession, whimsy, jazz, soul, perception, Joseph Conrad, Things Fall Apart, Comfort Suite, toli

Writing log. Concept: June 30, 2007