On That Note

The perennial page for finding Holiday Music in MIDCAT  (Winter solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, etc.) is back.

Ever wonder what the most popular CDs in the Music Library are? Yeah, me too. Below are the most popular discs from the last 3 years or so, since we moved to the new library system.

Hit me, drummer, and pass the envelopes…

CLASSICAL
5. Sonatas and partitas for solo violin / Bach (CD 15478)
4. Rite of spring / Stravinsky (CD 13021)
3. Spanish guitar favorites / John Williams (CD 16760)
2. Complete works for solo piano / Ravel (CD 2699)
and the winner is…

1. Masters Of The Piano Roll: Debussy Plays Debussy (CD 14359)

This last disc is a fascinating document. It consists of early piano rolls, including several made by Debussy himself, newly re-recorded on a high-tech reproducing piano. It provides a wonderful glimpse into what some of the most highly regarded performers of the early 20th-century actually sounded like, without the poor sonics that mar most recordings from that era.

JAZZ
5. Possibilities / Herbie Hancock (CD 15871)
4. Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall (CD 15170)
3. The Cellar Door sessions 1970 / Miles Davis (CD 15321)
2. Seven Steps: The complete Columbia recordings, 1963-1964 / Miles Davis (CD 14602)
and the winner is…

1. Kind of Blue / Miles Davis (CD 11741)

Not much to say about this one, really. If you love jazz, you probably already love it. If you don’t know anything about jazz, but want to learn, this is a good place to start, with memorable themes and world-class improvisers. A true desert island disc for a lot of us.

If you want to explore this recording in-depth, check out these 2 books…

ROCK/POP
5. Garden State: Music from the motion picture (CD 14128)
4. Blonde on blonde / Bob Dylan (CD 7927)
3. Begin to hope / Regina Spektor (CD 16125)
2. Chutes too narrow / The Shins (CD 14177)
and our final number 1…

1. In yo’ face, vol. 1 (CD 11581 v.1)

It does my middle-aged heart good to see a slice of old-school funk take the top spot. Great great stuff here – James Brown, Sly, Curtis Mayfield, Parliament, Charles Wright… If you like this, check out the other volumes in the series. Also, the anthology What It Is (CD 16166) is another stellar, maybe even superior, package.

Welcome back and Happy New Year, faithful On That Note readers! The Music Library staff hopes your holiday break was joyous, and we hope your return to Middlebury sees you reinvigorated and ready for more adventures in the land of lurnin’.

As J-Term gets underway, perhaps a few handy links/reminders are in order.

Music Library hours

During J-Term, the Music Library is open pretty much as usual:

• M-R 9-midnight
• F 9-5
• Sat 10-6
• Sun 10-midnight

Here is the main page with hours for all the branches.

eReserve readings

Need help finding your e-reserves readings? Try this page for starters.

MIDCAT – Library catalog

Search for printed music, DVDs, CDs, and books, too, right here!

Music order requests

Fill out this form here!

Contact your friendly Music Library staff

• Terry
• Joy
• Jess
• Dan

The page with canned links for finding holiday music (divided by recordings, scores and videos) is once again up on the music library homepage.

There are several people responsible for keeping the Music Library humming. Over the next few weeks we’ll feature profiles of all the staff, but for now, here’s a brief introduction.

• Dan Frostman – he’s the guy you usually see sitting in back of the Circulation Desk. Dan coordinates many of the functions of the Music Library, from scheduling students to selecting CDs to managing the reserves… the list goes on and on. He plays a mean oboe too.
• Joy Pile – Joy splits her time between the Music Library and the Main Library, serving as Research & Instruction librarian and liaison to the music department, as well as to the foreign language departments. Got a tough music question? Joy will help you find the answer. She plays viola too!
• Jess Isler – our resident indie rock expert and cataloging/acquistions associate. Jess is the newest member of the Music Library staff, and we feel lucky to have her. She’s a Middlebury grad and current library school graduate student.
• Terry Simpkins – I also spend a lot of time over at the Main Library, where I serve as Director of Collection Management. I used to be the Music Cataloger here, and still try to spend some time each week selecting and cataloging music for the library. I’m a former drummer and organist, current amateur ragtime pianist, and jazz, soul, blues, reggae, and rock fanatic.