Shuffle is trying to make me look dumb today. It probably succeeded.
Channels, "Mercury"
Channels is basically impossible to search YouTube for. Well, it was only a few days ago we first encountered them, so hopefully you all remember them well. This song is about as ballad-y as J. Robbins gets.
New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble, "Naima"
A side project of a bunch of folks in the New York third-wave ska scene, this is basically what it sounds like: a bunch of ska artists getting together to play a bunch of jazz standards. It's a pretty enjoyable listen. This, of course, is the John Coltrane song. I'd say more, but, well, you know the score.
Yo-Yo Ma, "Suite for Solo Cello No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012: III. Courante"
If I'm not qualified to write about jazz (and I'm not), I'm REALLY not qualified to write about classical. Hell, I don't even know if "classical" is the correct term for this. I'm vaguely aware that classical as a catch-all term meaning "music played by people with instruments that don't appear in a rock combo that's not jazz" is a bogus use of terminology, but you know what? Here we are. I didn't even buy this, this is one of Megan's albums. So, you know: enjoy!
(NB: I can't promise this is the same thing as what I have.)
Little Sonny, "Goin' Down Slow (Parts 1 & 2)"
Apparently it's "make Josh look like an ignorant barbarian" day here at Five Songs Amalgamated. So, you know, I don't really know shit about the blues either. This comes to us courtesy of those Stax/Volt compilations, this song coming from the third volume.
Joel Sebastian, "Blue Cinderella"
I at least know a little bit more about Motown, so thanks for that, shuffle. But not a ton more. This is a super early Motown track, from the first volume of that compilation, before they'd really found their own voice.