ALL BACK TO MY PLACE
THE STARS REVEAL THE SONIC DELIGHTS GUARANTEED TO GET THEM GOING...
Suzanne Vega SOLITARY, STILL STANDING
What music are you currently grooving to?
Dua Lipa. I know she’s got a new one out, but it hasn’t been a very dancing time since the lockdown here in New York City.
What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album? Leonard Cohen’s first album. It’s very intimate, it’s really like a good friend. I discovered it when I was 14. I became aware of it because my name is Suzanne (laughs).
What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it? Abbey Road by The Beatles. I bought that when I was 9. I don’t know where I got the money – from my birthday or something – but we had a little record shop on Broadway about a block or two from where I grew up and I loved I could go in there with my own money and pick up my own Beatles record.
Which musician, other than yourself, have you ever wanted to be? There are moments where I wanted to be Lou Reed because he seemed to be so uninhibited, in terms of being really cruel to people. There are moments when I’ve thought I could use a bit more of his approach. In interviews – he never took them seriously, he always wore these glasses to be intimidating. To the point where I sat with him once and his dog took my sunglasses and started to chew them and he was absolutely horrified – he thought they were special interview glasses.
What do you sing in the shower?
I don’t but I occasionally sing when I do the dishes. Always jazz standards – I was a big fan of Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Rodgers And Hart Songbook.
What is your favourite Saturday night record?
The Strokes. I loved their first album.
And your Sunday morning record? I can’t help but think of Sunday Morning by The Velvet Underground & Nico. Slightly hungover, slightly rueful, and that twinkly sound which I always think is so ironic next to Lou’s vocals.
An Evening Of New York Songs And Stories is out on September 11. She tours the UK in February 2021.
Makaya McCraven CHICAGO BEAT SCIENTIST
What music are you currently grooving to?
I’m working with Jeff Parker at the moment and I’ve been listening to his Suite For Max Brown which I am on, but I only listen to the tracks I’m not on. I’ve also been listening to some old classics with the family; Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, Keith Jarrett, Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Birds Of Fire, Pharoah Sanders’ Thembi.
What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album? Yusef Lateef’s Eastern Sounds, which he recorded in 1961. It’s a very moving record. I’ve listened to it a lot through the years and been inspired by it, in particular his efforts to go back into history and play ancient flutes and oboes, to take this folkloric approach and bring it to jazz. That connects with me, and on top of that it’s very melodic and really nice to listen to.
What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it? A cassette of A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory from a mail order company where you got 10 tapes for the price of five. My mum and dad had so many records, all different genres, so I never needed to buy any and then this came along from my own generation and I got to introduce it to them. That was a big deal.
Which musician, other than yourself, have you ever wanted to be? James Jamerson. Bass is my favourite instrument and I’m a frustrated bass player. Not only was he such a great musician but he got to be on so many incredible records and be around so many incredible artists. I don’t think he died a rich man though, so I’d change that part of it.
What do you sing in the shower? I really don’t. Too much echo.
What is your favourite Saturday night record?
Stevie Wonder’s I Wish and I’d follow that up with some Prince.
And your Sunday morning record? Some jazz, probably Yusef.
Universal Beings E&F Sides is out on K7 on September 25.
“I’m a frustrated bass player.”
MAKAYA McCRAVEN