Oh this one is bittersweet. It's the second-to-last Listening Lyrics, and the last one with just myself in the studio. Next week's show will have plenty of guests, but I opted to do this alone. 

I'm playing songs with lyrics that explain a feeling, with several local groups represented. They include Nat Lefkoff, Boot Juice, Bad Mother Nature, The Gold Souls, and Adrian West.

On Jan. 14, 2023, the Music Center (link is external)in Los Angeles had a celebration concert to honor Jerry Moss. Many artists participated, and today's Listening Lyrics  plays some of their music.

In 1960, Moss moved from New York to Los Angeles, where he teamed up with Herb Alpert,(link is external) forming Carnival Records in 1962 and running the company from an office in Alpert's garage. Discovering that the name was already taken, they dubbed their new company A&M Records.

In 1987, Moss and Alpert sold A&M to PolyGram Records for a reported $500 million. Both continued to manage the label until 1993, when they left because of frustrations with PolyGram's constant pressure to force the label to fit into its corporate culture. In 1998, Alpert and Moss sued PolyGram for breach of the integrity clause, eventually settling for an additional $200 million.

A few weeks ago I was in Portland visiting my daughter and her family. While there, I drove my  grandson to high school every morning. He would hop into the car and link his phone to my radio, and off we went, listening to his music. Wyatt is 15, and I really liked his music selections. I asked him to send me some of his playlist, and that is what you will hear on this hour of Listening Lyrics. It's a rather sophisticated selection of music old and new, and perfect for my last show in 2022.

Thank you, Wyatt. Happy New Year all,

Pieter

This holiday CD is a rare beauty. There's such depth to this music, a limitless well of music and sounds. It defies a genre, but let's just say it's a mix of jazz, electronica, and classical. Ekimi is a duo originally from Cincinnati, comprised of Billy Larkin (piano and synthesizer) and Chris Dahlgren (bass, electronic sarod and percussions). Both Billy and Chris are classically trained. Billy joins me in the studio to share his thoughts on this truly wonderful CD.