This Week: Theme? We don't need no stinkin' theme!

This week on Miles to Go Before I Sleep, I decided to ditch that trite, old convention of the theme (until next week) to just bring you a great assortment of jazz. Intern Dan Rasch joined me in the studio, and together we spun tunes from some of the greats.

We also paid homage to Clifford Brown this week, as he would've celebrated his 80th birthday on 30 October 2010. Brown, aka "Brownie," was an influential and highly rated American jazz trumpeter, and played with the likes of Max Roach, Horace Silver, and Sonny Rollins, among others. He died at the age of 25 in a tragic automobile accident, leaving behind only four years' worth of recordings. Even in such a short time, Clifford Brown made a name for himself as one of the greatest to ever pick up the horn, and is still regarded among the greats today.

We enjoyed a great listenership this week, many of whom wrote and called in to the show. We even featured a reading from the talented Paul Dougherty over the air, and I gave my regards to Kenyon (in Hindi) from one of my friends abroad. But enough of that - here's a look at what we played this week:

1. Cosmic Rays - Charlie Parker
2. Dream a Little Dream of Me - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
3. Don't Get Around Much Anymore - Duke Ellington
4. Lazybones - Leon Redbone
5. Mean to Me - Paul Desmond
6. Heart of Glass - The Bad Plus
7. Mètché Dershé - Mulatu Astatke
8. 21st-Century Schizoid Man - The Crimson Jazz Trio
9. Theme from M*A*S*H (Suicide is Painless) - Bill Evans
10. Lover, You Should've Come Over - Jamie Cullum
11. Eggs and Sausage (In a Cadillac with Susan Michaelson) - Tom Waits
12. Stardust - Clifford Brown & Max Roach
13. Butch & Butch - Oliver Nelson
14. Someone to Watch Over Me - Ella Fitzgerald
15. Aurora en Pekin - Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos
16. Rebel Rebel - Seu Jorge
17. Nuages - Django Reinhardt
18. Sing, Sing, Sing [Live] - Benny Goodman
19. Sweet Rain - Stan Getz
20. Milestones - Miles Davis

Talk-over music this week came courtesy of Booker T. & The MG's, The Crimson Jazz Trio, Paul Desmond, Yoko Kanno & The SeatBelts, Walter Wanderley Trio, Django Reinhardt, and Mark Soskin.

As per usual, for a rundown of the Miles to Go playlist each week, keep your browsers here, and for the best jazz et al. around, keep your radios (or your iTunes) tuned to WKCO 91.9 FM!