Music and the Psyche: Ten Albums

My husband just tagged me in a fun little Facebook challenge. Perhaps you've heard of it - Name 10 albums that have influenced your musical taste and had an impact on your life. One album per day for 10 days. No explanations, no reviews, just the cover art.

Sounds like fun, sure, but wait a minute - NO EXPLANATIONS?! You can't ask a blogger to just drop an album cover pic and scroll on my merry way.

No, dear friends! So for the next 10 days, I'm going to complete the challenge in Facebook, and then share the magic from the music with you here. Also, for good measure, I've decided to list them in chronological order of when I first encountered them along life's journey. 

So, without further ado, I give you, Music and the Psyche: Ten Albums.

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Album 1: The Dave Brubeck Quartet's, Time Out

Columbia Records, 1959

This first album differs from all the others on my list in that it was a musical seed that didn't germinate until well into adulthood. My dad has always been a fan of "West Coast Jazz", so I'd heard Brubeck in our home since the day I was born - before I was born, in fact. About a month before I was due, Dad took Mom to a Brubeck concert, and as the story goes, I "kicked wildly through a Joe Morello drum solo."

When I listen to this album, I feel warm and safe and loved. An image comes to mind - my dad standing at the hearth in a plaid flannel shirt and corduroy pants, stoking a crackling fire, Molson's ale on the mantle, shaking his head in time with the pulsing beat around which the instruments dance.

I listen to Brubeck now to conjure this feeling once again - the comfort of a happy childhood. I also listen to it when reading, for dinners, and for parties where I want sophisticated background music to enhance conversation.