This disc got a lot of play around my house when it was released four years ago. I played it to death while I was slinging mud and pitching paint at the walls of my recording studio. We had a copy of it in the car for a long while.

We got to see her on a double bill with Dr. John one night at a little downtown park jazz festival in Vancouver, Washington. My (now) 8-year old and I danced for two hours straight, from the front of the stage to the back of the park and back. What a night!

When I played it again for the kids on the commute to school the other day, they immediately remembered it and started singing along.

It’s pure inspiration, a mix of gospel and rhythm and blues like only Mavis can do…the voice of heaven!

Mavis Staples – Have A Little Faith

Mavis Staples – Pop’s Recipe

Mavis Staples – In Times Like These

I like random.

Fusion 45, when it first launched, was all about random. Close your eyes, pick some records. Open your eyes, roll the dice, play some songs.

I’ve heard it said the algorithms governing your iPod are not true random but that the numbers you can get from random.org are. I don’t know but I believe. So I punched-in the parameters (10 numbers randomly chosen between 1 and 12,000) and this is what came up.

(This is from my iTunes category specifically dedicated to the music I’ve acquired from libraries across the country.)

#3813 – Mavis Staples – Sweet Things You Do
#7221 – Martina Topley-Bird – I Still Feel
#1110 – Texas – Say What You Want
#7461 – Jerry Lee Lewis – What I Say
#6923 – The Gourds – Tearbox
#7908 – Jerry Lee Lewis – You’re The Only Star In My Blue Heaven
#5189 – The Gourds – Tried So Hard
#4629 – Drive-By Truckers – When The Pin Hits The Shell
#1618 – Martha Wainwright – Who Was I Kidding
#7580 – Mongo Santamaria – Cuidado

Artwork: Negrasvelno Fletluje (from Random Art)