Bruce Hornsby and Eric Johnson 2022 Playlist

1980s hit-making piano man Bruce Hornsby and guitar wunderkind Eric Johnson are about as far apart as two musical artists can be in terms of style and sound, and yet several songs from each of their 2022 albums go very well together.

The first three tracks below are from Hornsby's 'Flicted, and the rest are from Johnson's Yesterday Meets Today.

Days Ahead * Simple Prayer II * Point Omega * Hold On to Love * Dorsey Takes a Day Off * JVZ * Until We Meet Again

--Raj Manoharan

Allan Holdsworth Playlists

Wednesday, April 15, 2020, marks three years since the world lost pioneering fusion guitar legend Allan Holdsworth. He was 70 years old. In honor of the late great musician, I share my personal playlists culled from his immense works and arranged by theme.

Endomorph (Songs Featuring Various Singers)

The Things You See * White Line * Was There? * Material Real * Metal Fatigue * Panic Station * In the Mystery * Secrets * Endomorph * Against the Clock

Mr. Berwell in the Mystery (Best Overall Including Instrumentals and Vocal Songs)

Three Sheets to the Wind * Metal Fatigue * Panic Station * In the Mystery * The Dominant Plague * Atavachron * Looking Glass * Mr. Berwell * Endomorph * Prelude

No Zones (Then! Live Album without “Zones” Improvisations)

Proto-Cosmos * White Line * Atavachron * Pud Wud * House of Mirrors * Non-Brewed Condiment * Funnels

The Un-Merry Go Round (New Age)

The Un-Merry Go Round * Distance vs. Desire * The Un-Merry Go Round (Part 4) * The Un-Merry Go Round (Part 5) * Prelude * Above and Below * Above and Below (Reprise) * Material Unreal * Curves * Don’t You Know

Tokyo Dream I (Hard Fusion)

Three Sheets to the Wind * Tokyo Dream * Non-Brewed Condiment * The Dominant Plague * Atavachron * Looking Glass * Mr. Berwell * City Nights * Peril Premonition * Hard Hat Area

Tokyo Dream II (Soft Fusion)

Home * Funnels * Joshua * Sphere of Innocence * Zarabeth * Questions * Tokyo Dream * The Un-Merry Go Round (Part 4) * The Un-Merry Go Round (Part 5) * Prelude

--Raj Manoharan

The Best of Pat Metheny Group: 1978-2002

For a while, I had been planning to post a playlist of my ten favorite Pat Metheny Group (PMG) songs to celebrate the release of Metheny's latest album. I now offer it in tribute and dedicate it to the memory of PMG keyboardist Lyle Mays (1953-2020).

The Search * James * Chris * Last Train Home * Slip Away * Facing West * Rain River * Here to Stay * Follow Me * Wherever You Go

--Raj Manoharan

Allan Holdsworth Playlists

Sunday, April 15, 2018, marks one year since the world lost pioneering fusion guitar legend Allan Holdsworth. He was 70 years old. In honor of the late great musician, I share my personal playlists culled from his immense works and arranged by theme.

Endomorph (Songs Featuring Various Singers)

The Things You See * White Line * Was There? * Material Real * Metal Fatigue * Panic Station * In the Mystery * Secrets * Endomorph * Against the Clock

Mr. Berwell in the Mystery (Best Overall Including Instrumentals and Vocal Songs)

Three Sheets to the Wind * Metal Fatigue * Panic Station * In the Mystery * The Dominant Plague * Atavachron * Looking Glass * Mr. Berwell * Endomorph * Prelude

No Zones (Then! Live Album without “Zones” Improvisations)

Proto-Cosmos * White Line * Atavachron * Pud Wud * House of Mirrors * Non-Brewed Condiment * Funnels

The Un-Merry Go Round (New Age)

The Un-Merry Go Round * Distance vs. Desire * The Un-Merry Go Round (Part 4) * The Un-Merry Go Round (Part 5) * Prelude * Above and Below * Above and Below (Reprise) * Material Unreal * Curves * Don’t You Know

Tokyo Dream I (Hard Fusion)

Three Sheets to the Wind * Tokyo Dream * Non-Brewed Condiment * The Dominant Plague * Atavachron * Looking Glass * Mr. Berwell * City Nights * Peril Premonition * Hard Hat Area

Tokyo Dream II (Soft Fusion)

Home * Funnels * Joshua * Sphere of Innocence * Zarabeth * Questions * Tokyo Dream * The Un-Merry Go Round (Part 4) * The Un-Merry Go Round (Part 5) * Prelude

--Raj Manoharan

Summers Singers, by Andy Summers

This playlist features my favorite collaborations between Andy Summers and various singers, including Najma Akhtar, Sting, Deborah Harry, Q-Tip, Fernanda Takai, and Rob Giles. The tracks are taken from the following albums: The Golden Wire (1989), Green Chimneys (1999), Peggy’s Blue Skylight (2000), Fundamental (2012), and Circus Hero by Circa Zero (2014).

Piya Tose * Round Midnight * Weird Nightmare * Goodbye Pork Pie Hat/Where Can a Man Find Peace? * No Mesmo Lugar (Here I Am Again) * You Light My Dark * Smile and Blue Sky Me * Underground * Gamma Ray * Whenever You Hear the Rain

--Raj Manoharan

Metal Luminescence, by Andy Summers

This playlist combines my top five picks from each of Andy Summers’ last two albums, Metal Dog (2015) and Triboluminescence (2017), for an intriguing exploration of dark, eclectic fusion.

Metal Dog * Animal Chatter * Ishango Bone * Vortex Street * Harmonograph * If Anything * Elephant Bird * Gigantopithecus * Ricochet * Help from Jupiter

--Raj Manoharan

The Best of Black Panther

Ludwig Goransson' s magnificent score to the equally magnificent film Black Panther is over one and a half hours long, so I've pared it down to a manageable 40 minutes comprised of the ten tracks that I feel best represent the heart and soul of not only the music, but the movie as well.

Wakanda * Warrior Falls * Waterfall Fight * Ancestral Plane * Phambili * Wake Up T'Challa * A King's Sunset * A New Day * Spaceship Bugatti * United Nations/End Titles

--Raj Manoharan

40th Anniversary Police Playlists

In honor of the 40^th anniversary of The Police's debut album, Outlandos D'Amour, I have come up with the following two 10-track playlists.

Too Much Information (Fast-Paced Rockers)

Next to You * Peanuts * It's Alright for You * No Time This Time * Bombs Away * Man in a Suitcase * Too Much Information * Rehumanize Yourself * Synchronicity * Synchronicity II

Voices Inside My Head (Moody Ruminations)

So Lonely * Hole in My Life * Bring on the Night * Contact * Driven to Tears * Voices Inside My Head * Secret Journey * Darkness * Walking in Your Footsteps * Tea in the Sahara

A good bonus playlist would be all the non-album tracks from the 1993 set Message in a Box.

--Raj Manoharan

The Best of Mike Moreno: 2007-2017

New York City-based jazz guitarist Mike Moreno released his sixth solo album, 3 for 3, in November 2017.

The collection is the Texas native's first trio record as a bandleader. The lineup includes Doug Weiss on bass and Kendrick Scott on drums.

In honor of the new album, I have come up with a recommended playlist of my favorite Mike Moreno tunes, spanning his five previous entries.

Enjoy!

World of the Marionettes * Uncertainty * I Have a Dream * Another Way 1 * Milagre dos peixes * Mantra # 5 * Another Way 2 * The Mariner * The Hills of Kykuit * Lotus

--Raj Manoharan

The Best of Andy Summers: 1989-2015

If you’re not familiar with the music of Andy Summers beyond his tenure as the guitarist for The Police, I have compiled tracks that I feel are the most representative of his solo career. Summers has two retrospective albums to his name, but each covers separate and vastly different periods of his career. My collection features music spanning 26 years, all the way from 1989’s The Golden Wire to 2015’s Metal Dog.

My criteria for these selections included that they showcase Summers’ guitar playing first and foremost, spotlight the brilliance and complexity of his compositions (“Green Chimneys” and Reincarnation of a Lovebird” are covers of Summers’ idols Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus, respectively), and share a cohesion of sound even while being independently unique.

And now I present to you my Personal Playlist of The Best of Andy Summers: 1989-2015. Enjoy!

Blues for Snake / Passion of the Shadow / Somewhere in the West / Low Flying Doves / The Somnambulist / Green Chimneys / Reincarnation of a Lovebird / Now I’m Free / Harmonograph

--Raj Manoharan

The Best of Paul Speer: 1984-2013

If you like the Police and solo guitar work of Andy Summers, you’ll definitely dig the six-string sounds of guitarist Paul Speer.

The two musicians share a passion for jazz/rock fusion, with Summers concentrating more on jazz and Speer focusing more on rock.

I have put together what I think is a comprehensive and ear-catching retrospective of Speer’s work that will appeal equally to newcomers and long-time fans. All of these tracks are available at www.paulspeer.com and come from his solo albums and his albums with Queensryche drummer Scott Rockenfield and British musician Paul Lawler (flutes, keyboards, percussion).

And now I present to you my Personal Playlist of The Best of Paul Speer: 1984-2013. Enjoy!

Allegro / Terra Vista / Allegro Con Brio / Adagio Dolente / Murder or Self Defense / Hi Strung / River of No Return / Carved in Stone / Prelude Oculus / Tuscan Sunset / Denali / Ganges / Accelerator (Rock Mix) / PowerGlide

--Raj Manoharan

Welcome!

Hello everybody out there in Internet Land!

Welcome to my new blog, RajMan Recommended Playlists!

This is my personal space where I will share my unique playlists of my favorite music artists.

For the most part, I designed these playlists for the purpose of selecting my favorite tracks from long albums, compiling similar themes throughout a musician or group's career, and comparing different studio and/or live versions of songs by the same performer.

So without further ado, I heartily invite you to explore, experiment, and enjoy!

Excelsior!

Raj Manoharan