This week’s theme: A potpourri of jazz songs that have crossed over into the mainstream in some way. For example, Mercy, Mercy Mercy, The Sidewinder, or The Girl From Ipanema. Featured artists include John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Steve Davis, Vince Guaraldi, Monte Budwig, Colin Bailey, Herbie Mann, John Handy, Wes Montgomery, Ron Carter, Ray Barretto, Billy Taylor, Ben Tucker, Grady Tate, Les McCann, Eddie Harris, Benny Bailey, Leroy Vinnegar, Donald Dean, Stan Getz, Jaoa Gilberto, Astrid Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Joe Morello, Eugene Wright, Lee Morgan, Joe Henderson, Bob Cranshaw, Barry Harris, Billy Higgins, Cannonball Adderley, Nat Adderley, Joe Zawinul, Victor Gaskin, Roy McCurdy.

This week’s theme: Juxtaposing some nice Paul Desmond with some nice Cannonball Adderley. Featured artists include Paul Desmond, Cannonball Adderley, Jim Hall, Bill Evans, Gerry Mulligan, Percy Heath, Connie Kay, Wendell Marshall, Gene Cherico, Nat Adderley, Junior Mance, Sam Jones, Jimmy Cobb, Wynton Kelly, Vic Feldman, Louis Hayes, Dave Brubeck, Joe Morello, Joe Zawinul, Vic Gaskin, Roy McCurdy, and more.

If you’re looking for a good read, pick up the July issue of Downbeat. It’s being promoted as the “70^th Anniversary Collector’s Edition” and the focus is a feature called “Our Heroes” in which more than 70 musicians talk about their primary influences. Here are a few highlights:

 Sonny Rollins on Coleman Hawkins: “I first saw him play on 52^nd Street. I used to put eyebrow pencil on my lip to make a fake mustache so I could get in. We’d stand in the back, and it was like looking at a god playing.”

 Joe Zawinul on Art Tatum: “He always sounded like two piano players. The story goes like this:

His grandmomma had one of those player pianos. But the recordings in the piano were by two piano players. So Tatum, that’s just the way he just heard the music. He though that’s the way you’re supposed to play the piano.”

Antonio Hart on Cannonball Adderley: “What inspired me most about him was that he played with tremendous intellect and technical facility, but was able to maintain that down-home feeling in his playing. There was total communication.”

There are many interesting articles, including Jimmy Heath on Dizzy Gillespie; Wayne Shorter on Charlie Parker; Branford Marsalis on Sonny Rollins; Michael Brecker on John Coltrane; Gary Bartz on Clifford Jordan, and others. People sometimes ask me which jazz magazines I prefer. Downbeat is the only one I read consistently. To me it has the most interesting articles, best writing and a good mix between the older stuff and current music. They could write more often about the vinyl market, but we’re happy to serve that niche.