The Substack Jukebox 🎶🎵🎶
Robert Plant sheds a tear, the amazing Miles Davis, and the Grateful Dead.
The Substack Jukebox 3/30/2026
Let the music play! 🎸🎻🎺🥁🎹
This is a stack strictly for music… where you can discover new artists, hear old favorites you may have forgotten, and learn a little backstory on the work. Send us your favorites and we’ll try to share them here! Thanks for listening.
Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin. Every time I watch this, I get goosebumps. (Subscriber Pete mentioned this to me and I already had the essay put together! Great minds!!) Back to the 2012 Kennedy Center honors… it’s about as perfect a performance as you could hope to see. The drummer is Jason Bonham, son of the original Zeppelin drummer, John Bonham, who died of alcoholism at only 32 years of age. Ann Wilson of Heart rips the vocals while her sister Nancy plays guitar.
And Robert Plant wipes a tear… it’s that good.
A subscriber suggested some Miles Davis. Great choice. I chose this cut because of the incredible lineup of talent: Miles Davis, trumpet (1926-1991); John Coltrane, tenor sax (1926-1967); Wynton Kelly, piano (1931-1971); Paul Chambers, bass (1935-1969); Jimmy Cobb, drums (1929-2020) "So What" original pianist: Bill Evans (1929-1980); and alto sax Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (1928-1975). There has never been a more stellar group of jazz musicians.
Davis died in 1991… only 65 years old. He was buried with one of his trumpets in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, not far from Duke Ellington’s grave.
Also, check out THIS PERFORMANCE (click the link) with Chaka Kahn.
I’ll admit I know very little about the Grateful Dead… but I know a ton of people who are huge fans. ‘Touch of Grey’, released in 1987, was their only Top-40 single in their 30-year run. But they were among the highest-grossing American touring acts for decades and to this day, their fan base is rabid. Formed in 1965, it was said that their music "touches on ground that most other groups don't even know exists".
We wanna know what you’re listening to! Share with all of us in the comments so we can expand our music libraries.
Hope you heard something new to add to your playlist. There are all kinds of people and all kinds of music. Thank you for being part of this community. 💙
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Love you all. See you back here Friday!
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There's a strong connection between Led Zeppelin and the Wilson sisters. Back in the day, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page saw a local Seattle band called Heart at a club. They were so impressed that they asked them to open for them on tour. Then they got them a record deal with their label.
A Miles Davis twofer! There might have been some talent on stage in "So What".😂😂 Loved the performance with Shaka Khan! Oh by the way, that guy playing guitar with Miles is Foley, a musician, arranger, and producer from Columbus Ohio.( Check out his music!😃) I love the Grateful Dead! You should give a listen to more of their stuff. Well, off to work! Have a great day.😃😘
You'll be glad to know that the Kennedy Center thing has gone a bit viral for some reason. I'm not sure why now rather than before, but better late than never. Her voice seems so suited to it. Really fantastic.
I was never a huge Dead fan. I had one 8 track tape for my car years ago, and that was it. I appreciated their musical talent, just not a big fan of the style. Or something. Many have tried to convert me. Their long instrumentals are really good, but the "sound" doesn't hit me the way it does others.
Miles Davis is Miles Davis. Even vampires love Miles Davis (you'd need to read Psalm of Vampires for that one). :-)