Kate, if you really want to go out on a limb, doo-wop may be worth a try. Some of the vocal arrangements can be jazz-like, and while the small group dynamic isn't the same as choral, it is a group dynamic.

The problem is, not many doo-wop groups have enough of an oeuvre to rate a Greatest Hit CD. But there are plenty of compilation CDs out there.

And doo-wop bears a passing resemblance to a lot of the vocal group pop of the early and mid '50s. Some groups worth checking out would be the Four Aces (known for "Three Coins in the Fountain," if that rings any bells), the Four Lads ("Moments to Remember"), the Chordettes ("Mr. Sandman"), the McGuire Sisters ("Sincerely"). I'm less familiar with the Four Freshmen (except "Graduation Day") but understand that they're considered a major influence on the Beach Boys, so they should also be worth checking out.

You couldn't go far wrong with some of the Rhino Records DooWop box sets. Box Set #1 is pretty obvious, but I'm extremely fond of the second set, because the selection pretty much automatically skipped over the super-boffo-big-obvious-choices that went into the first and let the programmers cherry-pick worthy regional hits that never got the recognition they deserved.

However, Rhino has several retrospective CDs of the various doowop groups that had a long enough career to provide a substantial body of work. I'd especially recommend The Drifters, who had a bit of rotating personnel, some of whom went on to become big names in their own right.

Kate, if he likes classical AND piano AND choral, you could check out Nikolai Demidenko on Hyperion playing Bach-Busoni piano transcriptions (Busoni's transcriptions of various Bach pieces, including many chorales). Drop dead gorgeous music and virtuoso pianism of the highest order.

Cool Jazz Piano:

At the Top
Art Tatum
Bud Powell

Accessible Pop/Jazz Thang
Vince Guaraldi
Oscar Peterson
Ramsey Lewis

Old School
Jellyroll Morton (this is where I think you could get a good present - Library of Congress has put out some very cool Jellyroll CDs in the last decade that he might not have)
Fats Waller (for the songs, of course)
Willie the Lion (stride)

New Orleans Jazz Piano
Resurrection of the Bayou Maharajah - James Booker (Oooh! get this. I reviewed it in LiTG!)
Dr. John Plays Duke Ellington (very cool, very New Orleans)

Speaking of cool jazz, David....

t /greedy

Speaking of cool jazz, David....

Heh. Rightly prompted, sir. Well, it's not like I haven't been working on it. It'll probably go out with my next paycheck.

So just when the xmas fun is over and you're feeling draggy and hungover? Cool soundtrack to your spy guy crime detecting lifestyle.

I knew I could count on you guys for some fabulous suggestions! I will check these out. Thank you so much!

So just when the xmas fun is over and you're feeling draggy and hungover? Cool soundtrack to your spy guy crime detecting lifestyle.

Xmas tends to be a multi-week extravaganza thing with me. I don't hold anyone to a particular deadline.

But, I knew you'd been working on it, and I am very much looking forward to it.

But, I knew you'd been working on it, and I am very much looking forward to it.

I've been tooling around in the car with the Spy Jazz for the last month trying to weed out any duds and make sure it flowed from song to song. You wind up trying to parse the particular mood between "The Venice Affair" and "The Danube Incident" (sampled by Portishead for "Sour Times") vs. "The Ipcress File theme" and "Cutty Sark" (a John Barry piece that has that "Take Five" vibe you like).

Basically I decided to move more of the Bond stuff up towards the middle instead of letting it languish at the end of the mix. Also bunching up the lighter, more playful themes so you can go from "Casino Royale" to "The Avengers" to "Danger Man" plus modulating the super action cuts like "The Invaders" (cue from Man From U.N.C.L.E.) to "Our Man Flint" and then into the slinky guitar instro version of "Goldfinger." Like that!

Yeah, that's worth waiting for.

And yes, mixes need to be just right. Each song needs to flow emotionally and thematically into the next.