Listening Post

This song is cold winter mornings before the sun had even come up. Leaving someone I once loved but can't anymore, to slip into the back of a Town Car that would take me to work. Gliding through a sleeping New York City. Music tucked snugly into my ears. There was exhaustion, uncertainty and even a little sadness -- but for a moment, there was peace.

Here's the great John Coltrane and the equally great Duke Ellington -- In a Sentimental Mood.

And, just because, below it's Sting's gorgeous version of My One and Only Love.

Listening Post

Better than just about any other musician, Sting provides a nice test case for F. Scott Fitzgerald's maxim about holding opposing thoughts in mind at the same time and still being able to function. Yes, he's stodgy, pretentious, and occasionally insufferable, but he's also written some of the best and most enduring pop music of the last few decades -- even without the help of the Police, whose fire tended to balance out his ice.

Case in point, this: a love song of palpable beauty and passion, recorded live with one of the best bands ever assembled -- including Branford Marsalis, Kenny Kirkland, Darryl Jones and the great Omar Hakim.

From 1986, here's I Burn for You.



And as a bonus, what still ranks as my all-time favorite solo Sting song -- Fortress Around Your Heart.