My Oscar Pick

... would have to be 20 Feet From Stardom.  Yeah, it's a documentary but, for me, it beats anything else in ANY category.  Here is where I first heard about the film, in Terry Gross' June 2013 Fresh Air interview with Merry Clayton:

http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/2013/06/12/190985260/?showDate=2013-06-12

And, how about a couple of vids comparing the incredible work of two of these women backing up the Rolling Stones:

St. Vincent Meets Colbert

St. Vincent, aka Annie Clark, shows off some of her new eponymous album on The Colbert Report:

And, yes, it was the collaboration with David Byrne on the Love This Giant album (2012) where I came to first appreciate Annie Clark.

Bach in the Forest

BWV 147. Yep, it's a Japanese commercial.

Valentine's Day with Katie Herzig

Katie is a recent and pleasant discovery -- one of her tracks was featured on the "Saving Mr. Banks" movie trailer, which came to my attention as a current Oscar nominee.  Herzig has been around for a while, with several albums and tracks featured on various TV shows.  Learn more

.

Renee Fleming and the Superbowl

Bob Dylan, Car Salesman

With Bob on our side ...

 

The Kidjo Coincidence

As I was preparing to return to my workplace after having lunch at home today, I was talking to daughter Ivi and noticing that the upstairs music system, in shuffle mode, was playing an old Angelique Kidjo number. As all things Africa are on our mind these days -- since we are almost on the eve of Ivi's departure to Ghana -- I idly asked whether she happened to know which country Kidjo was from. Neither of us knew.

However, after I returned to work and some of the dust had cleared, I checked my Gmail and discovered that NPR's All Songs Considered newsletter had arrived in my inbox with the news that Angelique Kidjo's new album, Eve, was now available for streaming:

  http://www.npr.org/2014/01/19/262401474/first-listen-ang-lique-kidjo-eve

And as I read the accompanying introduction, I found the answer to our question: Benin.