A post for a Friday. Some things I really like about music are how different styles, multiple levels of thinking, team dynamics, international influence, art, classics, and musical influences and heroes play key roles. As much time as I focus on business, I sometimes find it hard to find the level of color, intensity, and beauty in the commercial world that I find in music. FWIW - Here are some really cool music works that I've discovered in the past year:

1. JoJo Mayer and Nerve - a jazz-trained drummer who has blended together techno, breakbeat, jazz, and other styles into a living piece that culminates in some of highest energy drumming I have ever seen. Of the works on this page, I think this band has really added to music as an art.
2. Akira Terao - a Japanese artist/actor who has got a J-Pop/Latin/Tom Jones-like thing going with one of my favorite drummers, studio drummer legend - Vinnie Colaiuta.
3. Herbie Hancock - a Switzerland performance by piano legendary Hancock, who traces back to the Miles Davis quartet-type lineage, playing some fusion classics with Vinnie Colaiuta (influenced by Tony Williams, who also traced back to one of the great Miles Davis quartets).
4. Porcupine Tree - a UK-band that came to my mind after spending some time in the UK this part month overseeing two consulting engagements.  They've got a metal-fusion, gothic, sometimes pop-thing going (I'm a little conflicted about citing this song though 'cause as much as I like the sound of the music, it's the lyrics and multi-level art form of this song [Blackest Eyes] that kind of give me the heebie-jeebies).
5. Herbie Hancock and Christina Aguilera - Not quite piano bar music, but it's really gripping. This is a side of Christina I really like. Wow. She can really belt it out.