Over the past months, my wife and I have developed a nice habit of playing chess in the evenings. With her never having played before, she’s learning well and has taught me how to lose graciously — a first for me. (As a kid, my older sister taught me how to cough, bump, and scatter the pieces when all is lost.)
While playing, we like music in the background, but it can’t have too much of a beat (her), or get so rowdy that it distracts (me), so we need something pretty middle-of-the-road.
We’ve played Jack Johnson’s entire catalogue… wayyyy too much. I guess that makes him a good example of what I’m looking for. ALO would be the next logical step from there, but they can get too up-tempo at times. Norah tends to hit the mark pretty well. I can take Melody Gardot in limited doses.
Who else is there that would fit in this category? Jazz and classical would not be good for this circumstance.
They have their own website or are available through tunein. I guess it depends on what control app you’re using - I’ve moved to a Bartok DAC so the Mosiac app gives access to radio stations which is nice and convenient.
I should have said, Radio Paradise transmit at relatively high bit rates so sound quality is very good.
I think some low- key “Piano Jazz” or non-corny “Smooth Jazz” would actually do nicely. Sample some tunes in these “genre” and see what you think. For example, look into the group, New York Jazz Lounge or check out the title, “Jazz and Tea: Excellent Music for Meetings, Conversations, Shared Meals and Rest” (Product No. 8134130798215) The latter might just result in some “extra-curricular chess moves” though, so be warned.
Eno, if you like ambient and can (koff, koff) handle the moral quandary. Mixing Colours, Apollo, Music for Installations (which is something like 5 hours all by itself).
SmoothJazz.com.pl is very nice but can’t seem to get it on Roon either. MControl does have it despite its basic interface. I managed to get Rondo Classic from Finland and it is flac 44.1/16
I will def look into the smooth jazz recommendations. While not a huge fan of jazz, smooth is good, and it reminds us of past dinners at the Charleston Grill in South Carolina. They always seemed to have a good act there.
