Yesterday’s event was a nice change of pace from the usual “make ’em dance” parties I normally DJ. This was a talk hosted by Visa and American Airlines at the Catherine Clark Gallery. Catherine Clark, along with two other speakers, gave a short seminar on how to start a collection of modern art. The guests used points earned on Visa cards or as American Airlines frequent flier miles to attend the event. I never realized points or miles could be used for something like this, and from now on maybe I’ll read the “Points Redemption” emails a bit more closely so I don’t miss out on other fun events.
My job was straight-forward: play a jazzy mix of music during the early part of the event, while people explored the gallery and mingled with one another, and the artists. Once the talks finished, I was to start again and play a mix of popular, upbeat, familiar contemporary songs. While they snacked on canapés and sipped wine, I played the following tunes.
T Plays it Cool – Marvin Gaye
Bra – Cymande
Soul Machine – The Meters
Chameleon – Herbie Hancock
Mysterious Traveller – Weather Report
Music of El Topo – Shades of Joy
Dominoes – Donald Byrd
Chicken Yellow (Let Me Do It To You) – Miami
Westchester Lady – Bob James
E.V.A. – Jean Jacques Perrey
Vitamin C – Can
Footin’ It – George Benson
The Mexican – Babe Ruth
Shuffering and Shmiling – Fela Kuti and the Afrika ’70
Humpty Dump – The Vibrettes
Fourty Days – Billy Brooks
At this point, the music stopped and the talk began. All three speakers offered some excellent advice for burgeoning collectors. For the second half of my set it was time to up the energy, so I hit them with these popular hits.
Marvin Gaye [feat. Meghan Trainor] – Charlie Puth
Uptown Funk [feat. Bruno Mars] – Mark Ronson
Firework – Katy Perry
Jimmy – M.I.A.
Rebellion (Lies) – Arcade Fire
You Belong With Me – Taylor Swift
Can’t Feel My Face – The Weeknd
Hotline Bling – Drake
Bad Romance – Lady GaGa
Viva la Vida – Coldplay
Such Great Heights – The Postal Service
We Are Young [feat. Janelle Monáe] – Fun.
Heartbeats – The Knife
We’re Going to Be Friends – The White Stripes