LeBron James may have more in common with WRTI listeners than you might expect.<\/p>\n
Amidst today’s news that James has signed with the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a>, we’re thinking about his past comments about how essential music is to his game-day routine. Alongside hip-hop, James turns to “old-school jazz” and classical music \u2014 Beethoven in particular \u2014 to settle his mind before taking the court. <\/p>\n That sounds well within WRTI’s lane. So to welcome one of basketball’s all-time greats, we’ve assembled a musical introduction to the City of Brotherly Love: 10 performances connecting the city\u2019s extraordinary classical and jazz traditions.<\/p>\n Welcome to Philly, LeBron. Here are a few tracks for your new pregame playlist.<\/p>\n Classical<\/p>\n Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5, \u201cEmperor\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Beethoven may not have nicknamed his Fifth Piano Concerto the \u201cEmperor,\u201d but few pieces of music sound more regal. This brilliant 1950 performance \u2014 a collaboration between two legendary Philadelphians \u2014 is certainly fit for a \u201cKing.\u201d<\/p>\n Traditional: He\u2019s Got the Whole World in His Hands<\/p>\n We\u2019ll leave the G.O.A.T. debate to the talking heads, but Marian Anderson is indisputably one of the greatest voices ever to emerge from Philadelphia<\/a>. Every note she sings radiates warmth, dignity, and power.<\/p>\n Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances<\/p>\n Rachmaninoff dedicated his final orchestral masterpiece to Eugene Ormandy and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Since its 1941 premiere, the Symphonic Dances has become one of the Orchestra\u2019s most recognizable calling cards \u2014 a dazzling showcase of energy, elegance, and the unmistakable \u201cPhiladelphia Sound.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Barber: Violin Concerto<\/p>\n West Chester native and Curtis Institute grad Samuel Barber wrote what is perhaps the most iconic American violin concerto in 1939. Lyrical and deeply expressive at first, its breathless finale takes off with the speed of a full-court chase-down block.<\/a> This is music for both settling the nerves and gearing up for tipoff.<\/p>\n Hopkinson: My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free<\/p>\n We\u2019d be remiss not to include some music that channels the Spirit of \u201976. Francis Hopkinson was not only a signer of the Declaration of Independence \u2014 the Philadelphia native and New Jersey delegate also designed the earliest American currency, came up with the idea to use the stars and stripes for the American flag, and composed this song in 1759, thought to be the country\u2019s first surviving secular composition.<\/p>\n Jazz<\/p>\n Lee Morgan, \u201cThe Sidewinder\u201d<\/p>\n Trumpeter Lee Morgan<\/a>, a proud son of North Philly, had a jukebox hit in this soul-jazz classic. Billy Higgins\u2019 boogaloo beat feels perfectly suited to the court.<\/p>\n Bobby Timmons, \u201cMoanin\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The call and response of the gospel church suffuses this tune by pianist Bobby Timmons<\/a>, born into a family of ministers. It formed the title track of a landmark album by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers; this here is the version Timmons recorded under his own name.<\/p>\n Shirley Scott, \u201cSoul Shoutin\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The Queen of the Organ was born in Philadelphia, and she carried a torch for the Hammond B-3 tradition until her death here in 2002. This is one of her anthems, from an album by the name, made during a long collaboration with her husband at the time, tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine.<\/p>\n The Heath Brothers, \u201cSmilin\u2019 Billy Suite: Part II\u201d<\/p>\n Recorded in Norway in 1975, The Heath Brothers\u2019 Marchin\u2019 On is a high point in that included brothers Jimmy<\/a>, Percy<\/a> and Albert \u201cTootie\u201d Heath<\/a>, along with Stanley Cowell<\/a> on piano. Hailing from the 1900 block of Federal St. in South Philadelphia, the Heath Brothers individually worked with artists including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Sonny Rollins. This track will also be familiar to Hip-hop fans (looking at you, Lebron) as the sample used in \u201cOne Love\u201d off Nas\u2019 classic 1994 debut Illmatic.<\/p>\n Jimmy Smith, \u201cBack at the Chicken Shack\u201d<\/p>\n