Jazzy Study Session
My Mixtape’s A Masterpiece is a weekly feature in which a guest compiles a playlist around some theme. This week, Olivichii assembles 12 jazzy songs to accommodate studying. Read Olivichii’s thoughts on each song and listen along to the Spotify playlist on top and/or the YouTube playlist at the bottom of the post.
Spring semester has certainly sprung. As I fight burnout with what’s left of my strength, I’d like to gift you, dear reader, a playlist that has seen me through the most mundane of study sessions. My goal: to transport you to a groovy cafe where productivity abounds.
1.“Ghetto Walkin’” by Bilal, Robert Glasper, and Miles Davis
It’s time. You’ve put off working so long that you’re already dreading the prospect of asking for an extension (if your professor even offers them). What else is there to do but pack your laptop and head to your go-to cafe for a much needed study session. Just don’t forget your charger…
2. “Copacabana” by Sarah Vaughan
The rich smell of coffee is in the air. Murmurs from other patrons create a sort of white noise that’s comforting, though now you wish you had asked some friends if they’d like to come along for a couple hours of productivity. There’s always next time, besides, you know there’s a lot of work to do, and you can’t afford any distractions (hell, you can barely afford the coffee). So you order, sit down, and set up your station. Right before you decide to lock in you take a moment to look around the cafe; another student feverishly tapping away on their keyboard, an old man in the corner reading a newspaper with his glasses hanging on the tip of his nose, a couple having their first date, you take it all in and feel a sense of comfort. Finally, you relax your shoulders and decide it’s time to get to business.
3. “The Girl From Ipanema” by Amy Winehouse
While you work away you can’t help but people-watch. It keeps things interesting, just when boredom comes rearing its ugly head, you find yourself making up a scenario about the person working across the room from you. What if they’re working on a novel? Or maybe their doctoral thesis? Oh my God, what if they’re writing a break-up letter to their high school sweetheart after realizing that they’re both going in completely different directions in life? Curiosity gets the best of you; you stand up to “get a couple of napkins”. Walking across the cafe, you start to hype yourself up. After grabbing a comical amount of napkins you glance at their screen while walking back to your table…
4. “Neither Here Nor There” by Tobi Lou
No study session is complete without a moment or two of melancholic reflection. It happens so naturally you don’t even notice it occurring. Something makes you pause and glance up. Maybe you finished typing a sentence, or got done reading a chapter from a textbook. Whatever happened, it’s broken you out of your concentration and you find yourself staring out the window at nothing and everything.
5. “Back in the Day” by Erykah Badu
Your trance takes you back, way back. High school was so much easier, at least that’s how you feel now that you’re supposed to be “independent”, whatever that means…
6. “Vienna” by Billy Joel
It hits like an anvil straight to the head; this is what it’s all about. The trance is broken, you look back at your laptop screen and smile to yourself.
7. “In a Sentimental Mood” by Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
Time flows with ease as you type away. The hustle and bustle of the cafe has lessened, or maybe it’s just harder to notice these things when you’re focused. At times you can still make out chatter from a few tables over. Someone laughs at a joke their partner made, and you smile to yourself because joy is infectious.
8. “Rue Gregoire Du Tour” Wolfgang Lackerschmid & Chet Baker
Typically after one assignment is completed you’re ready to call it a day. Maybe it’s the caffeine, but there isn’t that usual fatigue that follows immediately after checking something off your ever-growing list of responsibilities. You decide not to take this moment for granted, and continue working away while the scene around you slowly changes as people finish up their coffee and are quickly replaced by other patrons looking for a space to work.
9. “If I Had You” by Etta Jones
There it is again, that pause. Whatever you were working on has fallen to the wayside and you find yourself looking out the window again. Except this time it’s… peaceful? Maybe that’s not quite the word. You’re content. As you stare outside you realize just how tense you had been this whole time, so before you get back into the flow of things you take a moment to stretch your arms.
10. “Tangerine” by Dexter Gordon
It’s right back to it after that brief (but needed) reprieve. You flirt with the idea of getting a second coffee, and decide that if you manage to knock out another chapter from your textbook you’ll reward yourself. Incentives always work, you fly through the reading and manage to take some surprisingly coherent notes. A celebration for such studiousness is in order, you spring up to the line and order another drink.
11. “Half Time” by Amy Winehouse
The sun has moved significantly since you’ve set up your little station at this cafe. You can feel the heaviness behind your eyes, but there’s still work to be done. Still, you can’t really complain. I mean, you can, but the tiredness you feel now is too satisfying, proof that you did exactly what you set out to do at the beginning of all this.
12. “Blue Room” by Chet Baker
Finally, the home stretch. You finish up the last of your work for the day, knowing tomorrow you’ll have to do the same song and dance all over again. This semester has proven itself to be a worthy opponent, but nothing can get in your way when there’s coffee and a good playlist to see you through to the end.
