We've had a rough year, haven't we? But even in chaotic times, there is room for gratitude for the simplest things -- the joys of everyday life, the quiet of the natural world, the warmth of community (like this one, on WGXC). On this Thanksgiving episode of Music In Time, host Evan McCormick explores how music creates space for such gratitude and reflection. Looking back to Thanksgivings that fell during particularly heavy times in the 20th and 21st centuries, McCormick plays soft, ambient, and minimalist songs released during those years. They are songs that might have invited listeners to find some solace and give thanks in their own time -- and which certainly do that for us today. 

Playlist

1. Solitude - Billie Holiday (1956)
2. Autumn In New York - Percy Faith (1963)
3. Mumtaz Mahal - Paul Horn (1968)
4. Cloud Song - The United States of America (1968)
5. Wo Bist Du? - Popul Vuh (1974)
6. Austin Texas Mental Hospital - Stars of the Lid (2001)
7. Angel Oak revisited - Charles Lloyd Quartet (2005)
8. Moon View - Emily A. Sprague (2020)
9. Processing - Khotin (2020)
10. Aerie - Jim White & Marisa Anderson (2024)
11. September 23rd - Excerpt 1 - William Basinski (2024)

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Music does not just exist. It exists in specific times and places and in the sonic world of each individual listener who engages with it. That’s the basic idea behind "Music in Time," which explores the social and political context in which songs and albums emerge, are listened to, and reflected on over the years. Each broadcast focuses on a single album, detailing the social and political circumstances surrounding its release and moments in time that made certain music resonate anew. How is music shaped by these historical moments, and, in turn, how does it shape the histories that we remember?

By day, Evan McCormick is a historian at Columbia University, where he is part of the Obama Presidency Oral History project, interviewing a range of people — from cabinet members to ordinary folks — about their memories of the Obama years. By night, McCormick is a music lover and singer-songwriter, recording under the stage name Egan Caufield. For most of his life these two worlds remained separate, but after relocating to Catskill, in 2020, he chose to bring history and music together over the airwaves, and "Music in Time" was born.