Roger Pairs Black Nile With Walter Mosley

AmApAc’s Roger Turlington reads a lot, and he also listens to music. Often, he does those two activities together! We asked Roger to tell us more for the first installment of a new feature called Roger’s Record Pairings. Here’s the first:

Many people who read have strong opinions on what, if anything, to listen to while reading. Vocal music can be a distraction, and, even with instrumental music, listening to something new or unfamiliar can make it hard to absorb both the book and the album. Reaching for genres that are mostly instrumental is always a good starting point when you want to create the right environment for reading.

A month or so ago I finally started reading Walter Mosley’s debut novel Devil in a Blue Dress, and I knew Jazz was the place to start. A man A plan A canal had recently sent out the wonderful new record Indigo Garden by Black Nile, and I had been digging it.

In a May interview with Atwood Magazine, Black Nile said they want listeners to ‘find a sense of peace in these tracks’ and called the album a ‘testament to the LA scene’s current chemistry.’ The sense of peace compliments the book perfectly by balancing out the anxiety and uncertainty of a protagonist thrown into an impossible situation and trying to get out against the odds.

What was the last book you read? Did you read in silence, or did you choose a soundtrack? Hit ‘reply” and let us know what books and records you’re pairing this fall.