Which track do you demo to your friends?

I ALWAYS let guests decide what they want to hear. If it is just about showing off the system I have a few that I use but sonics on there own is never a criteria. Folks want to hear MUSIC not audiophile drivel. Earl Hines "Fatha" album Sophisticated Lady is a show stopper for piano. No one gets by that one. Dynamics of an orchestra; 3rd movement of Rach 2nd Concerto with Jorge Luis Prats Piano and the Mexico City Phiharmonic Orchestra. The power of the orchestra at the opening of this movement is conveyed in a most real manner. Female vocals - I play Ella singing "My Funny Valentine". It isn't the greatest recording but is good enough and really is an eye opener to those who aren't familiar with what a great artist she was.

I would pick Dick Hyman from "From the Age of Swing" on Reference Recordings: "You're Driving Me Crazy/Moten Swing", "Moonglow" or "Dooji Wooji"; from Marian McPartland, "Reprise": "In Your Own Sweet Way","Tickle Toe","Symphony" and "Things Ain't What They Used to Be", from Duke Ellington, "Three Suites" (Columbia): "Overture", "Toot Toot Tootie Toot", "Sugar Rum Cherry" and "Entr'acte". These last four are jazz arrangements of well-known movements from Tchiakovski's "Nutcracker" and show the absolute musical genius of Ellington. Recording ain't bad either. From Charles Mingus' "New Tijuana Moods" (RCA), I choose "Dizzy Moods", "Los Mariachis" and "Flamingo" and from "Louis Armstrong Sings Back through the Years" I choose "A Kiss to Build A Dream On", "Dream A Little Dream of Me", which he sings with Ella Fitzgerald, "La Vie en Rose" and "Blueberry Hill". Leaving jazz, from Gloria Estefan's CD "Hold Me, Thrill Me , Kiss Me" (Epic): "Everlasting Love", "Traces", "Turn the Beat Around" and "Cherchez la Femme". For an unclassifiable CD, try "Bob and Ray Throw A Stereo Spectacular" a reissue of an old RCA LP available from Classic Records.

I forgot "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" off the Gloria Estefan CD.