Most achingly-beautiful music

Three nominees, expressing different kinds of longings, in no particular order: (1) "Hard Times Come Around No More", a Stephen Foster tune sung by James Taylor on Yo-Yo Ma's "Appalachian Journey" CD. The song captures the wistful hope of better times I see in a friend and neighbor of mine, a desperately poor, elderly disabled farmer living in a shack here in the northern reaches of the Appalachia. (2) Roberta Flack singing "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" for the evocation of the complete, single-minded rapturous joy of the mind and senses upon discovering one's true love (3) Laura Love's soulful rendition of the traditional folk song "Shenandoah" on her "Fourteen Days" CD, for expression of the deep and simple love of any beautiful place one calls home and ache of separation from it. And there's so many more... the joy of high end audio is that the emotion shines through.

Jackie Gleason Orchestra; Music for Lovers Only, we play this LP when we make ourselves a nice candlelit dinner. Basia; Time and Tide on gold CD. Anything by Enya!

What, no Vincent LaGuardia Gambini?

Great question -- so many beautiful and truly moving songs, it's difficult to pick just 3. Fortunately, many of the great ones have already been mentioned above. Here are 3 more that always make me feel there is something more to life than our physical existence: (1) "Psalm" by the Jan Garbareck Group and Agnes Buen Garnas (on Twelve Moons), (2) Oregon's "Icarus" (Live), (3) the Jai Uttal/Lakshmi Shankar/Don Cherry rendition of "Raghupati" (on Footprints).

They all kill me.