Freshness is a passing things. A fresh bunch of bananas turns brown in a week, and a fresh batch of cookies is gone in a few days. (At least, around my kids it is…)
The opposite of fresh in the kitchen is pantry-safe. Staples, we call them. Dry beans, pasta, flour and sugar. Dried fruit and canned tomatoes. These will last for a long time without changing much at all.
Pantry-safe items can seem boring – the fresh items are the snazzy ones that make your dishes pop. But I assert that it is the pantry-safe that should be the cornerstone of your music-making and listening.
The best of Nat King Cole’s music is pantry-safe. So are the arrangements of Gene Puerling and the choral music of Mozart and Bach. They might lack the freshness of the latest release from Cecilé McLorin Salvant, Kurt Elling, or Eric Whitacre (all artists I admire), but they will nourish you today just as they did when recorded or written long ago.
Look to the newest music, of course – it’s valuable to be connected to the music of the moment. But just as important, make sure your music is pantry-safe, full of staples that nourish.