What's in a playlist? Go online and type playlist and you get about 1.4 billion results. Simply put, the playlist is a reflection of everyone's musical likes, and we all are unique in that respect. I started putting together playlists in the early eighties. I was too poor to have a cassette deck, so I bought a used 8 track boom box, and ran audio of my turntable into it to do some drop the needle recording. I was prepping for a job where I would have no electricity or plumbing for four months, so having that boom box and those eight tracks were super important. A few years later, when we got married, one of our best wedding gifts was a playlist of amazing tunes given to us on a cassette, which we could listen to by then on the car cassette player or the new Walkman.

The Sony Walkman was first produced in 1978, and it became ubiquitous in the eighties as the major musical listening tool. When I finally got one, I could use it cycling and skiing, and when combined with my cassette deck, I could make playlists from my vinyl collection. In the late eighties came the compact disc, and as the popularity grew, I became adept at dubbing CD music to cassettes. My playlists back then reflected the huge influence that jazz rock fusion had on my musical palate, so bands like Weather Report, Santana, Pat Metheny, Frank Zappa, and John McLaughlin's various bands were usually found on my tapes, which began to fill multiple shoe boxes.

In 2001, the digital music revolution began. Apple released its iTunes software in February and followed that up eight months later with the iPod. It was the year analog music died, and the digital conversion began. Depending on your Internet connection, you could download music right from the iTunes software platform, and that music could be loaded on the deck of cards sized electronic box that would play that music for you. You could hear it via headphones or plug it into your stereo. Playlists could be made with a few clicks and drags on your computer. It was a renaissance in music, and changed everything, much to the eventual chagrin of the record companies and artists alike.

When streaming services came along, you could access mostly pre-prepared playlists, and eventually with services like Spotify, you could make your own playlists, having access to millions of albums, including all that music you grew up with. Feeling melancholy, make a playlist; heading out on a road trip, make a playlist; love one artist, make a best of playlist; having a party, make a playlist. It's now an infinite thing.

I am a big Spotify fan. For $15 bucks my whole family can access a colossal library of music, and with that I can make playlists for every occasion, mood and activity. Spotify does a great job looking at what you listen to and providing suggestions and "daily mixes" for new (and old) music that you might like. Most of us stop caring about new music in our early 30s, but I continue to discover amazing new music being played by innovative, young musicians who deserve to be heard. Spotify allows you to follow other members and see what they are listening to and what playlists they have made. It's another great way to find music you have never heard of but now listen to daily. Every month I make a playlist for you that reflects what I'm listening to (mostly). If you are on Spotify, give me a follow and you can see all of the playlists I have put together since I joined Spotify.

We recently were at our favorite local restaurant, Field & Main (fieldandmainrestaurant.com), and that night they had great music playing that complemented both the atmosphere and the great food. That night it was jazz—Ella Fitzgerald and John Coltrane—in this case playing his seminal tune "Giant Steps." The great tunes kept coming as dinner progressed. I asked Tony about the music and he said they put together the playlists themselves and went by certain rules to enhance the atmosphere and the menu selections. I can put it simply—a good playlist provides you a soundtrack for your current experience, whether it's in the gym, on the road or at Field & Main, eating one of Chef Anthony's Ember Roasted Whole Rockfish, preceded by some Buffalo-Style Crispy Pig Ear and a Delaplane Petit Manseng.

Here's my playlist for this month, new jazz music I have discovered recently. Anyone that says there is no good music today needs to throw on some headphones and listen here: tinyurl.com/z5ww36f