Summer Nights

The audio canvas upon which the magic of a summer night is painted takes many forms. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John embrace the hormone–filled ambiance of the sock hop in "Summer Nights" from Grease. You can practically hear the crickets and frogs providing the backdrop to R.E.M.'s "Nightswimming." And Neil Diamond's romantic waltz "Summerlove," from The Jazz Singer, portrays the suave sophistication of an uptown affair. Blue Rodeo, Rex Goudie, and Michael Bublé keep it balmy, through to Next Steps.

The Keith Jarrett Trio's "Summer Night" evokes the flavour of an after-hours tryst, while the Afghan Whigs' spirited "Summer's Kiss" captures the bittersweet taste of a love that's destined to die with the turning of the leaves. Meanwhile, Fountains of Wayne sing a sad song of the love left behind in "It Must Be Summer," and Ron Sexsmith takes us for spin on his ferris wheel of melody on "Summer Blowin' Town." Dream under the stars with Trespassers William, in Deep Cuts.

That great, yawning expanse of America between the Rockies and the Appalachians gets its due in song these days, and Greg Brown has captured its easy-rolling charm in "Summer Evening." Classically trained Christine Brown (no relation) uses her piano skills impressionistically (and impressively) in "Summer Nights." And Trespassers William turn from shoegazing to stargazing in the dreamily evocative "Different Stars."

As wonderful as summer days are, it's the nights that really bring the magic out: moonlit evenings, stolen kisses, waves rolling into shore, the jasmine-scented breeze wafting along at the edge of perception . . . Even the more prosaic evenings spent in the city have a certain charm, as you feel the heat radiating off buildings and hear the sounds of traffic and the clatter of patio parties. Summer nights have a special mystique, a signifying sound, and we've captured it here for your listening pleasure.