A couple of weeks ago, I was writing a friend and said, “Just wanted to give you a shout.” For some reason, that reminded me of “Carolina Shout,” the jazz classic by James P. Johnson. It’s hard to keep still, or unhappy, when you’re playing or listening to “Carolina Shout.” I begin my latest music podcast — my latest Music for a While — with it. I end the podcast with a calypso song: sung by Jeanine De Bique, a soprano from Trinidad, whom I reviewed in New York recently.

How about in between? Well, a smorgasbord. Songs by Schumann and Bonds (Margaret). Piano preludes by Szymanowski and Gorecki, two estimable Poles. Excerpts from La rondine, the Puccini opera (or is it an operetta?). Some Bill Evans (which Daniil Trifonov, the Russian pianist, has adopted as an encore).

All politics and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Give it a whirl. (Again, here.) Music lends a sparkle to life. In fact, some regard it as an essential ingredient.