In a Sentimental Mood is just one of those songs, it’s incredible. It starts with the most powerful lament in jazz, and you can’t help but let the sound drift you away, as if in a light rain. Then it modulates to joy, and then something in between. It’s that liminal space between despair and hope, so familiar in this crisis we’re all in. This year has continued to be a struggle, and the world may never be the same, but there’s a delicate balance here, that the music of these two holds so dear. Then in a sudden switch, the sound picks up and it’s hopeful and clear, pausing for a moment again with the sound of despair, yet now seeming like a sentimental memory, a reminder of the past, and what hope, peace, and joy wait in the road ahead.
