My name is Jody Rosen. I'm a writer for the New York Times magazine. I cover a

bunch of different things from the magazine, but one of the things that I write

and think a lot about is music.

And while so many of us are stuck inside, finding new rhythms for our days, I

thought I'd share with you some of the music that I've been thinking about and

listening to.

One of the artists I've been listening to quite a bit is the St.

Er Albert Hunter.

In particular, this song of hers called My Castle's Rockets.

There are certain pieces of music that seem like they're kind of engineered in the lab

to raise your spirits.

That swing that is just infectious.

Just brings this instant boost to your spiritual immune system.

Now the thing you need to know about Albert Hunter is she has this fascinating backstory.

Hunter was one of those black Americans who after the turn of the century left the

South, moved north in her case to Chicago, and in the 1920s and 30s, she was one of the

blues women who pioneered this new kind of American popular singing.

Performing these are Bain, Sexy, Funny Songs, Full of Attitude.

It's really music that laid the groundwork for much of what has come in the century sense.

She remained a professional singer into the 1950s, but in the early part of that decade,

she stopped.

She vanished from American popular music, kind of dropped off the radar of American popular

...