The Good Thing Archive

Nina Simone - Pastel Blues

At this crucial time in our lives, when everything is so desperate, when every day is a matter of survival, I don't think you can help but be involved. - Nina Simone

I saw this written on the sidewalk around the corner from my house when kids were encouraged to "chalk the walk" the week after George Floyd was murdered. The sidewalk was covered in quotes. This one stuck with me. It is just so true, understated, and straightforward. A logical call to arms if you will. We've had some customers reach out to us at Tandem about some of our recent social media posts saying things like, "I wish you wouldn't get involved in such divisive issues," "Right now people need coffee and a place to 'escape to'" or that we are "adding" to the problem instead of "alleviating" it. I say, no thanks. I'm going with the logic of Nina Simone. We can't help but get involved. We as a company need to do better. I need to do better. We don't want to make any hollow promises. Posting about these issues keeps the pressure on us to walk the talk.
Anyway, this album is amazing. Did you know Nina Simone played the piano? I didn't! Not until about 15 years ago when my 70 year old neighbor Ulysses on Martha's Vineyard started burning me CDs in exchange for mowing his lawn. That summer he got me into Fats Waller, Nat King Cole (another insane piano player), and Nina Simone. He would close his eyes and airplay the piano with his fingers when he talked about her. Those CDs are still some of my most cherished in what is left of my dusty collection. Enjoy!

- Will Pratt, 7/1/20

Nano Challa - Agaro, Ethiopia

Lee Moses - How Long Must I Wait?

Brian Eno - Another Green World

Brian Eno is known for popularizing the ambient genre, for working with an impressive list of rock bands, and, of course, for creating the Windows 95 start-up sound. Another Green World sits nicely somewhere between all of these sensibilities, leaning only slightly towards the ambient. This album is great on many levels. There are some catchy pop-rock moments but those are far outweighed by inventive and complex atmospheric textures. It's both a rewarding album for those who listen deeply and it's excellent background music. Also, it features instruments like "snake guitar", "tape", "uncertain piano", and "assistant castanet guitar"!

- Nick Marcoux

La Piramide - Inzá, Colombia

One of the most challenging things to do as a coffee buyer is establish consistency and familiarity while maintaning quality. It's much easier for us to do that with the help of our friends at Caravela, and because Colombia is able to provide coffee nearly year round. This year-round offering from a group of 300 producers in Inzá represents the best of what Colombian coffees have to offer: it's super sweet, clean, and complex. If you haven't had coffee from this region, it's understandable, as lessening tensions between the goverment and FARC rebels have only recently allowed this particular area to flourish. We want to drink this coffee all the time, which is why we've made that desire a reality, and ensured year-round availability for you all. Enjoy hot or iced! This coffee doesn't dissapoint.

Miles Davis All Stars - Walkin’

My sophomore year of college I lived in a small 3rd floor apartment on Brighton Ave in Allston, MA. Brighton was a nice street - it had Diskovery Books, Harper's Ferry, The Silhouette and most importantly, a nice grassy median down the center splitting the traffic lanes in two. One night, my roomates and our across the hall neighbors decided to throw a fancy dinner party in the median. We got all dressed up. We brought down our kitchen table, our chairs, our plates, silverware, elegant dinner napkins and our battery powered boombox. We dined on the fanciest thing we made in those days - baked ziti. When dessert was finally served - a chocolate eclair cake - the sun had set and the cars zooming by on both sides now had their headlights on. My roommate Winston said, "How about if we listen to some jazz?" and he popped in a tape. This was funny to us because none of us ever listened to jazz, but since this was such a high brow affair - what with the baked ziti and all - we found it fitting. "Jazz! Perfect!" The tape was Miles Davis' Walkin'. My seat at the table was right next to the boombox which made it possible for me to hear it well enough over the din of the traffic. Thank goodness for that for the impression it made on me is indelible and obvious for here I am 19 years later blurbing about it and sending it out to you fine folks as an essential album. Now go put on some jazz!

- Will Pratt

Dida Hora Burka - Agaro, Ethiopia

This coffee comes to you from the Dida Hora Burka washing station in Guji, Ethiopia. The washing station receives cherry from farmers growing Dega and Wolisho varieties on 1-2 ha farms between 1950-2100 masl. The lot that we selected is vivid and complex, with mouth-watering kiwi notes, delicate, sweet melon and loads of florals.

James Brown - Live at the Apollo

"Our whole thing was based on James Brown. We listened toLive at the Apollo endlessly on acid." - Wayne Kramer of MC5

Here you have another classic selection from the vaults of the Little Tandem record collection. This record was originally gifted to me by a friend after I was heard saying something like "I should probably listen to more James Brown". Only after listening to more James Brown did I realize how right I was! We should all listen to more James Brown. Recorded on October 24, 1962 and released the following May, the album was reluctantly released due to the fact that the record company didn’t think anyone would buy an album without any new songs on it. Ha! Live at the Apollo spent 66 weeks on the Billboard Top 200 and peaked at #2. Record stores couldn’t keep it on the shelf! Shows what the establishment knows, huh? Anyway, this album was on the first list we ever made of potential albums to share with our Good Thing members. I have no idea what took us so long to get this into your hands but now that it is here, let's pretend you were never without.

- Will Pratt

Ivan Molano - Tolima, Colombia

Fresh Colombias are just so great, and getting to taste a bunch of new offerings is always a highlight when the season arrives. We have a bunch of producers we love working with, but Ivan Molano is up near the top. He's an incredibly passionate and kind coffee producer from Planadas, Tolima. What strikes us most about Ivan is his deep love for his work and his family and his infectious excitement about the future. Ivan is stoked about the potential of the specialty coffee industry and is eager to plant new varietals and experiment with his coffee in order to keep raising the quality, which couldn't be more apparent than in this lot of Tabi. Of the fresh crop offerings from Colombia, this one was among the most memorable. At the end of last summer, Ivan suffered an accident that resulted in the loss of his thumb, but is persevering despite the injury and remaining true to his passion for coffee production.

David Byrne - Utopia

I’ve always admired the fact that David Byrne never does the same thing twice. So many of his countless projects could have been an achievement of a lifetime for someone else. Not him. I have seen David Byrne several times on every tour since Look Into the Eyeball came out back in 2001, and, somehow, each tour gets better than the last. After following his Everything That Happens Will Happen Today tour up the west coast, I thought he had finally reached the pinnacle of achievement. How could he top it? It had backup singers, modern dancers, and an unbeatable set list that included such a riveting version of “Houses in Motion” that the song got a five minute standing ovation at every show I went to. Everyone went wild. Then, in March of 2018, I saw the American Utopia show in Waterbury, CT. Not only was this the best David Byrne show I'd seen, it was the best show I'd ever seen in my life. Luckily for all of humanity he brought the show to Broadway for a five month stint, which means we have the good fortune to be graced with this original cast recording. Enjoy this knowing that this is Byrne at his best yet, while also knowing that somehow the best is yet to come.

-Will Pratt

Kibingo - Kayanza, Burundi

Just when you thought naturals were done for the season, here we are with a post-holiday surprise. This natural process lot comes from the Kibingo washing station in Kayanza, Burundi, which serves over 3,500 smallholder farmers on the 18 hills surrounding the station. Most of the coffee coming out of Burundi is washed, but we managed to snag this natural lot with help from our friends at the Collaborative Coffee Source. If you're looking for a fruit-bomb coffee, look no further! Kibingo has a deep, juicy sweetness and complex florals.

Donnie and Joe Emerson - Dreamin’ Wild

Oh boy Dreamin' Wild, y'all. I was first drawn to this album by the photo on the cover. I knew nothing of its background, band members or genre. All I knew was that if this picture was sincere then this record was going to be good. Probably really, really good. I was not let down in the least. After some spirited listens I couldn't help but look into the story of how the record came to be and the Emerson family itself. I became quite interested in the role that their father, Don Sr, played in their musical journey. His story is a cautionary yet inspiring tale of an enthusiastic and very supportive father who almost lost the family farm while building his sons a state of the art home studio on the property. I myself have 2 young sons and can easily visualize myself careening down the slippery slope of unconditional support I have for those boys while blindly bankrupting our family into oblivion. All I ask is that they make one groundbreaking work of art. That's love.

- Will Pratt

El Cascabel - Nariño, Colombia

The department of Nariño on Colombia's southern border has some of the highest mountains in the country, and some of the best coffee. El Tablón de Gomez, situated in the department's southeast, is a small community with deep indigenous heritage and culture that has only recently begun coffee production due to the presence of armed guerilla groups operating in the area for the past few decades. The producers who contribute to this community blend belong to the Specialty Coffee Cooperative of Nariño, and operate some of the highest farms in the region, adding to the clarity and complexity of this coffee. We were excited by this lot on the cupping table because of its clarity, sweetness, and juiciness.

The Time for Peace is Now

When Luaka Bop announced the release of Volume 2 of their World Spirituality Classics series back in September I knew right away that this would be the perfect record for December's Good Thing. No blurb necessary. The title says it all. The time for peace is now, y'all! Tell your friends.

- Will Pratt

Jingle Beans - Ethiopia and Kenya

Behold, a coffee is born! Pack away your pumpkin spice, break out your Peanuts, and wake up your slumbering uncle: Jingle Beans is here. Like 1,000 tiny elves pelting you in the face with green gumdrops, Jingle Beans will make you rethink what a novelty coffee can be. It’s the perfect accompaniment to a platter of latkes or your mom’s fruitcake. Bold and fruity yet never cloying, with a hint of cinnamon broom and silver tinsel, Tandem’s special blend of coffee from Ethiopia and Kenya will sweeten your holiday season.

Art Blakey - Night in Tunisia

The opener and title track on this record explodes like a firecracker right out of the gate. I feel like I am being shot out of a cannon or sitting on a flying missile. Either way, I'm hurtling through space at max speed. while sitting on something very, very hot. Three minutes in and I am reminded how I got into hard bop in the first place. I was sitting in a pizza place in San Jose when a friend of a friend said, "You gotta check out Lee Morgan." The next day I had a copy of The Sidewinder. Two days later I had Blue Train*, then Moanin' which opened up the door wide to the enormous catalogue of The Jazz Messengers and eventually - and luckily for you - to this here album. Here's hoping this record induces a similar hard bop journey in your future. - Will Pratt

*See The Good Thing Issue No. 1

Harbegona - Sidamo, Ethiopia

When Will visited Ethiopia this year he cupped through dozens of offerings to find the best possible lots to bring in. Harbegona is one of the best that he tasted during his trip. In fact, it was so good he forgot to write any notes about it down other than stars and exclamation points. This killer Ethiopia comes from smallholder farmers around the Bochesa Mochisho washing station in Sidama. We're blown away by how vibrant this coffee is, with loads of citrus, peach, and black tea.