Set your dinner party scene with a stellar soundscape. The right playlist will enhance the ambience of your get-together, putting guests in the appropriate frame of mind and reinforcing the theme of your dinner party. Here are playlists curated to match five hot dinner party themes.

Dinner party theme: The Jazz Age
From The Great Gatsby to Boardwalk Empire, the Jazz Age is a super hot pop culture theme. Its glamour makes it an easy one to bring to life at a rip-roaring dinner or cocktail party.

This Jazz Age-inspired playlist captures the zeitgeist:
1 Do the Strand, Bryan Ferry Orchestra
2 Virginia Plain, Bryan Ferry Orchestra
3 West End Blues, Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five
4 Savoy Blues, Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five
5 When You’re Smiling, Louis Armstrong
6 I’ve Found a New Baby, Chicago Rhythm Kings
7 Black Bottom Stomp, Jelly Roll Morton Seven
8 Handful of Keys, Fats Waller
9 Black Beauty, Duke Ellington
10 San, Paul Whiteman Orchestra
11 Delirium, Red Nichols
12 Kansas City Shuffle, Bennie Moten
13 Crazy in Love, Emeli Sandé featuring the Bryan Ferry Orchestra
14 Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Scott Bradlee
15 Oops I Did It Again, Max Raabe & Palast Orchester

Or just hit ‘play’ on:
Music from Baz Luhrmann’s Film The Great Gatsby (Deluxe Edition). An obvious choice, with contemporary reinterpretations of songs old and new, inspired by, but not limited to, the Jazz Age.

Lead image courtesy of Michael Graydon. Dinner party theme: The white party
From Diddy’s chic Hampton’s party, to Toronto’s annual alfresco Diner en Blanc, white-on-white is a super-stylish supping theme. Take one of two approaches with your playlist: opt for bands or songs with the name “White” in them, like the White Stripes, Barry White, Goldfrapp’s Ride a White Horse, etc., or simply create a playlist riffing on white’s urbane modernity and calm vibe.

This White Party playlist channels a chill ambience:

1 Porcelain-Final Chill Out Mix, Oakman
2 The Only Thing, Evolver
3 Take Me to That Place, Sutra
4 Albatross, Isaac Elton
5 Reflections, Fujimoto Tetsuro
6 Swim, Fujimoto Tetsuro
7 I Am Sea, Broken Time Orchestra
8 Fly by Night, Aeroporto
9 In Other Words, Azam Ali
10 I Want You Now, The Collective
11 Air, Nilex
12 Everloving, Moby
13 God Moving Over the Face of the World, Moby
14 Club Del Sol, Del Sol Orchestra
15 Tequila Sunrise, Adam Story

Or just hit ‘play’ on:
Virgin Suicides Original Motion Picture Score, by Air, an awesome chill-out album. (Not to be confused with the Virgin Suicides soundtrack, which includes 1970s rock.) Dinner party theme: Locavore
Celebrate your local harvest with a field-to-table dinner fest. Use your playlist to channel a down-home feel via an eclectic mix of Canadian music including folk, rock, country, and/or blue grass.

This Locavore playlist samples from a variety of Canadian bands and musicians:

1 Hallowed Hall, The Bills
2 All for Love, Serena Ryder
3 Luv, by Guilty About Girls
4 People of the Sticks, Besnard Lakes
5 The Suburbs, Arcade Fire
6 Your Ex-Lover is Dead, Stars
7 Stars and Sons, Broken Social Scene
8 January Morning, Ian & Sylvia
9 Viva la Vida, The Abrams Brothers
10 Hallelujah, Leonard Cohen
11 Dinner at Eight, Rufus Wainwright
12 I’m Your Man, Leonard Cohen
13 All or Nothing at All, Diana Krall
14 Blues of the Prairie, Oscar Peterson
15 Calling All Angels, Jane Siberry and KD Lang

Or just hit ‘play’ on:
Harvest By Neil Young has a folksy, country charm that will appeal to lovers of any/all musical genres. Dinner party theme: Global fusion
Whether your taste is Asian chic, Caribbean cool, South American flair, or Bollywood glam, infuse your party decor and menu with fusion savoir faire. Here’s an all-purpose playlist that riffs from a variety of regions (and decades) you can pick and choose from.

This Global Fusion playlist samples from a variety of worldly sound scenes:

1 Voilà l’été, Les négresses vertes
2 Mala Vida, Les négresses vertes
3 Clandestino, Manu Chao
4 El Quarto de Tula, The Buena Vista Social Club
5 Mahi Ve, JoSH
6 Jai Ho, A. R. Rahman
7 The Girl from Ipanema, Astrud and Joao Gilberto and Stan Getz
8 Israelites, Desmond Dekker
9 Three Little Birds, Bob Marley & The Wailers
10 One Love, Bob Marley & The Wailers
11 Bonnie and Claude, Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot
12 Sukiyaki, Kyu Sakamoto
13 Quelqu’un m’a dit, Carla Bruni
14 Gee, Girls’ Generation
15 Take on the World, 2NE1

Or just hit ‘play’ on:
The Buena Vista Social Club by The Buena Vista Social Club was Cuban music’s mega-breakthrough album when it came out in 1997. A must-play!



  Dinner party theme: Oscar night
Capture that film festival excitement with distinctively scene-setting songs and scores from Oscar winners old and new.

This Oscar Night playlist samples from a variety of winning soundtracks:

1 Skyfall, Adele (from Skyfall)
2 Live and Let Die, Paul McCartney and Wings (from Live and Let Die)
3 Jai Ho, A. R. Rahman (from Slumdog Millionaire)
4 Lose Yourself, Eminem (from 8 Mile)
5 Theme from Shaft, Isaac Hayes (from Shaft)
6 What a Feeling, Irene Cara (from Flashdance)
7 My Heart Will Go On, Céline Dion (from Titanic)
8 Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Judy Garland (from Wizard of Oz)
9 When You Wish Upon A Star, Cliff Edwards (from Pinocchio)
10 Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera), Doris Day (from The Man Who Knew Too Much)
11 Mona Lisa, Nat King Cole (from Captain Carey, U.S.A.)
12 Days of Wine and Roses, Johnny Mercer (from Days of Wine and Roses)
13 Take My Breath Away, Berlin (from Top Gun)
14 Al Otro Lado Del Rio, Jorge Drexler (from The Motorcycle Diaries)
15 Into the West, Annie Lennox (from Lord of the Rings)

Or just hit ‘play’ on:
Skyfall, composer Thomas Newman’s film score for the 2012 007 hit, is an evocative and timeless instrumental score for any cinephile’s party.