Jazz for aficionados

@audio-b-dog 

Well, you can always resort to youtube or spotify just to see whether you enjoy a particular album, irrespective of sonics.  

I'm actually not much of a P. Barber fan, based upon what audiophile friends have played for me, so far. But then, I feel the same way about D. Krall. Heresy, I know... ;o)

stuartk, I think I'm getting an idea of what you might like. I thought of recommending Paul Desmond, but I have a feeling you've heard him and he doesn't have the complexity you're looking for. In that light, I might recommend Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders. Sometimes Pharoah Sanders screams with his horn. A friend of mine called it dinosaur music. When Pharoah and Coltrane would scream back and forth like dinosaurs communicating from miles away. He doesn't always, though, and a deep soul comes through his horn. Journey in Satchidananda would be the one album I would suggest.  

stuartk, BTW I don't think Patricia Barber and Diana Krall are equivalent, although I like them both. Diana Krall has some of the best recorded CDs I've ever heard. It doesn't sound as though you care that much about reproduction, but it makes a difference when it sounds like the music is live. If you listen to Clique (you need to stream it on something better than youtube) and you wait until Barber is done singing, you'll hear some damn good piano work. 

I turn on my turntable more and more because it sounds so much better than anything else. I am listening, however, to Wayne Shorter's Night Dreamer on Qobuz and it sounds very good. Better than a CD. Having a decent streamer is amazing. 

@audio-b-dog 

I only mentioned D. Krall because there seem to be many audiophiles whose "collection" of/familiarity with, Jazz singers is limited to these two artists. Please don’t interpret this as anything directed at you, personally.

I’m familiar with "live music" being the preferred baseline for building systems but I haven’t heard such a system. What I’ve heard are systems that present recordings differently. The music has always sounded like recorded music, not live music. And that’s not an issue for me. This doesn’t mean that I don’t care about sonics. Sloppy bass, dry mids, fatiguing highs are examples of issues that distract me from focusing upon the music. If I’m emotionally and physically engaged, then I’m OK with "good enough". I don’t have a dedicated room, anyway, so from a practical  point of view, it wouldn’t make much sense to strive for "you are at the venue" sonics.

Fair enough about "live" music. I listened to music on a $100 Sears Silvertone stereo in college and enjoyed it well enough. I am sure there are faults I overlook in my system, although it sounds close to live to me and my friends, who aren't really audiophiles. It's taken me many years to cobble together a good system. A recent inheritance put me at a different level, but it was at best mid-fi most of my life.

I enjoy both Krall and Barber, but I listen to many more female jazz vocalists than that. Cassandra Wilson is one of my favorites. Her album Traveling Miles is exceptional. I also like Morgana King from way back when. I have an album of Teresa Brewer singing with Stephan Grapelli. And then there are the Brazilian singers of which I have more than I can now name.

I'm quite ecletic as you have probably figured out. I've liked the Wayne Shorter I've been playing for the last couple of days, but I broke it up with an interlude of Paul Simon's Rhythm of the Saints. 

I'm curious. What else do you listen to but jazz? Classical? Rock? I find elements of jazz in both.