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Jazz listening: Is it about the music? Or is it about the sound?

The thread title says it all. I can listen to jazz recordings for hours on end but can scarcely name a dozen tunes.  My jazz collection is small but still growing.  Most recordings sound great.  On the other hand, I have a substantial rock, pop and country collection and like most of us, have a near encyclopedic knowledge of it.  Yet sound quality is all over the map to the point that many titles have become nearly unlistenable on my best system.  Which leads me back to my question: Is it the sound or the music?  Maybe it’s both. You’ve just got to have one or the other!
jdmccall56

Showing 3 responses by frogman

frogman
7,497 posts
 
Don’t forget the great Clark Terry:

https://youtu.be/HaEF6xfijL0

https://youtu.be/bwZiJAFWWfw

https://youtu.be/5wKLBLgkSBk
frogman
7,497 posts
 
Might explain why you “never really got into them” (your Jazz records) 😎.
frogman
7,497 posts
 
oregonpapa, good for you for having the courage to not get on the “beat up on Kenny G” wagon. I like good perspective. As we all know he has been a punching bag for a long time, for many claiming the Jazz higher ground.  It gets tiresome.  His recorded output is mostly drivel and that soprano sound......😱; almost as weird as his hair. He is not what can be considered a good Jazz player, no Coltrane, Stitt or many many unknown players out there, but as you say he actually does have some talent. I’ve heard it. He has found a commercial niche and he’s laughing all the way to the bank. His choice, and I don’t see the point in condemning him for it.

Point is, some feel that musicians have a “responsibility” to some predetermined artistic standard and that record companies have a “responsibility” to elevate listeners’ appreciation. I disagree. It is up to the listener to learn to be better listeners, become more discerning and learn to separate the wheat from the chaff. It is a cop out the other way. I wonder just how many people out there never even knew what a soprano saxophone was before hearing Kenny G. Of those, I have to believe at least a handful now have Trane’s “My Favorite Things” in their collections. Always important to consider the alternative.

Yes, it is always about the music first.


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