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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 5 responses by jdmccall56

jdmccall56 OP
73 posts
 
Thanks so much for all the interesting thread contributions; very informative!  Gonna go find me some Freddie Hubbard on CD!
jdmccall56 OP
73 posts
 
Seems as my systems have gotten better, my recordings have gotten worse!  Jazz almost always sounds good though.  So I listen.  But Iove my pop stuff.  Geez it can hard to listen to though.
jdmccall56 OP
73 posts
 
jbhiller:
I listen to the Bill Evans Trio, Waltz for Debby, album nearly every week.  Sonically, it still blows me away.  And it's a 1962 recording
I think a pretty good argument could be made that regardless of genre, some of the best, most present sounding recordings came from the late 50's and early 60's.  The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison come to mind.
jdmccall56 OP
73 posts
 
I can put on nearly any jazz album and just relax into listening. It's really the sound that my system produces rather than specific albums/artists/songs, at least at this point, that I'm attracted to.
Exactly!  So...the sound is the thing.  Not the melody or anything so much about the musical details.  At least with jazz.  Still, it's not like all jazz is created equal.  There's still jazz I like and jazz I don't, irrespective of sound quality..  Personally, I have a hard time with so-called "free jazz".  And I can't tolerate some artist's tendency to vocalize along with the music.
jdmccall56 OP
73 posts
 
I don't really need the answer to my question.  But to me though, it is an interesting question.  I think for me, it's mostly the sound.  With Jazz and classical, anyway.  Pop music?  Maybe it's both.  For you it may be mostly about the music.  And then there are no doubt many that would find it hard to separate the two.  It's all good. 

I just received some bad family news, so please excuse my absence from this thread.  Best wishes to all.
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