Hi guys - thanks for the comments. I did not get a chance to listen to that set today after all, too busy. So I probably won't get to it until Saturday now. A friend of mine told me that he was also a good singer, and is indeed a legend on the trombone. I am really looking forward to it.
Rok, LOL - one of your comments reminded me of Peter Schickele, a musical comedian who created the famous character of PDQ Bach. He used to say "Truth is truth. You can't have opinions about truth."
O-10, about your comment "I don't approach jazz from a historical or rational context, I approach it the same way I approach "all" music; from a purely emotional context, either I like it or I don't." If you do like it, doesn't that make you curious about it's larger context? In a great many cases, in fact, you will miss key things about a specific tune if you don't know it's history - musicians very often reference each other in the jazz world. That's so not grammatically correct, but I hope the point is clear. Dang it, ya'll just ain't got no proper grammar learnin'......
But seriously, the point here is that there is so much more to music than just the emotional context. That is only the starting point, the surface, if you will. Uncovering some of the other layers would undoubtedly bring you much more appreciation and therefore listening enjoyment. Usually I say this in reference to harmony/theory or ear training, but it is equally true of history, and the history part is much easier for the musical layman to grasp. I would strongly encourage you to read up on your favorite musicians/jazz styles/periods.
