Jazz for aficionados

I think we are sometimes mixing apples and oranges, as they say...

As far as I am concern, I would not give my self a liberty to judge something that I am not properly educated of.

Meaning, as much as I like and listen music and as much as I can recognise 'great' performing I could not explain in so many correct terms whay some particular performance is 'great' or 'good'. (for 'bad' ones is easier,it seems)

I may say that I like it. (or not)

For rest and for more, I tend to leave it to professionals...

Than again, for some performances, I am completely certain, that if looked from 'technical' point of view, they are incomplete, to say at least, but sometimes or often, some of them give me chills.

For instance, Chet Baker. He is not Placido Domingo nor even Dean Martin, but his singing is very dear to me.

As for A.Lenox or E.Elias, they are great, but never either of them even remotly gave me the feeling such as I had while listening to Nina Simone

Just wanted to say that 'confrontation' with 'better' examples to some of our choices is not the right path, imho.

My first thought, when I see something interested posted is to post another gem, that perhaps the original poster might like and does not have.

For the ones that I dont like, I stay politely silent or even try to give it one more shot,(if its in genre that I like) out of respect or with a thought that I could perhaps discover some new angle to look at it.

Spewing your bile across people you've never met is lousy way to talk about jazz, no matter how fun it may seems. Its a kind of folklor here, but I should hate if it gets out of hands. So, you have been warned...

https://youtu.be/suY06PVK_bI

alex,

Did you send out an LP?

I have Das Boot Blu Ray remastered the multi channel audio mix is incredibly good!

No, still not, forgive me, will try my best to do it on Monday.
Yes, Das Boot is a great movie....have only few movies on dvd, never thought of collecting them, perhaps because I always try to see some that I have not seen yet...and yet, I buy books, aldo it takes much more time to read the book again, than to see the film.
Hm, thats a interesting thought now...

alex,

No rush on the LP whenever you have spare time.

I like this version of Mood Indigo by Nina Simone. A little up-tempo then the others I posted but I like her version. Definitely a finger snapper!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5euaoFlU87g

Alex, it has gotten out of hand. More than once; as you well know.

Great post and I couldn’t agree more. I have been calling for focusing on civilized discussion here for literally years. From my perspective, I am confident in the fact that I put a lot of effort in trying to provide my point of view and perspective without personalizing it nor insulting anyone. If someone, as was recently suggested, considers it an “insult” when I or anyone else offers a reasoned and confident viewpoint backed by well established and accepted ideas and standards about music which happen to be different or contradict that someone’s viewpoint, there is not a whole lot that I can do about that. It is unfortunate. As I have suggested many times, we should all be big boys and girls and accept that there will be differences of opinion.

Now, I don’t nor would I ever claim to be an angel when these disputes get out of hand. That I am not is obvious. However, as was recently pointed out by one of our participants, if a stone is hurled unjustifiably there is justification in hurling one back. If enough stones get hurled I may hurl an even bigger one back; or two, or three. That is normally not my first choice; but, there is a limit to everything. The recent dispute is a fine example:

A poster makes a comment about Nina Simone and, in a rare stroke of magnanimity, suggests that I would be the only one who can make a determination or explain why he might be correct or not. Now, I don’t necessarily agree nor put stock in the idea that I am the only one who could address his concern about Nina Simone, a favorite artist of his. I then wait to see if anyone else responds. No one does. I then offer a reasoned and detailed opinion (OPINION....MINE ONLY), in which I praise Simone as a great artist and explain what I (!) think it is that makes her a great artist. Ah! But I make the mistake to write that I don’t think her piano playing in general is outstanding and explain the reasons why I think that is so. Oh, no; we can’t have that! Because the poster thinks that she was one of the great pianists (she was not, imo) all hell breaks loose and responds with the “you are not a connoisseur” bull sh!#. This after asking for my thoughts. All this on the heels of unwarranted comments about how I “am not able to hear jazz”, or “don’t have a feel for the music”. “I don’t post as much good jazz as he does”, and on, and on. This sort of childish nonsense has happened so often that when I read that “stroke of magnanimity”, I knew exactly what was around the corner. I was correct. My only regret is that I can’t always have the wherewithal to take the high road and simply ignore the bs. As I said, throw enough stones at me and I will throw them back; perhaps along with some bile. My reaction is usually about the manipulative aspect of the way that this is done and the obstacle that it creates in being able to have a meaningful discussion to the detriment of this thread; not because there is disagreement. The bs is simply too much to take sometimes and it is never “fun” for me.

I don’t need the validation of a self-proclaimed “connoisseur”. I know very well why the reaction to my comments often is what it is. Not a whole lot I can do about that other than to continue to ignore it and try and take the high road as often as I can. Obviously, I fall short sometimes; probably too many times. But, again, sometimes the bs is simply too much to take.

Nice post. As always, hoping for better communication here.