How eclectic is your taste in music?

Well, let's just open up Pandora's box a have a look inside to see if there are any toys in the attic shall we? I enjoy a broad range of music which begins with mostly prog. rock but also includes such things as singer songwriter music like the livestream concert this weekend from Ariane Lydon to without a doubt the absolute best version of Leonard Cohen's Halleluja I have ever heard from any artist anywhere by a guy from Minneapolis named Andrew Newton. The guy just understood the song.


From there we can move to British folk which includes music from one of the best female singers of all time, Sandy Denny and Fotheringay. Then on to electronic music from artists such as Brian Eno, Redshift and Wave World and piano from Phillip Aaberg. I don't really care too much for traditional jazz but I consider Patricia Barber to be one of the most creative jazz artists alive today. I also enjoy music from Andreas Vollenweider.

I like guitar shredders such as Buckethead and Slash but also Tony Levin, Adrian Belew and the Oracle himself Mr. Robert Fripp. I also can't leave out Robin Trower. I like blues but don't really listen to it much. A little Keb Mo and of course Mr. John Lee Hooker. I also enjoy female vocalists from Janice Ian to Joni Mitchell, Tori Amos and Natalie Merchant, Patti Smith and Bonnie Raitt. I'm equally as comfortable with anything from Acoustic Alchemy to Alice in Chains to Southern rock and jam bands. What I don't care for is Rap, Hip Hop, Traditional Jazz, Opera, Pop and Country......although I like The Band. That ought to be enough toys to keep one busy for a while!

PS. Did I mention world music such as Afro Celt Sound System and Aurora?  ;-)

@whart ...
your comment “I’ll listen to anything once. I’m not much for opera largely out of ignorance.” caught my eye. Check out the outstandingly engineered and my go-to opera compilation classic and see what you think... “Pavarotti - 24 Greatest HD Tracks” in the 24 bit/96KHz version. It brings tears to my eyes whenever I play it. It’s best at higher volumes :).

@parker65310 

Check out the outstandingly engineered and my go-to opera compilation classic and see what you think... “Pavarotti - 24 Greatest HD Tracks” in the 24 bit/96KHz version.

I mentioned I do enjoy opera, and this conversation reminds me that I should clarify something about that.  I enjoy recordings of *performances* of operas.  I'm not a huge fan of records that are just recordings of opera[tic] music.

That's nothing against parker's recommendation here.  I imagine it's great.  The conversation just reminded me that *my* opera taste is a bit specific.

It doesn't matter what genre it is ,great music will always shine.

With opera you really don’t need to understand the words, but to listen to an entire opera I do feel one must know the story and it is then still enjoyable not knowing the language. I levitate for sure more to compilations where I’m comfortable just feeling each piece. Pavarotti’s voice was truly a planetary treasure. I saw him in the last phase of his performance live at the acoustically “not as bad as other arenas” Denver Pepsi Center and was absolutely astounding with the breadth of his vocals. His stage presence was by far the largest I’ve ever witnessed. Which reminds me of the first time I saw Tony Bennett - from the “halo” balcony at The Denver Opera House (Ellie Caulkins Opera House). Acoustics there are incredible. As part of the encore, Tony had the house turn off all mics and he sung “Fly Me To The Moon”. What a moment in life to remember. It was truly for me a “religious experience”. Both experiences literally brought tears to my eyes. Not an easy feat :).