I recently purchased the Bill Evans Trio's "Waltz for Debbie" on CD. It has to be one of the best live recordings of that famous trio I have heard. It was recorded live at the Village Vanguard, and you hear people coughing, glasses clinking, and chatting in the background. But you can also hear the hush of the crowd when an amazing passage is being played. I traveled with that CD. I didn’t worry about imaging, or my Thiel's harsh high end, or tight bass. I just dug Bill Evans emotion on the piano, Lafaro's brilliant conversations on the bass, Motian's subtle brush work. So I do think music has a soul. That recording moved me.
Listeners have soul too. As a jazz fan, I imagined myself at the VV, drink in one hand, babe in the other, diggin' The Trio. In reality, my would-be date would probably have been wishing we were at a Pretenders show the whole time. Point is...we all relate better to what we love. I love that recording, regardless of the vinyl pops, or digital info voids. That format allowed me to stay in the chair for an hour, uninterrupted, and enjoy.
Turn down the lights, get your favorite libation, pick a desert island recording, and dive in. All the techy garbage is just the messenger. Don’t kill the messenger, listen to the message.
