Jazz listening: Is it about the music? Or is it about the sound?

jjss49 ... 

My cousin turned me on to jazz when I was just a kid. I remember when I really hated Monk. Then one day, the lightbulb went on in my heart and he became a genius. 

The artists you mentioned are among my favorites and are still my go-to's to this day. I love the giant tenor players from the big band era. Some that come to mind are Charlie Ventura, Chu Berry, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, and certainly Lester Young.

Same thing with the big band singers who went solo in the late 40s and early 50s. Doris Day, June Christy, Jo Stafford are examples. Due to the times, the Black singers didn't get the immense credit they deserved. Some of us caught on early though. Mabel Mercer, Dinah Washington, Billy Eckstine, etc. 

Check this out ... The beautiful Dinah Washington: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGOnb-2e6kM&ab_channel=JuanPuellesLopez

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y10TqeFBMU0&ab_channel=sanpei55

indeed o-papa

one of the great beauties of streaming is to be able to cue up all these wonderful old artists’ recordings and revisit anew...

was just listening to dexter gordon coleman hawkins and monk tonight 👍👍

btw - monk was always a genius... just took you a while to get it 🤭🤭

@jjss49 +1 ECM / Manfred Eicher

But also if you’re looking to bridge jazz into anything you could focus on later Jazz Funk records by Byrd, Corea, McCann, Hancock without having to get too serious with Fusion.

oregonpapa, good for you for having the courage to not get on the “beat up on Kenny G” wagon. I like good perspective. As we all know he has been a punching bag for a long time, for many claiming the Jazz higher ground.  It gets tiresome.  His recorded output is mostly drivel and that soprano sound......😱; almost as weird as his hair. He is not what can be considered a good Jazz player, no Coltrane, Stitt or many many unknown players out there, but as you say he actually does have some talent. I’ve heard it. He has found a commercial niche and he’s laughing all the way to the bank. His choice, and I don’t see the point in condemning him for it.

Point is, some feel that musicians have a “responsibility” to some predetermined artistic standard and that record companies have a “responsibility” to elevate listeners’ appreciation. I disagree. It is up to the listener to learn to be better listeners, become more discerning and learn to separate the wheat from the chaff. It is a cop out the other way. I wonder just how many people out there never even knew what a soprano saxophone was before hearing Kenny G. Of those, I have to believe at least a handful now have Trane’s “My Favorite Things” in their collections. Always important to consider the alternative.

Yes, it is always about the music first.

I like all the great masters of jazz- not just Kenny G but Chuck Mangione and of course the King of them all, Zamfir.