I think it's whatever engages your ears and brain the most - could be sound, could be music, could switch between them, could be both.
Jazz listening: Is it about the music? Or is it about the sound?
The thread title says it all. I can listen to jazz recordings for hours on end but can scarcely name a dozen tunes. My jazz collection is small but still growing. Most recordings sound great. On the other hand, I have a substantial rock, pop and country collection and like most of us, have a near encyclopedic knowledge of it. Yet sound quality is all over the map to the point that many titles have become nearly unlistenable on my best system. Which leads me back to my question: Is it the sound or the music? Maybe it’s both. You’ve just got to have one or the other!
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- 97 posts total
Its the "Vibe", Jazz is unique, its rigid yet very free at the same time and the players are usually master of their instrument. In Bebop they are basically Improving over old show tunes but man do they turn those songs around. I can name a several songs but its more following the artist and the record, i cant name all the songs on Art Blakey's "Moanin" but its not a record you will ever forget. I find listening to acoustic instruments most exciting on a hifi rig, its also more difficult to reproduce these instruments convincingly. I think acoustic Bass is one of the hardest for a system to get right, When a trumpet sounds life like it i will make your hair stand. On the other hand, even an apple homepod can make an overdriven electric guitar and smashed rock drums sound good but its the nuance that hifi brings to our listening and Jazz recordings are generally all about this. Most of those old bebop records were recorded with a stereo pair of mics in a beautiful sounding large room not multi tracked in isolation like modern music and this is where that Vibe comes from IMO. |
CTI Records: Jim Hall with an all star cast, Concierto. George Benson on records Body Talk and Take 5. Ron Carter, the great bassist may as well have been considered as the house bassist because he’s featured on countless CTI recordings. Freddie Hubbard was simply sublime on First Light. I was finishing high school in 72 and being the first time I’d smoked pot, that album took on a new dimension. I loved the rock and soul music of the 60’s and 70’s too. But the jazz was other worldly. And I wasn’t yet 18! After finishing a 4 year stint in the Navy, in 77 I’d discover the feel good music of Chuck Mangione. If you like flugelhorn, he, Freddie Hubbard, and the great Bobby Shew, are your guys. Those were the days. |
Don’t forget the great Clark Terry: https://youtu.be/HaEF6xfijL0 https://youtu.be/bwZiJAFWWfw https://youtu.be/5wKLBLgkSBk |
- 97 posts total