HutchFan

I strongly disagree. I think the premise of this thread is an interesting, worthy topic of discussion. Plenty of books have influenced my listening -- if only by pointing out music that's worth exploring. Incidentally, this forum serves the exact same function, and making a recommendation is precisely what you've just done above. Does that qualify as "masturbation"? I don't think it does.

Prompted by Chuck's post above:

You'll get no guff from me on that.

Oh yeah. Five stars aren't enough for that record!

Genres are tricky. They're useful tools for understanding. But always limited.

Exactly. There's good and bad smooth jazz -- just like every other sub-genre.

Soul jazz is DEFINITELY in my book! Like Ellington, it's another case of overlapping Venn diagrams of commerce and art.

Then smooth jazz or pop-jazz or whatever you'd like to call it should be included in the book/course, IMO.

A book that aims to examine 20th Century American Literature is likely to focus on "literary" authors like Hemingway, Faulkner, Roth, and Morrison. And -- unless the aim is to examine "popular fiction" -- it's unlikely that the book will focus on Michael Crichton and John Grisham, even though these authors probably sold more books. So, I can see how there would be a similar distinction in the jazz world -- between music that's more commercial as opposed to music that's more artistic. Of course, this is all a relative thing and subject to change over time. (For many years, many people in the musical critical establishment didn't consider ANY jazz to be artistic!) So the definition of "artistic" is always a moving target. Furthermore, sometimes the commercial and the artistic are an overlapping Venn diagram. (See Ellington, Edward K.) Ultimately, I think what should be included in our theoretical book really depends on the author's intentions. What is the scope of their examination? Is it all jazz -- including the "pop" forms? Or is it limited to the stuff that's (relatively) more "artistic"? My 2 cents.

I recently picked up this Michel Petrucciani archival release, and I'm really enjoying it.

This again: A stunning album. Is that Jansch BBC set all solo material? Or is some of it with Pentangle?

As my father would say, "You caught a plum!"

I love that one too.

Disc 2 Excellent!

I have Xocia's Dance on vinyl, but I've never even seen it on CD in the wild.

Two more LPs produced by Don Schlitten. Now: Earlier:

R.I.P. Don Schlitten Outstanding!

Will Vinson: Brent Jensen:

R.I.P. Don Schlitten