HutchFan

I got mine too.

Enjoy it, Ken!

Symphonie fantastique, as performed by Jean Martinon & the Orchestre National de l'ORTF:

Ben Allison & Medicine Wheel - Riding the Nuclear Tiger (Palmetto, 2002)

Gheorghe, I just finished listening to your your new record, and I really enjoyed it! I especially liked the cuts with extra percussion -- tunes like the title track, "Simmering," and "Miss Ra's Choice." I also really dug "Tune for Pharoah" too. Beautiful! Your originals were the highlights for me. Well done!

Now listening to this new release from our very own forum member, @Gheorghe!

This again: Thanks.

Mickey Newbury - Lovers (Elektra, 1975)

I need to pull that CD from the shelf & give it a listen.

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.