How Adventurous are you?

[Dan Gould]

The discussions about WM and EAI and the AG and Free Improv, it got me wondering ... how adventurous are you? Do you concentrate on expanding your horizons as much as possible or do you continue to till your well trod favorite fields, as it were?

When jazz was new to me, I went in many many directions in my jazz explorations. But eventually I settled into the pre-fusion era and yes, some of the Young Lion revivalists. Call me close-minded, but I know what I like and that's what I add to the collection.

So what about you? Do you keep expanding your horizons, checking out everyone and everything or do you stick mostly with the tried and true?

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Wasn't this question asked here - in very much those exact words - recently?

Mike

[Dan Gould]

If it was I missed it.

Is there such a thread? Jeez, right when the whole board is talking about orphan threads and thread killing posts ...

[Uncle Skid]

I don't recall this question being asked recently, either.

I consider myself fairly adventurous at this point -- I look at it this way: if I hadn't started listening to jazz 101 (Miles, Coltrane, etc), I'd still be listening to "progressive alt-rock", whatever the hell that is.

The rewards of starting down the jazz path have been so great, that I don't want to confine myself to any specific period or style. I'm lucky enough to live only 20 minutes away from Chuck, and he has expanded my musical horizons much further than I had ever imagined possible.

As I'm still relatively new to all of this, maybe I will eventually fall into a more predictable pattern. I really don't know at this point, and that's what keeps it interesting! B-)

[Jazzmoose]

I don't remember it being asked either, but then my memory isn't..uh...what was the question?

Oh yeah. I guess I'm pretty adventurous. Nat as much as some, but more than others. I find that trying new things really keeps my ears hopping, and heck, if I'd stuck with the first music I liked I'd have never found jazz in the first place.

[Jazzmoose]

What a typo; I must need to hear some Nat Adderly...be back later...

[Chuck Nessa]

I discovered this music in the '50s. My introduction was something like this - Ellington, Gillespie, Armstrong, Parker, Ornette, Dodds, Rollins, Eldridge, Mingus, Bix, etc. A couple of years later I discovered "classical" music and learned the basics of that history. I kept growing through my teens and hope I do 'til this day. It is the "sound of surprise".

When I find folks "limited" to styles, genres etc, I go nuts. They are missing so much of Western culture and just plain pleasure. AND I admit I think these folks miss the big picture.

[Gary]

It is the "sound of surprise". 

Bingo!

[Michael Fitzgerald]

I guess I'm just having deja vu. (Unless someone's been deleting their threads.....)

I am always glad to learn about new things. I don't often end up with stuff that I've never *heard* of - usually there's some connection. That said, I do continue to buy additional material by artists who are already in my collection. And I have pretty high standards, particularly in the pop/rock area. I know *what* I like - which is not identical to *who* I like. If someone new has got their stuff together, I'd like to hear it. But there haven't been too many who have really knocked me out in recent years. I've written plenty about this elsewhere. I don't limit myself to any particular style, but whatever it is, I want it to be good, based on my own well-established criteria.

And sadly, yes, I already own more than enough music to last until my death and I'm still accumulating more.

Mike

[gslade]

Hell, Ill listen to anything at least once

[Uncle Skid]

I should have added that obviously, it wasn't just Chuck that has turned me on to some outstanding music -- I've had many great recommendations from other board members here. In fact, Dan found a great Cedar Walton disk for me a while back!

Isn't this a great place, deleted threads, wynton trolls, and political squabbling overlooked, of course? B-)

[Chuck Nessa]

I should have added that obviously, it wasn't just Chuck that has turned me on to some outstanding music -- I've had many great recommendations from other board members here. In fact, Dan found a great Cedar Walton disk for me a while back!

Isn't this a great place, deleted threads, wynton trolls, and political squabbling overlooked, of course? B-)

Receive a PM from somebody?

Let it be known, Skid has his own brain and I do not control it.

[Uncle Skid]

...MUST BUY MORE WARNE MARSH, VON FREEMAN, ROSCOE MITCHELL, ART ENSEMBLE.... :ph34r:

B-)

[GregK]

compared to most people I know, I'm light years ahead of them in terms of musical adventurousness-just the mention of any music that doesn't conform to the formula makes them squirm (must be verse/chorus/verse/chorus/wanky awful guitar solo/chorus/chorus, all sung in a monotone with an angry or pained tone, and NO DEVIATION from that). But I think compared to the good people here (and the bad people........ ) I'm still a junior. Thankfully there are people like Chuck here to point me in the right direction (thanks again for the Braxton recommendations Chuck!!)!

[Joe G]

I think I've been in a bit of a rut lately, partly due to life circumstances. But I seem to be leaving some things behind, in a sense; stuff that I've listened to for years. Just don't know yet where my ears might take me next.

[WD45]

It is the "sound of surprise". 

Bingo!

I'll second that motion.

I can't imagine listening to only one thing all of the time. I can get tired of too much of anything, so I have a little bit of everything. I like to seek the common threads between the disparate musics

[Joe G]

I think maybe I should spend an afternoon with Chuck!

[Chuck Nessa]

I think maybe I should spend an afternoon with Chuck!

Come on over. I'd love to mess with your mind.

[John B]

As much as I love returning to my old favorites I probably love discovering something new (to me) even more. My taste is extremely eclectic, ranging from jazz to blues to eai to reggae to fela to avant-garde to noise to rock, etc...

Good music is good music, regardless of genre.

[RDK]

I consider myself pretty adventurous and agree wholeheartedly with Chuck's "music of surprise" comment. That doesn't mean, of course, that I like and appreciate all types of jazz (and Music in general) equally. I "grew up" on Monk, Mingus, Miles, Ellington, and vast numbers of cutout ECM Lps. I was eager to try just about any "5 star" album, but there were some artists who, in retrospect, I tried listening to too early.

I'm not that big a fan of Ornette Coleman's albums (with a few exceptions - I love the "Golden Circle" discs) and I've come to like his compositions far more than his playing. I'd rather listen to Old & New Dreams play Ornette, for example, than Ornette himself. I was turned off of Ornette's work and Braxton and a few other AG artists early on and still struggle with AG - though I've lately discovered a new appreciation for Braxton via Emusic.

I'm usually eager to try new things even though I might not like them. That's why it sometimes boggles me when someone talks about having "hundreds" of Ellington albums or 50 Mobley discs. It's great if you like them - and they're certainly great artists - but I need to spread myself out more. I'd rather try something new rather than listen to the same old - even though I might like the same old better.

One thing that I always find ironic about jazzers who claim to be adventurous and open-minded is that they are often the first to diss other genres of music: rock, pop, country, etc. I find things of great value in all genres and tend to think less of jazz snobs who can find no pleasure in other types of music.

[sonic1]

I'd like to see anyone who is as musically promiscuous as I am.

I listen to almost everything. In jazz I listen to the whole damn thing. From new orleans, marching band music, joplin, stride piano, etc. to the most out avant-garde stuff out there.

I really consider adventurous more than just listening to crazy chaotic music.

Being adventurous means you will open yourself to listening to the artist and trying to understand the INTENT, instead of making judgments that the music is part of your world or not.

ANd this is very much apart of my world view too. I really believe in the cagean idea of listening.

So being adventurous to me means searching out music I have not heard and really listening to it. That can be anything, not just "out" avant-garde stuff. Especially for me, since my beginning in jazz was Anthony Braxton. The AG stuff was no challenge. The harder challenge was when I first got into swing, or early bop. I needed to understand it so I started listening a whole lot, even if some of it was boring. I wanted to get it. Then something snapped and I got it. I went through all the genres like that.

I have some weak spots I admit. Mostly 70s fusion, and popular radio music irks me. And I have not really gotten into rap, though I have no real aversion to it. It just doesn't draw me since it seems to be more urban poetry than music. And modern country doesn't do a whole hellava lot for me.

I have not given fusion a fair chance. That is the one genre of jazz that I need to check out a little more. Actually I only have a few soul jazz albums too, but I like that stuff. Just have not really worked on collecting a lot of it yet.

My favorite adventures is checking out music that is not of any genre. The anomolies of music. The freaks of music. The stuff that is even hard to call music.

The music we are calling EAI is my current darling.

The biggest challenge for me is financial. Purchasing all this music is a lot of work and of course, a lot of money. And I don't have a lot of money.

Maybe if I can learn to write a little better I could get into the critic gig? But shit, doesn't everyone want to do that?

One big lesson I have learned: when someone says, oh that music all sounds the same. It is because they have not been listening. Any music you don't give time and attention to all sounds the same. People say that about every genre of music.

So the next time you start to say, all that stuff sounds the same, remember that there is someone out there saying that about your beloved jazz or your beloved classical music. We know it is not all the same. It is the most valuable listening lesson I ever learned.

Edited February 12, 2005 by sonic1

[Rooster_Ties]

I'm sure I'm not nearly as adventurous as I'd like to think I am.

Sure, I listen to more difficult, challenging music that most people do (60's jazz, and lots of 20th Century classical, including a whole bunch of the 12-tone stuff). But I'm also too quick to dismiss types of music (sub-genres, really), that don't appeal to me very much. For instance...

I own upwards of 1,000 CD's of "classical music", but probably less than 10 that are from the "Classical" era (Mozart drives me nuts!! Haydn too. )

My Andrew Hill collection is a mile wide, but I've never got bitten by the Monk bug (at least not yet). In fact, I own more recordings by Herbie Nichols than I do by Monk.

Counting sideman dates, I own 10 times as much Joe Henderson as I do John Coltrane. (And hell, if it weren't for all the Miles sides with Trane, I'd have more Tyrone Washington than Trane in my collection!! )

I've got 80% of all the Ornette that's ever appeared on CD (same goes for Don Cherry, though maybe closer to 70%) --- but I've never heard a Cecil Taylor date that's floated my boat much.

I don't own or listen to much jazz recorded before about 1955.

But I do have and love a wide variety of types of music, as long as I find music within those styles that really speaks to me.

I know there are some here that frown on my limited tastes.

I like what I like. There's LOTS more I respect, and even admire. But I like what I like.

Edited February 12, 2005 by Rooster_Ties

[sonic1]

I would never frown on a man who champions Andrew Hill!

[paul secor]

I listen to many genres of music and to many types within those genres.

That said, I find as I get older that I'm less open to trying unknown artists. Part of that is getting older - I grew up listening to Cecil, Ornette, Merle Haggard, Pres, the Soul Stirrers, Muddy Waters, Bird, and many, many others. Some of these people are still alive, and there is an unending stream of reissues of recordings by artists who have passed. It's always easier (and safer) to buy a recording of someone whose music I love and whose music I'm familiar with.

A second factor is that there are so many recordings being issued - a virtual flood, compared to, say, 30 years ago - by both established and new artists, that it gets harder and harder to take a chance on buying something by an unknown (to me) artist and stay within my budget. There are a lot of artists who turn up on Cadence's year end best of lists or who are mentioned in the Funny Rat thread, whom I'm totally unfamiliar with. Every so often, I think about buying my next 10 or 20 CDs strictly by artists I'm unfamiliar with, but that never happens. I end up buying the newest Cecil Taylor - they never seem to end, and I just bought Almeda, which I believe is the latest.

[Jim Alfredson]

I think maybe I should spend an afternoon with Chuck!

Come on over. I'd love to mess with your mind.

We definitely need to hang soon.