Does Your Wife or Significant Other Love Jazz?

[Teasing the Korean]

Just curious.

[Milestones]

Yes, my wife likes Bill Evans, Wes, Miles, Bill Frisell, the softer side of Trane, Randy Weston, and a lot more.  For all the concerts I have attended over the past dozen years or so, she has been with me.

 

[Teasing the Korean]

Just now, Milestones said:

Yes, my wife likes Bill Evans, Wes, Miles, Bill Frisell, the softer side of Trane, Randy Weston, and a lot more.  For all the concerts I have attended over the past dozen years or so, she has been with me.

 

That is awesome.  My wife also!

[Hardbopjazz]

My wife doesn’t. 

[JSngry]

or?

[Rooster_Ties]

Some. She doesn’t care for saxophone at all, but she likes a few of my favorite trumpeters as far as it goes: Charles Tolliver and the whole Music Inc thing is pretty cool with her. Woody Shaw too, mostly.

She does quite like a lot of piano jazz, Brad Mehldau, and she especially likes a few particular of the more “bang-y” piano players who are a bit out, but not too out.

For instance, she really likes the Legendary Hasaan trio album with Max Roach, and the recent Hasaan tribute album. And just this afternoon I was playing Mal Waldon’s “Free At Last” - and she asked me “who’s that?” when one of the more upbeat tunes came up, and she was asking me about who he was, when he was from, etc. - a good sign of interest.

Dave Brubeck is usually good too, and Paul Desmond’s tone doesn’t bother her (much).

She’s also responded positively to Helen Sung, Stanley Cowell, Mulgew Miller, and John Hicks. And I’ve dragged her to dozens of concerts over the years, some she’s liked better (Bobby Hutcherson) than others (Jackie McLean).

Edited July 17, 2020 by Rooster_Ties

[Joe]

Is tolerance love? 

In all seriousness, it depends. Just about anything with vibes, we're good. Skronk? No.

[Larry Kart]

My wife is a very talented amateur classical pianist, a graduate of NYC's High School of Music and Art, who could have been more than an amateur if she had bigger hands. She also loves show tunes and has an uncanny gift for reharmonizing them on the spot. (We have a vintage Baldwin Grand in the living room; she got it as a gift from her parents about 35 years ago.) When she plays Beethoven. for one, it sounds to me like she has a direct line to Ludwig's soul. She likes and understands a lot of jazz, but for some darn reason doesn't care for the sound of a vibrato-rich tenor saxophone, e.g. Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins.

[jazzbo]

My wife likes Grant Green in a quartet with piano, soul jazz ballads by Houston Person, she doesn't like anything that she calls "busy." Which seems to be the way she views about 94 percent of jazz.

Her favorite music is the Judds, Steve Earle, Dixie Chicks. Luckily she doesn't want to play her music often.

[Brad]

She tolerates it. She prefers swing, definitely not a bop or hard bop fan. 

[jlhoots]

Sort of.

[Tom in RI]

My wife loves me, but she finds very little jazz tolerable.

[Dave Garrett]

My wife is pretty open-minded when it comes to music, and likes jazz in general. In fact, back in the 1990s it was because of where she was employed at the time that I got to see a lot of great players like Sonny Rollins and Pharoah Sanders.

As far as other types of music, she's gone to see quite a few Hot Tuna shows with me, and a Roky Erickson show that was one of the loudest gigs I've ever heard, but she had approximately zero interest in seeing X, Black Flag, or Sleater-Kinney. If she had to name her favorite artist it would probably be Peter Gabriel. I've seen Gabriel several times, but she never has. The one and only time we've had a chance to see him since we've been together, I immediately procured tickets, and she came down with the flu on the day of the show and couldn't go. 

[felser]

She adopted it when we got together in the late 80's and we went to a lot of top notch concerts together including Billy Harper, who she "got".  She likes a lot of it and has become reasonably conversant on it, but she thinks I have too many CD's.

 

[JSngry]

3 hours ago, Joe said:

Is tolerance love?

No, but I'd like to see love survive without it.

[Dave James]

My wife may have seen more rock concerts than all of us combined. She grew up in the Bay Area around the time of the great awakening.  The Fillmore West, Winterland, Avalon Ballroom, The Matrix, Golden Gate Park...round up the usual suspects.  She's seen the original Marshall Tucker Band a half a dozen times... something for which I cannot forgive her no matter how hard I try.  

As to jazz?  No interest whatsoever.

[mjazzg]

Runs screaming for the hills, and that's not the Andrew

[BillF]

When I met my wife in 1969 she already had a little record collection that included Jimmy Smith, Ray Charles, Getz/Gilberto and Charlie Byrd.

A few years ago I went with my late friend and forum member JohnS to a Gary Smulyan gig that he'd arranged. When I got back to his house I played his wife a couple of clips of the master I'd recorded on my phone. "What a horrible noise!" she exclaimed. I was astonished! 

[Dan Gould]

Well here's a topic we've seen before, but here goes:

Short of holding out to find someone who wants to hear jazz I think I picked the right mate for music. She's a rocker (Def Leppard, Sammy Hagar, Eric Clapton but also the Eagles) but before I met her she had a gig as audio engineer for a south Florida club that brought NYC cabaret talent down for week long engagements, so she had an appreciation for jazzy singing and already knew and enjoyed people like Ella. I introduced her to Joe Williams music which she definitely loves.

She is understanding of love for any form of music and would never ever say I buy too much. I can play jazz in the car or pop in a DVD on occasion and she will not complain a bit. When we lived in south Florida I didn't have to ask if she'd join me at any jazz concert I was interested in, I would just let her know dates and get the tix. 

And last but not least she's never asked me to take her to a rock concert, she would go to those with her sister, brother, or close friend rather than ask me to go to something I wouldn't enjoy.

Edited July 18, 2020 by Dan Gould

[Pim]

No she does not. She can tolerate the more easy and more accessible  jazz like Chet Baker or Ben Webster. I thinks she even likes Billie Holiday. But even most hardbop is already too busy for her. But more soulful bop like Adderley is more preferred than most hardbop and definitely postbop. and when I am playing some late Coltrane, Don Cherry or Cecil Taylor she looks at me like I am crazy. 
 

She does like the crossovers with classical and world music on ECM by the way.

 

She looks at music in a different way than me. While I see it mostly as an art form with strong emotion and feeling as a basic. She likes it more when you can or dance to it or you can have it somewhere in the background.

Edited July 18, 2020 by Pim

[Jim Duckworth]

Mrs. Duckworth likes some singers like Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, Slim Gaillard and a few others.  Her favorites are Matana Roberts, Alice Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and Jimmy Smith.  When we first got together, she listened to every Miles Davis Columbia record in order which impressed me as I had never thought to do that.  

During pandemic I've leaned heavily on the "with strings" records (especially Ben Webster), ballad heavy records, and pianists like John Taylor so as to not to overwhelm the poor woman.  She does tend to be pretty open to what I listen to and lets me know when she does not care for something.  

 

[Teasing the Korean]

Interesting responses, thanks all!  Mrs. Korean shares my love of not only jazz but also many of the genres I like.  Among jazz specifically, the only complaint I remember over our 24 years together is Rufus Harley!  

Edited July 18, 2020 by Teasing the Korean

[Peter Friedman]

My wife like jazz, especially those musicians she has seen perform live. She has attended countless jazz concerts, jazz festivals and jazz parties with me,and gone to jazz clubs many times with me.

She does play jazz recordings at home, but does listen to jazz sometimes in her car. At home I play jazz recordings all the time, so perhaps when I am not around she needs a break from all the music..

[Teasing the Korean]

13 hours ago, Larry Kart said:

My wife is a very talented amateur classical pianist, a graduate of NYC's High School of Music and Art, who could have been more than an amateur if she had bigger hands. She also loves show tunes and has an uncanny gift for reharmonizing them on the spot. (We have a vintage Baldwin Grand in the living room; she got it as a gift from her parents about 35 years ago.) When she plays Beethoven. for one, it sounds to me like she has a direct line to Ludwig's soul. She likes and understands a lot of jazz, but for some darn reason doesn't care for the sound of a vibrato-rich tenor saxophone, e.g. Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins.

You are a lucky man, Mr. Kart!  

Among show tunes, are there certain composers or shows that she leans towards?  

[Larry Kart]

Cole Porter, Gershwin, Harold Arlen come to mind -- also songs with Johnny Mercer lyrics. She has a lot of song books. Also, she's an excellent sight reader, had a  lot of good training.