Jazz Listening how ?

Matt wrote: Thought I would ask everybody how do you listen to a new or recent aquisition when you play it the first few times? Are you like me and a quick look at who is playing do not even bother looking at track names and just play it continous and really do not bother to start looking at titles and things to later, that is if it is any good, sometimes it can be the reverse so I can identify the track for the future Names really do not mean much in a lot of Jazz titles for me." Moose the Mooche" by Charlie Parker. Moose was Charlie's current drug dealer. What about "A Night in Tunisia" by Dizzy Gillespie. Isn't it rated a one of Diz's best numbers with a Latin feel. Hang on Tunisia is in North Africa and aren't they Arabic.  That is what I mean but we all know what Jazz masterpieces they both are.

darkshade wrote: Back when I was getting into Miles Davis albums (for example), I would see what the lineup was, and it made my purchasing easier. It's harder with newer jazz albums as they don't always list the players on the front or back cover, but older albums usually showcase the lineups. Lineups are a big deal for me when it comes to jazz

Generally I don't take much notice of track names, often referring to songs off albums I've listened to for years as track 1, 2, 3, etcetera. On most occasions I'll come to know a song name when talking/recommending stuff on forums where I'll actively seek out information for the sake of clarity. Same goes for line-ups, despite this being a great way to find new artist, my inherent laziness usually reigns supreme.

Occasionally there are exceptions i.e. when I know the artist is known for thinking up entertaining titles. Most notably for me, Kevin Drumm (tho' half of his work is untitled) and Joe Colley, but they're noise musicians, so not applicable to this thread. In the Jazz realm Sam River's 'Mellifluous Cacophony' got stuck in my mind rather quickly.     

Tracks titles don't really mean alot, in any genre IMO. Just something to distinguish certain melodies/structures/etc from other ones. I don't really care if it has anything to do with the song or not. If fact, I probably prefer to be something strange or unusual or just pleasent sounding. That said I do like song names...case in point that "A Night in Tunisia"...I like the sound of that...and I don't really care if its not arabian sounding or not. But i generally try to keep them straight to some degree.

Well, I listen to mp3 files and cds. I watch what I listen to.

Edited by Prog Geo - 08 May 2011 at 6:54pm

Thought I would ask everybody how do you listen to a new or recent aquisition when you play it the first few times? Are you like me and a quick look at who is playing do not even bother looking at track names and just play it continous and really do not bother to start looking at titles and things to later, that is if it is any good, sometimes it can be the reverse so I can identify the track for the future Names really do not mean much in a lot of Jazz titles for me." Moose the Mooche" by Charlie Parker. Moose was Charlie's current drug dealer. What about "A Night in Tunisia" by Dizzy Gillespie. Isn't it rated a one of Diz's best numbers with a Latin feel. Hang on Tunisia is in North Africa and aren't they Arabic.  That is what I mean but we all know what Jazz masterpieces they both are.