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Doesnt anyone ever talk about music anymore?


maxg

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On 10/29/2002 3:45:25 AM maxg wrote:

....Every now and again each person present drifted off into a music induced reverie only to rejoin the conversation some time later.....

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>>>>what makes you so sure it wasn't just boredom???

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Do any of you guys actually enjoy listening to music?

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>>>>What's that?

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Wow! what a great thread. What we are after is the best reproduction of music we can produce. These forums attract those who feel Klipsch speakers get closer to this goal than most others. (BTW, feeding Klipsch with better electronics & better sources makes them sound even better).

I'm also impressed with the number of jazz fans here. I'm a fan of the Ellington tradition - that is, the Duke was one of the great American composers and his band, his "instrument" produces some of the great American music. For me, Johnny Hodges is the best alto sax. I'll side with Kelly about the best jazz players versus many of todays' 'light' or 'smooth' (i.e., no emotion) musicians.

Just finished listening to Ben Webster's "See You at the Fair" as I started reading this forum. (There are good contemporary players too: Hargrove, McBride, others).

Kelly: if you save that Billie Holiday, any chances of making it available? A singer -not quite jazz- that I think is greatly underrated is Jo Stafford.

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Sitting here in the dark switching between Jewel's Pieces of You, Jewel's This Way, Tracy Chapman's self-titled, The Counting Crows, and The Very Best of Dire Straits. Jewel has to have one of the most incredible voices of anyone today. Same rotation each night. Everytime I hear another inflection of a voice or some nuance in a guitar or organ or cymbal. Not to get off on equipment but I have had all this music for sometime and it never came alive until I listened to it on Heresies powered by Eico.

Would like to delve more into some of the older blue's or Jazz singers. Not all that familiar with the genre, don't know the players (names) or which album is good vs. bad, but I dig the whole smoke-filled, dark room mystique I associate with some of the best blues/jazz I have heard. Keep up the discussion - it allows me to expand my collection and appreciate a wider variety of music. Not real keen on the wine thing though - guess I need education there as well. Goldschlager and a Bud Light pretty much is my forte although while in France I was known to drink a few $3 bottles of something red.

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I absolutely agree that it is all about the music. I spend a great deal of time listening to music. I also have found that hardware based discussion has let me onto new ideas of what works, and what does not work with my system and Klipsch systems in general. The more I improve my system, the more I enjoy the music. Most of my "me time" is spent listening to music. These forums IMHO are an excellent resource of knowledge for new and old Klipsch-o-philes.

I can't really afford to stroll into a high end audiophile store, give them a blank check, and tell them to configure me a class A system. That's really what I believe the Klipsch forums in general help to substitute for. Since Klipsch is a hardware company, and these are their forums, most of the topics are geared towards hardware and how to get the most from it. There is a music and DVD forum on this site, and that is perhaps the best place to have discussions on music.

There are some great threads on music discussion, but the majority of them are on places like AA. It does not bother me to see a small amount of music discussions here in the 2-channel forum because I know that is elsewhere if I need to discuss it. What might bother me more, is when great starting threads get dragged into the toilet for no good reason. At that point, it becomes less educational for me, and more like cheap entertainment which I can also appreciate.

Why is it most of us put our hardware systems in our Signatures and not our favorite music or performers?

- tb

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I just picked up a couple CDs this weekend:

For my (not so big) classical collection- Chopin, originally recorded in the 60s played by Maurizio Pollini, Orchestra directed by Paul Kletzki.

For my (not so big) jazz collection- Don Ellis Orchestra "Live" at Monterey! I have a couple of his records which I miss listening to (I don't yet have a functioning TT), Autumn and another which name escapes me now. Ellis, like Brubeck, was one of the early pioneers who experimented with odd time signatures in jazz. I really like his style and ability to make his music swing in any time signature. I too don't always remember names of players, something that many jazz enthusiasts keep track of, though there are exceptions. What's most important for me in the music is the writing- the composition. My more modern day jazz hero is Bill Bruford...a superb composer!

I am looking to update with more classical and jazz CDs as well as progressive rock.

I too felt that maybe there is another more appropriate section than 2 channell section of our forum, but what the quarter note, why not!

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I am still going to make some suggestions in separate post for people wanting to get a good start in classic jazz focusing on great materail from the 50s thru to the mid 60s, really the heyday of small group jazz. I might even throw in some Duke Ellington and Basie since we have another Johnny Hodges fan, one of my all time favorite saxophonists as well.

But I received a few mail today from a record that Allan and I were discussing from John Lewis (of Modern Jazz Quartet fame)and Bill Perkins (among others such as Jim Hall on guitar and Chico Hamilton drums). The title of the album is Grand Encounter or 2 Degrees East, 3 Degrees West.

grand_encounter2.jpg

Allan talked to me about this awhile back. It really is a great album with some nice work. Great sound as well. It is hard to find on vinyl but there is a newly released Japanese remaster on CD that sounds VERY nice. I have a copy and recommend it. Let's just say the music is much better than the cover...

Here is a RAM file using the REALone player with a sample of 5 of the cuts off the record. Just click the link below and hear ALL five. Cable modem is beneficial. The sound is typical REAL player level but you get the idea. Some nice work all the way around.

Click here for a 5 song sample from Grand Encounter

kh

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Great topic! This is something that I have been contemplating myself for some time. I've often wondered if getting into audio equipment meant paying more attention to the sound and less attention to the music. I sure hope not! I sometimes wonder if I enjoyed music any less twenty years ago when all I had to listen to was an all-in-one cheapo system.

There is the story of the "audiophile" who owned an audio system worth several tens of thousands of dollars, but owned only three CD's. I don't know if this was a true story or not, but nevertheless, there is a point there. Are all "audiophiles" music lovers? I'm not sure that is necessarily the case. I used to consider myself an audiophile, but now I think I prefer to call myself a music lover.

Speaking of musicians who can put their soul into their music, I don't know that I've ever heard a guitarist that can do this quite like Carlos Santana. The more I hear his music, the more amazed I am. What an incredible talent. I need to make an effort to try and see him live in concert while the opportunities are still there.

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Thanks for the vote of confidence John. Lets just say that I can tell the difference between someone drifting off into a coma and someone drifting off into a music induced reverie.

On another note it is nice to see people getting emotional about their music rather than just their systems. Just for reference a recording I would recommend very highly is Blue Train on Blue Note recordings featuring John Coltrane. I would rate this as one of the "closer to live" recordings that I have and the music is simply sublime - perfect for winding down at the end of a hard day - wife and baby asleep, Glenfidich with ice, nestled into a leather clad recliner and just the tubes for illumination.

Of course, in the far off pre-baby days, that would have been accompanied by a fine cigar to really get that smokey atmosphere going but such is the progression of life....

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Here's are a few of the Jazz Lp's that are not far from my turntable lately.

Jackie McLean, "Jacknife", Blue Note Re-issue Series of previously unrelease 1965 and 1966 Quintet and sextet settings. BN-LA457-H2

Jackie McLean, "Let Freedom Ring" Blue Note 84106

"Echos of an Era", A two record Roulette LP featuring Charlie Parker(Max Roach and Miles)1947, Dizzy Gillespie&Charlie Parker(1953), Dizzy Gillespie's group,(1953), John Coltrane(1960) Roulette RE-120

Lee Morgan, "The Gigolo", Blue Note 84212

I also like something from the 80's LP's;

Branford Marsalis, "Royal Garden Blues", Columbia FC40363

Branford Marsalis, "Renaissance" Columbia FC 40711

And there's always something by Joe Henderson. This is one man who really played a beautiful sounding tenor with what seemed like no more effort than a stroll down the street. I never missed an opportunity to hear him here in the Bay area. Everyone should have at least one Joe Henderson Blue Note release in their collection. I have many more than that of course.

That's just a sample of what I've been spinning the last few days in between LPs by the "usual suspects"...Mingus, Monk, Miles, Coltrane.

Klipsch out.

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Blue Train is one of my favorites. I have it both on Vinyl and CD. If the LP surpasses the CD I will be one happy person. I fully expect it to be better.

Some of the music I have picked up in the past week or two. Most of them from reccomendations from users in this forum.

MIssissippi John Hurt - Live

John Coltrane - Blue Train

Herbie Hancock - Mainden Voyage

Thelonious Monk - Genius of Modern Music vol 1

Wayne Shorter Adam's Apple

Freddie Hubbard - Open Sesame

Freddie Hubbard - Hub-tones

Mississippi John Hurt - The Complete Studio Recordings

Horace Silver - The Cape Verdean Blues

Lightnin' Hopkins - The Best of

McCoy Tyner - The Real Mccoy

Holly Cole - Temptation (superb voice IMHO)

Kelly - Great suggestion. I'll have to pick that one up. Nice to be able to get a hear of it before looking for it. I also like browsing over at CD-NOW where they have low quality tracks too. Really helps to hear if you would like the stuff or not.

I also listen to some of the online streaming online jazz and blues stations (to find new material). Quality is decent and Artist and songs are listed when playing. Really helps to have a high-speed connection though.

- tb

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Joe Henderson!

Like many of us, I was first introduced to Joe Henderson through his BLISTERING solo on Horace Silver's "Song for my Father." This was about 30 years ago for me and I've always held Joe (RIP) in the highest esteem. I saw him a couple of years ago at Catalina's here in LA on a rainy, cold Wednesday night--there were no more than 25 of us there that night and he gave us all he had--one of the best peformances I've ever heard---period!

I love all of his Blue Notes, but my favorite has to be "Our Thing." Of course he played on about 40 other Blue Note dates lead by others and was always superb.

What a player. Tone like nobody else. He died way too young.

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Thinking about it, and despite Mobile labeling him light, I have a Bruebeck recording of Take five on 180 gramme mint vinyl that is well worth a spin.

The drum solo on the title track alone is worth the money I paid for the album.

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Music?

I will never listen enough Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Ravel, Beethoven, Chopin, Saint Saenz, Liszt, Part, Bach, Puccini, Wagner, Vivaldi, Handel, Verdi, Mozart, Debussy, and big etcetera.

Oh, and talking about "more modern" music a little Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Marillion, Pink Floyd, Dimitri from Paris, Nine Inch Nails, Cirque du Solei, Shpongle, Juno Reactor, Skinny Puppy, and some more both electronic and heavy.

Oh, and about jazz, I really don't know about it, but I surely love the music of Oliver Nelson. In fact, if someone here has listened to him, I would like some recomendations.

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Bowie-Ziggy, at present..

Blasters-Testament

Steve Earle-Jerusalem

World Party-Goodbye Jumbo

Waterboys-Fisherman's Blues

Dylan-Highway 61 Revisted

Buddy & Julie Miller

Yayhoos-Fear Not The Obvious

Ian Hunter-Rant

Joe Ely-Live At Liberty Lunch

Lonesome Bob-Things Change

Rancid-Life Won't Wait

Lucinda Williams-Car Wheels On A Gravel Road

Bob Mould-Black Sheets Of Rain

Red House Painters-Songs For A Blue Guitar

Mott the Hoople-Mott

Joan Jett-Fit to be Tied

Drive By Truckers-Southern Rock Opera(?)

Clash-London Calling

Lets Active-Big Plans For Everybody(!!!!!)

and a little Iggy Pop to cleanse the the ear

love,

chels

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Allan,

I'm glad someone else here knows the work of Joe Henderson, especially hearing him live. I was able to see and hear him perform often. He was also great to speak with. I wish more knew of his many contributions and works left to the world of Jazz. And you're right about his wonderful tone!

Tim,

You'll find Joe on "The Real McCoy", and "The Cape Verdean Blues". You have done some fruitful gathering of vinyl.

Klipsch out.

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I just wanted to do as Mobile has done and share some music appreciation. Currently Holly Cole is one of my favorite contemporary Jazz Singers. Here is a little bio on her taken from her website and some links to some well done Mp3 files of her music. If your into Jazz, do yourself a favor and give her a listen.

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"I look at the essence of a song," muses Holly Cole. "If its a great lyric I often love to slow it down, explore it, dissect it and deconstruct it. I love to take it apart and then put it back together and look at it in an entirely different way. In the process, it often becomes a darker tune. Thats a huge part of my art form, thats a huge part of what I do."

The venerable art form that Cole refers to is that of the song interpreter. In pre-rock pop and jazz, singers very rarely wrote their own material. Instead they concentrated on developing their interpretive skills to the level of a fine art coloured by nuances of time, timbre and phrasing, all in the service of getting to the emotional core of the material at hand. Back in those days, such an approach resulted in song stylists as riveting, diverse and idiosyncratic as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. None of these vocal titans were the least bit willing to settle for anything but the finest compositions that mankind was capable of. Consequently, rather than feeling compelled to craft their own material, they drew upon the superior skills of writers such as Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Sammy Cahn and James Van Heusen.

Holly Cole has been staking her own substantive claim to this repertoire for most of the past eleven years. Beginning with her self-produced Christmas Blues EP in November 1989, Cole has charted a career that has included five albums, a couple of anthologies, the aforementioned EP, several television specials and some of the finest and most engaging vocal work in the world of contemporary pop.

Born into a musical family in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Cole from birth was inundated with a wide range of musical styles. Both her parents were classical musicians, pop and rock were the music of choice for her peer group at school, and Celtic and country were omnipresent within her immediate community. In this environment singing was as natural as riding a bike. While most families spend their after dinner time engaged in discussions as to what television shows to watch, Coles family debated over what to sing. Everyone in her family played piano and, upon graduating from high school, her older brother headed off to study jazz at the prestigious Berkelee College of Music in Boston.

Cole was sixteen when she decided to take a couple of months off, head down to Boston and spend some quality time with her elder sibling. For the next eight weeks, she hung out with her brother and his friends listening to the seminal recordings of every important post-war jazz artist. The experience changed her life.

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Here are some links to mp3 files of Holly Cole. They are from her website at www.hollycole.com. They are a bit large if you are on dialup connection. Enjoy.

Song1

Song2

Song3

Song4

Song5

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