A few variables factor into this question for my listening habits.
1) Instrumentation. It's much easier for me to stay involved for longer periods with music performed by a band, which could be anything from a trio to a big band. The variety offered by these instrumentations and the back and forth or conversations between musicians hold my attention better. Solo outings, which are usually either by pianists or guitarists in my music collection, are simply more difficult for me to stay connected with for lengthier periods of time. There is likely just too much sameness of sound in a solo recording for me, even if there are varieties of tempos, keys, ballads, standards, blues, originals, etc.
2) The musician's intent or or involvement with the material on an album. Let's face it, not all albums are created equal; some are more worthy of attentive listening than others. There are musicians who I would gladly listen to every note they ever played -- Louis Armstrong, Ruby Braff, Johnny Hodges, Jack Teagarden, Thelonious Monk, Paul Desmond, Sonny Rollins, etc. But does Louis Armstrong's album of Disney songs really require the kind of attentive listening that, say, his Hot Fives and Sevens recordings do? The Disney album is a fun listen, but it's the kind of thing I might put on as background music if I have chores to do around the house, not for an evening of devoted listening. I doubt if Mr. Armstrong was as committed to the material on that album as he might have been to the material on his W.C. Handy album, for example. Disney simply met Joe Glaser's asking price, so Satch went into the studio to record a Disney album; he probably wasn't even familiar with some of those songs before the recording date.
3) I'm not a musician, so I might enjoy what the musicians on a recording have done without ever being able to analyze, describe or adequately discuss it. Those of you who are musicians will glean more from focused listening than I ever will, I'm sure. I can perhaps deeply listen for a track or two, but if I were to be honest, I'd say I rarely block out all other things in order to sit down and deeply listen to/analyze a recording. I sure don't have the ability to closely analyze the (sometimes slight) differences between various alternate takes.
4) Is the recording in question an original album or a compilation? If it's a compilation, particularly those of the "Chronological" type which include every track done by a given performer, it's likely harder for me to stay completely involved from start to finish of the CD. There were a lot of forgettable songs pushed by publishers back in the day and while Fats Waller might have been able to make something worthwhile out of the lamest of songs, not every musician could do that. While it might be nice to have 75 minutes of music on disc from a favorite performer, if say 20% of the tracks are weak songs which were pushed on them by publishers/producers/managers, it can actually be a hindrance. A couple of weak tracks in a row on a compilation disc can cause my mind to wander and then it is harder to get focused back on the music when some good tracks come up next. Original albums can have this problem too. I'm sure we all can think of an album we generally love, but are still thankful for the "next" button on the CD player to jump over the one or two tracks on that album which don't really excite us much.
5) Live recordings are usually easier for me to stay engaged with for some reason. I guess it's because we expect a set in a club or concert setting to be around 65 - 75 minutes, so listening to a 75 minute recording, even if it was edited together from different performances, simulates what it must have been like to hear the music in person.
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Here's a perfect example of an "extended play" recording which works wonderfully for me. I love it so much that if I ever made a list of Top 20 Favorite Jazz Albums, this CD would definitely be on that list. This music, though recorded at one concert, was originally released on two albums. Combined on one CD, the program runs a little over 78 minutes. This CD meets just about all the criteria I posted about before. It is a "live" recording. I think even the applause -- after numbers and for individual solos -- helps to add variety to the listening experience. It is a mixture of standards, jazz standards, originals and even one original which became a jazz standard (Mongo Santamaria's "Afro Blue"). There is a variety of instrumentation here -- a quartet for some of the more straight-ahead jazz numbers, the added (fantastic!) percussion of Sr. Santamaria and Willie Bobo on the Latin jazz numbers and some selections in both the straight-ahead and Latin jazz formats also include the flute of Paul Horn. And Lonnie Hewitt! I really like his playing here and then I realized I think I have only ever heard him on Cal Tjader recordings. So what was his story? He seems like a talented player who should have had a bigger career than he did. The way the albums were sequenced works very well to maintain the listener's interest, varying the tempos and musical styles from track to track. There are so many high points to this recording, that if you could have but one Cal Tjader recording in your library, this would be the one I would recommend!!