Ever Drift Away From Favorite Artists?

[Dan Gould]

I've been systematically shuttling CDs to the office for a while now-in fact, I am on my second pass through the alphabet, and something just occured to me as I popped in another Coltrane OJC:

I used to listen to Trane all the time, when I first started exploring, but its actually been a long long time that I've gone deep into his catalog (outside of classics like Blue Train and the Hartman collaboration) and that got me wondering.

Are there artists you used to dig but haven't paid much attention to?

If you return to them, do they have the same appeal now?

(I'm actually thinking on some of these tracks, "sheets of sound" my ass, say your piece and shut up! )

[wesbed]

I've drifted, many times, into and out of Steely Dan. I'll go through all the albums, listening intently as hell. I'll remember the songs, the visions they provided for me and the postive feelings of the world they gave to me.

For no apparent reason I'll just... stop listening to Dan. When the time is right I'll pop in some more Steely tunes and begin to enjoy & appreciate all over again.

Steely Dan is one of those artists that will always be there when you need them.

[Dan Gould]

For no apparent reason I'll just... stop listening to Dan.

It is my devout wish that no one else decides to do this.

[Eric]

All the time. It is fun to "re-visit" a while later and see if the music is still meaningful. For me, every time I come back to Trane, Bird or Wes, it is like coming home for Christmas, except there are even more presents under the tree. But there have been others - that have just left me cold. Hard to cite a specific example though ... they are in the minority ...

Eric

[AfricaBrass]

I do it with Coltrane too.

Another group I drift away from is the Beatles. I grew up collecting their records and listening to them constantly. Now, I won't listen to any of their music for a year or so, then I'll put some on and listen to it constantly for about a week. By then I've got my fill and it's back to Beatles' hibernation.

[BruceH]

Yeah, I gave the Beatles a nice long rest of about 10 years. Now I'll play some albums or tapes for a day or two on occasion, mainly so my kids know who they were.

Right now I seem to be giving Bird a rest. I used to listen to some Dial or Savoy sides at least every few months, but for the last year or two I've had the feeling that it's all imprinted so deep on my brain, why bother putting it on?

[JohnS]

I think it's inevitable. It's easy to overload. Sometimes though I just need a change. At the moment I'm a hard bopper but after a while I'll want to drift back to something a bit freer for a while, then I'll drift back again.

Not Bird though. A weekly dose of Parker keeps everything in perspective.

Edited October 28, 2003 by JohnS

[Jazzmoose]

I've grabbed a Coltrane CD maybe twice in the last year. It was inevitable, I guess; Coltrane was the first jazz artist I went nuts over, and with Coltrane and little else on the shelf, I'm not surprised that I'm giving him a long rest now.

I've had more than enough Lee Morgan for a bit as well.

[Aftab]

I go through phases where I will listen to an artist non-stop, and then not again for a long time. I dug out a Chet Baker cd the other day for the first time in easily 6 mos - and I use Chet as my avatar!

I'm just into so many artists and styles, it's hard to focus on one for a long period of time. But like was previously stated, when you revisit your favorites, it's like coming home again.