How do you deal w/ all the music you'll never hear?

[colinmce]

This is something I think about from time to time, but it's really been thrown into relief by some intense Ebay auctions of late. How do you, as a completely obsessive listener when it comes to this music, deal with that fact that some recordings may never be available to you? I'm thinking especially of real collector's item type things. To whit: I have been getting into Jimmy Lyons quite a bit and have been very intrigued by his recordings on Hat Hut from the late 70s/early 80s. One rare title, Riffs was up for auction a few days ago and ended at over $80. Now, I've a long ways to go in my life (God willing, of course) and who knows what sort of financial position I will be in many years down the road, but I get the feeling I'll never really be able to drop that kind of money on a single record. Furthermore, the chance that it will see reissue is slim to none. Ditto Hat albums by Joe McPhee, Braxton, Steve Lacy, et al, and ditto all manner of other small pressings, Mosaics, etc.

Now, I think the simple answer here is that you never know and you should enjoy what you have and can get. Certainly true, but it's still painful! Any similar experiences?

[JSngry]

The internet is your friend. So do not despair.

But think about all the music you'll never hear because it never was or never will be recorded, or because it was made at a time and/or in a place you'll neveer go to, or maybe will never even know exists.

It's a big world, ya' know?

[Big Beat Steve]

qcolinmce:

You mean what I make of all those never-reissued and never-to-be-reissued 78s that jeffcrom quotes in his posts in the "What 78rpm are you just playing?" topic?

Can be sort of frustrating, being confronted with all that rare stuff.

Same feeling while browsing through those "First Pressings" books by Galen Gart or discography entries everywhere.

OTOH, coping with the problem you mention (which has kept me worried at times too) is made a LOT easier by

1) realizing that what you have in your collection is more than you will be able to really absorb in the rest of your lifetime anyway,

2) remembering that in the CD age reissues still seem to abound and you just have to look hard enough to find more never-before-reissued items almost every day,

3) realizing that the more you learn about the history of your favorite music, the more music you discover that will probably never become available to you (apart from rare originals) so if you really want to remain interested in the music and be ready to discover more (and you need to learn more to be able to make discoveries) you'd better overcome this feeling of never being able to get ALL you want really fast!

That said, and getting back to what you said in your post, do I have to assume that the fact that I recently ordered THIS

http://www.amazon.com/Discography-Western-String-1928-1942-Discographies/dp/0313311161/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295252790&sr=8-1

through Amazon can only be described as an act of masochism, then? :lol:

Edited January 17, 2011 by Big Beat Steve

[John L]

As long as I get to hear the Pres recordings at the Harlem Jazz Museum, I'll be at peace with myself in that respect.

[A Lark Ascending]

I'm just grateful for all the amazing music I can hear - again and again and again, whenever I want to.

That's quite a recent historical development, in the grand scheme of things.

[manfred]

This is something I think about from time to time, but it's really been thrown into relief by some intense Ebay auctions of late. How do you, as a completely obsessive listener when it comes to this music, deal with that fact that some recordings may never be available to you? I'm thinking especially of real collector's item type things. To whit: I have been getting into Jimmy Lyons quite a bit and have been very intrigued by his recordings on Hat Hut from the late 70s/early 80s. One rare title, Riffs was up for auction a few days ago and ended at over $80. Now, I've a long ways to go in my life (God willing, of course) and who knows what sort of financial position I will be in many years down the road, but I get the feeling I'll never really be able to drop that kind of money on a single record. Furthermore, the chance that it will see reissue is slim to none. Ditto Hat albums by Joe McPhee, Braxton, Steve Lacy, et al, and ditto all manner of other small pressings, Mosaics, etc.

Now, I think the simple answer here is that you never know and you should enjoy what you have and can get. Certainly true, but it's still painful! Any similar experiences?

yes, i have to admit that i have had this feeling, too....

guess, you are younger than 35, are you? (should not sound arrogant or boastful, age is no merit!)

you will once see, that about 98% of the recordings do not deliever, what you think, they promise to you, or what you expected from them.....

if it would really help you, i could send you one of may hat albums, for instance one of Joe McPhee or Steve Lacy....

[The Red Menace]

Comrade!!! I myself sometimes ponder the conundrum of which you speak and have lit upon a plan. I have purchased a roomy tomb, replete with a specially-designed 24-disc-changer stereo system, for my inevitable departure. My collection will be buried with me, and each day at dawn the cemetery attendant will place a fresh two-dozen batch of discs in the player. If my present rate of acquisition continues and I live another decade (I am, after all, 94 years old!!!), I should have enough music for a roughly-five-year-long cycle before having to start my posthumous listening anew. However, I do anticipate further releases from Mosaic and am consigning part of my estate to pay for their delivery to my mausoleum (an afterlife subscription service, if you will), where the attendant will read the notes aloud to me as the music plays.

That is one solution, anyway.

Edited January 16, 2011 by The Red Menace

[porcy62]

I think that lots of musicians never had, or will never have, me in their audience, that, considering the really excellent and eminent guy I am , is definitely frustrating for them.

Edited January 17, 2011 by porcy62

[paul secor]

There's so much music readily available - good, bad, and in between - that I can't be bothered worrying about something that I've never heard.

Plus, I've been around long enough to have found that, in the end, just about everything gets reissued in some form or other.

[brownie]

I'll start feeling old when I'll stop wanting to hear more music

[mikeweil]

The only recordings that I am really worried about are those reportedly made, but lost forever, like the Blue Note ten incher of John Collins ...

[alankin]

The music I'll never hear? I just don't listen to it.

[king ubu]

The only recordings that I am really worried about are those reportedly made, but lost forever, like the Blue Note ten incher of John Collins ...

Yeah, everything else, we'll hear some day, won't we?

[Brad]

It's not possible to know what you don't know and that just doesn't include music. For example, my son asks me why I read so much about Abraham Lincoln, one of my heroes. He says you know so much about him already. My answer: there is always more to know.

[David Ayers]

pure extent

it's a menace alright

[GregK]

ignorance

[Chuck Nessa]

I can't know what I don't know so I don't worry. I am grateful for what I do know and what I might know in the future.

I can't really know all the recordings I already have.

I will never completely know the Beethoven sonatas as played by Schnabel or the early recordings of King Oliver.

I am grateful for the mysteries to be explored in these recordings.

[papsrus]

I can't know what I don't know so I don't worry. I am grateful for what I do know and what I might know in the future.

I can't really know all the recordings I already have.

I will never completely know the Beethoven sonatas as played by Schnabel or the early recordings of King Oliver.

I am grateful for the mysteries to be explored in these recordings.

An important insight.

More and more these days I find my appetite/curiosity waning when it comes to music I've yet to hear, and my attention instead being drawn toward just getting deeper into the music I already have on hand (various pending Nessa releases notwithstanding).

[Spontooneous]

I am going to render Chuck's wise words in needlepoint and hang them on the wall, close to the Schnabel records.

[JohnS]

In fifty years of listening I've found that most of the music I wanted to hear has come my way one way or another - via friends, reissues and perhaps most importantly the kindness of members of this board.

[AllenLowe]

this thread has appeared to me just as I've started to worry about all the music I'm missing. Some of this is a function of living in Shitsville; but it's also a matter of the expansion of music to the point that, eventually, to paraphrase Andy Warhol, everyone will record their 15 minutes of music. And the truth is that there is too much crap out there in every genre, jazz included, and I end up wasting my time on a lot of things which don't pan out. But it's necessary to make the effort.

there's an Isaac Babel story: "You Must Know Everything." I tend to agree.

I need a few years off and/or a subsidy to pursue a lot of it; won't happen, so I try to narrow the field and look for inspiration where I can find it.

[Bright Moments]

here ya go mates - this is all ya need!

[Swinging Swede]

My life will not be complete until I have heard Tyrone Washington's Train Wreck.

[ATR]

Nessa is right. And I find that as I get older I laugh at questions like this more often than not. What can you say beyond 'I can only deal with the music I have heard'? Only that a lot of the stuff I read about music turns out I don't agree with when I actually hear it and the effort I spent trying to get the recording seems, well, wasted.

[Rooster_Ties]

My life will not be complete until I have heard Tyrone Washington's Train Wreck.

I used to think that.