Jazz taxonomy

[Teasing the Korean]

2 minutes ago, Dan Gould said:

This is not remotely how I expected you to respond on this subject.

I expected to read that your collection is organized according to what spirit with which it goes best.

Well, alcohol does come into play with regard to the genres.  I spin Latin Jazz and Exotica when mix rum cocktails.   Wine tends to go with Now Sound.  And straightahead jazz demands an Old Fashioned or three. 

[JSngry]

If you're a serious drinker, you file by Buzzed, High, Drunk, Crunk, Tore Down, or Somebody Else Do This.

[Teasing the Korean]

3 minutes ago, JSngry said:

If you're a serious drinker, you file by Buzzed, High, Drunk, Crunk, Tore Down, or Somebody Else Do This.

I pace myself, and I hydrate.  And if I'm even remotely concerned that I overdid it, I drink a coconut water before bend.  Instant hangover prevention.

Oh, and I forgot to mention additional genres I use:  

• Jazz/pop vocals
• French
• San Remo Festival
• International
• Eastern/sitar
• Moog/electronic.

[Bluesnik]

37 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Oh, and I forgot to mention additional genres I use:  

• Jazz/pop vocals
• French
• San Remo Festival
• International
• Eastern/sitar
• Moog/electronic.

Very good

[Teasing the Korean]

14 minutes ago, Bluesnik said:

Very good

Oh, and Disaster Movies. 

[Rooster_Ties]

I’ve told this story before, but I had a roommate back in college for one summer (and she really was just a roommate)… …and all the jazz I was listening to back then (whatever it was), she classified into three simple categories…

1) Pink Panther (as in the PP theme song, and incidental music)

2) Peanuts (as in the Charlie Brown TV specials music)

3) Batman (as in the old Batman 60’s TV theme song).

Anything I would put on (any individual cut), I could ask her what kind was it — and she’d listen for a bit, and put it in one of those three categories.

To her way of thinking, those were the 3 different kinds of jazz.

Edited July 2, 2021 by Rooster_Ties

[Teasing the Korean]

2 minutes ago, Rooster_Ties said:

I’ve told this story before, but I had a roommate back in college for one summer (and she really was just a roommate)… …and all the jazz I was listening to back then (whatever it was), she classified into three simple categories…

1) Pink Panther (as in the PP theme song, and incidental music)

2) Peanuts (as in the Charlie Brown TV specials music)

3) Batman (as in the old Batman 60’s TV theme song).

Anything I would put on (any individual cut), I could ask her what kind was it — and she’d listen for a bit, and put it in one of those three categories.

That is brilliant.  Sometimes novices are better at seeing through the bullshit than experts.  

[Rabshakeh]

1 hour ago, Rooster_Ties said:

I’ve told this story before, but I had a roommate back in college for one summer (and she really was just a roommate)… …and all the jazz I was listening to back then (whatever it was), she classified into three simple categories…

1) Pink Panther (as in the PP theme song, and incidental music)

2) Peanuts (as in the Charlie Brown TV specials music)

3) Batman (as in the old Batman 60’s TV theme song).

Anything I would put on (any individual cut), I could ask her what kind was it — and she’d listen for a bit, and put it in one of those three categories.

To her way of thinking, those were the 3 different kinds of jazz.

I’m desperately wracking my brain to see if I can identify a fourth kind of jazz.

3 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

 

As far as jazz, I have a straight-ahead jazz section.   However, lots of jazz, to varying degrees, is also filed in Now Sound, Latin, Brasilian, Exotica, Space-Age Bachelor Pad, and even a few in the Outer Space and Astrology sections.  For example, CTI albums go in the Now Sound section.

This approach works for me.

What is Now Sound?

[Rooster_Ties]

31 minutes ago, Rabshakeh said:

What is Now Sound?

I don’t really know exactly, but Dusty Groove has a specific sub-section for it…

https://www.dustygroove.com/category/now_sound

This seems to get at it, I presume…

https://www.spaceagepop.com/whatis.htm#now

Edited July 2, 2021 by Rooster_Ties

[Teasing the Korean]

1 hour ago, Rabshakeh said:

What is Now Sound?

I consider Now Sound to be post-Beatles-era music in which aging jazz and easy listening artists are turning on and tuning in to the sounds, moods, and vibrations of today.

Many CTI and Verve albums would go into this section, along with KPM 1000 series library albums.  Miles electric stuff. Also stuff on Groove Merchant, Tribe, Black Jazz, and (some) Strata East. 

Burt Bacharach and Tony Hatch go in Now Sound.  The Ferrante and Teicher album where they do "Hong Kong Soul Brother" goes in Now Sound.

I include many film scores from the mid-60s to mid-70s in this area.  Also Blaxploitation scores and funk too.  Funky Latin and funky Brasilian go in this section also, for example, the Tito Puente album where he does "Last Tango in Paris."

2 hours ago, Bluesnik said:

Very good

I also forgot Crime Jazz and Spy.  The embarrassment, given my name and avatar.

Edited July 2, 2021 by Teasing the Korean

[Rabshakeh]

7 hours ago, Rooster_Ties said:

This seems to get at it, I presume…

https://www.spaceagepop.com/whatis.htm#now

Helpful website. I like how Bossa sits outside the whole structure but controls it entirely, like the mythical Planet X warping Neptune’s orbit.

[Teasing the Korean]

On 7/3/2021 at 2:27 AM, Rabshakeh said:

Helpful website. I like how Bossa sits outside the whole structure but controls it entirely, like the mythical Planet X warping Neptune’s orbit.

That is a great website in terms of artist bios and discographies.  I might  quibble with some of his genre definitions, but defining contrived genres, as opposed to those that evolve naturally, is problematic.

An even better site for this kind of stuff is Tony Wilds' Vinyl Safari.  Again, I don't agree with many of his assessments, but his descriptions are compelling.

http://www.hipwax.com/music/home.html

Edited July 5, 2021 by Teasing the Korean

[Peter Friedman]

The way one organizes/ catalogs ones recordings is basically whatever work for that person.

I organize my extensive CD collection on shelves by record label. I suspect very few do it that way, but it works for me.

I have two exceptions - I file all vocal CDs separately in alphabetical order. I also separate Blues CDs in alphabetical order.

On the other hand, my 3X5 card catalog is organized strictly by Artist/Leader in alphabetical order.

I have a large section in that file for those recordings without a clear leader. It is titled miscellaneous, and organized alphabetically by title of CD instead of artist.

There are always issues that make it less than clear where a CD belongs. For example, a CD with vocals on some tracks and instrumentals on others. I usually use the 50% rule. If vocals are on at least half of the tracks, it if filed with vocals.

I make no distinction in either of my cataloging/filing for separating genres such as Bop, Swing, Big Bands, Traditional, etc.

[Rabshakeh]

1 hour ago, Peter Friedman said:

I organize my extensive CD collection on shelves by record label. I suspect very few do it that way, but it works for me.

Have you always filed by label? Or did you adopt that later on after coming to the conclusion other methods didn't work.

I think that for jazz, as with some other types of music like soul music, the label is a key part of the sound, and could, in many ways, stand in for sub-genre. So it makes a lot of sense to catalogue in that way.

[jazzbo]

Most of my collection is in chaos, not really organized, but I do have my Blue Note, Impulse and Bethlehem titles arranged by label, and I have all my Miles Davis and Bob Dylan titles organized by artist and other artists partially together.

[Teasing the Korean]

2 hours ago, Peter Friedman said:

The way one organizes/ catalogs ones recordings is basically whatever work for that person.

This.  If arranging albums by colors of spines works for you, do it that way. 

[Ken Dryden]

I file all my jazz by artist, then by label and catalog number within the artist. The big challenge is when there are two co-leaders and they tend to alternate who gets top billing. Usually I give preference to the first name listed, but there are exceptions, like all the Dick Hyman/Ruby Braff albums are filed under Hyman. Various artist anthologies are filed the same way, by label and catalog number. I think I finally got this system underway in 1990 after 18 years of collecting and I am glad that I started back then when the collection was far smaller.

I do the same with other genres, though classical has its special challenges, with multiple composers or a prominent soloist or conductor. 

I file all of David Grisman's stuff together, regardless of what styles that i might label it.

The beauty of this system is that I usually find any recording in seconds, unless I made a shifting mistake as I added new arrivals/purchases, which tend to get shelved as CDs are moved to the next row. Sometimes I lose track of which stack to load next and it can take a few minutes to find something.

Large boxed sets, cubes and long boxes are filed separately. Those too big mini-LP CD sleeves get sorted on separate shelves once they start to overflow on my prefab shelves in the center of the room, as they are too tall to fit on them.

 

 

 

[Teasing the Korean]

22 minutes ago, Ken Dryden said:

Usually I give preference to the first name listed, but there are exceptions, like all the Dick Hyman/Ruby Braff albums are filed under Hyman.

Do you file the Dick Hyman Moog album in the Jazz or the Moog/electronic section?

[Ken Dryden]

I just go ahead and file all of Hyman's work together in jazz, even the soundtracks... It may not be a perfect system, but it works for me. I don't really have a Moog section, though I will have to check to see where I filed that Beaver & Krause CD with Gerry Mulligan.

 

[Teasing the Korean]

11 hours ago, Ken Dryden said:

I just go ahead and file all of Hyman's work together in jazz, even the soundtracks... It may not be a perfect system, but it works for me. I don't really have a Moog section, though I will have to check to see where I filed that Beaver & Krause CD with Gerry Mulligan.

Just curious.  Some people can't understand why I would have a single artist filed in more than one section.  Whatever works for the listener. 

[Ken Dryden]

I'm always amused at record stores, which file Kenny G under K rather than G (though I have one friend that always moves everything of his out of the jazz section), put all Benny Goodman in big band, jazz vocalists in easy listening (regardless of the content), etc.

[Teasing the Korean]

18 minutes ago, Ken Dryden said:

I'm always amused at record stores, which file Kenny G under K rather than G (though I have one friend that always moves everything of his out of the jazz section), put all Benny Goodman in big band, jazz vocalists in easy listening (regardless of the content), etc.

When I worked at a record store, I filed Jack Wagner, the soap opera star who had a mid-1980s hit with "All I Need," in the Wagner section in Classical. 

[Dan Gould]

8 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

When I worked at a record store, I filed Jack Wagner, the soap opera star who had a mid-1980s hit with "All I Need," in the Wagner section in Classical. 

This makes me laugh. I was a Genital Hospital fan at the time (going to FSU so time to watch most afternoons). I even recall the character's name who was the subject of the tune: Felicia.  The Quartermaines made me laugh, but the Russian spy storyline was the height of silliness.

[Rooster_Ties]

1 hour ago, Dan Gould said:

This makes me laugh. I was a Genital Hospital fan at the time…

A bold admission, to say the least.

[JSngry]

Warts and all!