Do you still listen obsessively to certain albums or artists?

[ghost of miles]

I did this quite a lot when I was much younger, seemingly a lot less for some middle-aged years, and then in recent times doing it more often again. I enjoy the passionate intensity of engaging with an album repeatedly over the course of a week or two (did this not long ago with Love’s Forever Changes), but also am increasingly aware that time spent in such a way comes at the expense of time to explore recordings (or books—I have a similar conflict with the desire to reread) that I haven’t already heard. Still, there’s a marvelous joy to staying with what’s enrapturing you. 

[Larry Kart]

Not anymore, but when I was a junior in high  school I listened obsessively for some weeks (maybe even longer) to Gil Evans' then recent album "New Bottles, Old Wine," in particular to Gil's hypnotic setting of Fats Waller's "Willow Tree."

[felser]

I don't, as there is so much I haven't yet heard which I want to (I love the exploration), but I do understand the appeal of it (and 'Forever Changes' is a great choice).  In an infinite situation, I would surely do so. 

[mjzee]

Not sure about “obsessively,” but I do go in depth with artists, so maybe not deep within one song or album, but instead surveying an entire career.  I bought all 6 volumes of JSP’s complete Fats Waller, all of Frog’s Red Nichols, classical music boxes like the Horowitz, Rubinstein, Szell, Bruno Walter.  I also look for sales: I took advantage of a recent Tommy’s Jazz offer and bought 9 of Keith Jarrett’s live titles, both trio and solo.  Listening to artists in depth helps me to understand and enjoy the artist’s music.

[danasgoodstuff]

Yes, sometimes.  But not as much as I used to.  Been listening to a lot of Red Garland solo and trio in the last year or two, sometimes exclusively or near exclusively.

[Eric]

Oh hell yeah!

My interests are jazz and rock.  I rarely mix the two, so may go rock for a few weeks and then be done - and then flip back to jazz.  Spend maybe 2/3 with jazz and 1/3 with rock, plus select country, blues and classical.

So if I am in a rock phase, I will drill down hard on a certain artist.  If I find something I love, I will play the hell out of it, just to try to fully absorb it, what the artist is really trying to communicate, I guess.

My latest rock obsession is an album by Charlie Sexton called Under the Wishing Tree.  Just fantastic, timeless and I can’t seem to get enough of it 😃

On the jazz side, my latest “crush” has been John Patton, his later Blue Note stuff, say from 1966 onward.  A bunch of this came out on the Rare Groove series.  But I just can’t get enough of this stuff, I find it amazingly rich.

Recent crushes have included Trane (a frequent target over the years), Sonny, Hampton Hawes and Teddy Edwards (Contemporary years).

it is funny, my wife picks up on it and will tease me about it, which of course I love 😃

[soulpope]

Not obssesively (anymore), but returning recurringly to a smaller number of records ....

[BillF]

In my early days as a jazz listener c.1960 everyone indulged in listening behavior that would now be considered obsessional, as no one had more than about 20 albums!

Nowadays I revel in being able to listen via streaming to literally thousands of albums. 😃 👍

But in those bygone days it was theoretically possible to go out and hear live Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Art Blakey, Horace Silver ....

[porcy62]

Yes, in my youth, but I think it had more to do with the fact I owned few records back then.

[JSngry]

29 minutes ago, porcy62 said:

Yes, in my youth, but I think it had more to do with the fact I owned few records back then.

Hello. 

[Gheorghe]

Yes, in my youth, of course I didn´t have many records then, it was Miles Davis "Steamin", "Miles Davis in Europe 1963", "The Great Concert of Charles Mingus (with Dolphy), Charles Mingus "Blues and Roots", Charlie Parker "Savoy Master Takes", Dizzy Gillespie "Groovin High", Bud Powell "The Amazing Vol. 1 and 2", Fats Navarro Memorial (Savoy) , John Coltrane Good Bait, Sonny Rollins Prestige Sessions. 

I listened to them over and over again.

Now I don´t listen very much anymore due to lack of time and because I´m playing myself....

[mikeweil]

6 hours ago, soulpope said:

Not obssesively (anymore), but returning recurringly to a smaller number of records ....

Same here.

[HutchFan]

I still regularly go on "benders."  It's usually an artist, rather than a particular album. 

Other times, I might narrowly focus on sub-genres (like, say, Brazilian jazz) or eras (early-70s jazz).   

Also, I find that that I'll always return to stuff that makes an impact.  So I might go on a bender (and almost over do it), but eventually I'll come back again.  It's a sort of circling around process, coming-and-going -- and then coming-and-going again.

 

12 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

Still, there’s a marvelous joy to staying with what’s enrapturing you. 

Yes!  For me, one of life's great pleasures is diving into the deep end of the pool & splashing about -- immersing yourself in an artist's music.

 

Edited January 5 by HutchFan

[Teasing the Korean]

It's easier to do this - deliberately or accidentally - with digital playlists or a CD, as the CD will automatically start over.  With LPs, more work is involved.  Sometimes, with something new, I will play it a few times within a short amount of time to absorb it.  But with more music and less time to listen, it gets harder.  

I do have some seasonal listening preferences, and as a result, certain albums will be spun at least once a year.  But between this, I am trying to listen to seldom-played albums.  

Edited January 5 by Teasing the Korean

[Stompin at the Savoy]

I go through phases like that.  For the past several years I've been listening to a lot of Count Basie. Bought tons of cds, read his autobiography, looking for the t-shirt...  Don't you just love his version of In a Mellow Tone?

Edited January 5 by Stompin at the Savoy

[Pim]

Sometimes.... It's mostly with certain artists. If I spin one Coltrane, Waldron, Harper or Tolliver record I sometimes can't stop and keep playing their music for a week or so.

[Aggie87]

On 1/5/2023 at 2:56 AM, Eric said:

My latest rock obsession is an album by Charlie Sexton called Under the Wishing Tree.  Just fantastic, timeless and I can’t seem to get enough of it 😃

 

 

Charlie's a remarkable musician.  Here are some pics of him at 14 years old when he played lead guitar for Joe Ely.

 

Edited January 7 by Aggie87

[Teasing the Korean]

Several years ago, I bought a concept album by a 70s rock band called Spooky Tooth.  The only reason I bought it was because of the involvement of French electronic music pioneer Pierre Henry, whose 1960s French discotheque hit "Psyche Rock" has been sampled quite a bit over the last few decades.

Shortly after lugging it home, Ms. TTK had to work one weekend, so I spun it.  I thought to myself, "I can't tell if this is brilliant or terrible."  I ended up spinning it 3 more times that weekend.  And after the fourth time, I still couldn't tell if it was brilliant or terrible. I haven't played it since.

Edited January 7 by Teasing the Korean

[jazzbo]

One of my barrack mates in boarding school in M'Babane had a few Spooky Tooth albums which were contemporary then. I remember liking them well enough, though I was more into Cream, Hendrix, Mayall and other artists then. I don't remember hearing them since.

[JSngry]

[Jim Duckworth]

On 1/5/2023 at 3:02 AM, soulpope said:

Not obssesively (anymore), but returning recurringly to a smaller number of records ....

This is true for me with Duke Ellington being an exception.

[Teasing the Korean]

32 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Do you know "Psyche Rock?"  You've probably heard it if you don't know it by name.  

 

Edited January 7 by Teasing the Korean

[felser]

This was THE great Spooky Tooth album, from 1969 (though they made several other good ones).  Mike Harrison was a spectacular singer, and Gary Wright brought a lot to the group with his organ, writing, and vocals.  The opening track "Waitin' For The Wind" , still stops me in my tracks 54 years later, and the closer (though bonus cuts follow on this version) "Evil Woman" is as perfect a "heavy" rock song as there could be. 'Ceremony' is a (fascinating) mess, and destroyed the original group.  They reformed a couple of years later without Luther Grosvenor, who went on to Mott the Hoople, to replace Mick Ralphs.  Grosvenor went by "Ariel Bender" during his Mott phase.

 

 

Edited January 8 by felser

[Teasing the Korean]

Not much interest in Spooky Tooth, but MAJOR interest in the great Pierre Henry! 

[felser]

7 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Not much interest in Spooky Tooth, but MAJOR interest in the great Pierre Henry! 

Opposite here.  I tried a Henry box set one time, and was not too happy with it.  And he never did a great doomsday version of "I Am The Walrus", far surpassing those luvable moptops!