re-listening...

I'm finding that I am increasingly unable to say that I don't like something when I hear something that I don't care for. More and more I'm finding that the truth is that I'm not ready to hear it. Case in point; years ago when I was first getting interested in jazz I was told to check out Kenny Burrell. This was during a time when I was under the spell of Joe Pass. I picked up At the Five Spot Café, listened to it, and couldn't hear what the fuss was about.

Fast-forward about 15 years; I get an iPod and begin ripping all my CDs so I can listen to them in my car—by the way this is a great way to rediscover music that you may have forgotten about. Last weekend I was driving home from a gig and I set the iPod to shuffle. Next thing I know I'm listening to something that I only dimly recognize. I check and notice it's a track from the Kenny Burrell recording, and I'm really digging it! So later the next day I cue up the album and listen to it some more. Lo and behold I'm now ready to digest it and to appreciate Kenny's playing—there's a subtlety about his lines that's hard to pinpoint and I just wasn't ready to hear it before.

Oh well, gotta go listen to some other stuff I forgot about...