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Listening Repertoire
Posted on Monday October 14, 2024
I have developed this concept of listening repertoire, similar to practice repertoire or performance repertoire, but for listening.
Back in the olden days (also known as the sixties) when I got my paycheck I would head to the record store and buy an album. On a good week two but anything more than that would cut into my groceries and rent.
When I got home that record would hit the turntable and if I liked it as much as I thought I would it lived there for a while, at least several days before I would swap in the album I bought last week or one I had listened to for years.
But for that week and much of the next I’d listen to it a lot. When guests came over I would play it for them. If we had a party it would be playing in the background.
Now, jump to the present day, where I can listen to anything I want to, anytime. I rarely listen to an album more than once. I love live performances and I watch them on Youtube or listen to them on the Live Music Archive, usually once.
I think we can all relate to this experience. There’s so much music and so little time it’s hard to give any song or album the time it deserves. The in depth active listen, that only comes with repeated listening, sometimes in the background, sometimes sitting in your sweet spot, focusing only on the songs.
This is where listening repertoire comes in to save the day.
When I find a new (to me) album that I really like, I load it into my player and set it to loop. I pause it when I want and I start it again when I want, from the pause point or from track 1. But I let it live there, in my player, for a while, to get that deep understanding that only comes with repeated listening.
After a few days I’ll swap it out for another album in my listening repertoire, for an old favorite, or for something new. But it remains at the top of my listening repertoire and I still put it on loop occasionally and just let it play.
When, after a week (or two) I find another album that I really like, it replaces the old with the new at the top of my listening repertoire.
Occasionally, I will scan through my listening repertoire and remove albums I’m no longer listening to frequently. Since they have been through my listening repertoire I know them well and I will certainly return to them in the future.
Some albums remain in my listening repertoire for a long time. I continue listening to them once or twice a month. They’re just that good.
And yes, I keep a list of my listening repertoire. I add new albums at the top of the list. This formalization keeps me from forgetting an album too soon. Everybody’s busy. Everybody forgets stuff. Removing an album from my listening repertoire is a decision I make, not something that accidentally happens.
You may have noticed that I am focusing on albums, not songs or playlists. I believe that the album is the musician’s long form statement just like the song is their short form statement. An album has variety and depth so I can listen to it for several days. You do what works for you. I’m old. I like albums.
Here’s my current listening repertoire. So it’s newest (to the list) at the top. Not best at the top. The fact that Nubya’s 5ive remains on the list after several years shows just how much I like it.
Nigel Harpur - Carnival For Little Creatures
https://nigelharpur.bandcamp.com/album/carnival-for-little-creaturesElla Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - Ella and Louis
John Coltrane - Crescent
ADHD Quartet - ADHD 6
https://adhdiceland.com/Paul Bley - Fragments
Steve Khan - The Green Field
http://www.stevekhan.com/discog18.htmNubya Garcia - Nubya’s 5ive
https://nubyagarcia.bandcamp.com/album/nubyas-5iveGoing To The Biscuit
Posted on Wednesday October 09, 20242024 King Biscuit Blues Festival.
Before the pandemic I went every year. First to dance and then to play. Not that I didn’t dance and play every year.
I last attended in 2019. I played with The Emporium Orkestra at Downtown Bar and Grill. Delta Legends played on the Cedell Davis Stage. And I played with all my friends at Tent City and Helena Handbasket.
I am so looking forward to this. It’s gonna be great. I’m taking my guitar, harmonicas, and my piano. I hope I don’t get too tired.
I can’t wait to see my friends again and eat another biscuit.
Bebop Beatniks Live At Blues Fest Craighead Forest Bandshell Jonesboro, Arkansas September 29, 2024
Posted on Tuesday October 08, 2024Bebop Beatniks
Live At Blues Fest
Craighead Forest Bandshell
Jonesboro, Arkansas
September 29, 2024Songs
00:00 01 Low Earth Orbit
09:44 02 Yesterday
16:32 03 Summertime
24:41 04 The Blue Crane
34:14 05 Georgia
43:00 06 Malaysia1, 4, and 6 by Larry Heyl
Personnel
Paul Lessard - Alto Sax
Jeremy Jackson - bass
Alex Washam - drums
Hairy Larry - piano, vocalsvia Hudson Marquez
Posted on Tuesday October 08, 2024via Hudson Marquez
Clarence Gatemouth Brown
Posted on Tuesday October 08, 2024Clarence Gatemouth Brown
Blues Fest Relocated
Posted on Friday October 04, 2024Blues Fest has been relocated near the park entrance because of electrical problems at the bandshell.
Enter Craighead Forest Park at the main entrance. Blues Fest will be on the left. If you get to the roundabout you’ve gone too far.
Blues Fest
Craighead Forest Park
Jonesboro, ArkansasSunday, October 6, 2024
2:00 Hairy Larry and The Flying Hungarians
3:00 Mike Mcleod
4:00 The West Finch Blues Band
5:00 John Shepherd
6:00 Anna and the TanksBlues Fest 2024
Posted on Thursday October 03, 2024Blues Fest
Craighead Forest Bandshell
Jonesboro, ArkansasOctober 6, 2024
2:00 Hairy Larry and The Flying Hungarians
3:00 Mike Mcleod
4:00 The West Finch Blues Band
5:00 Delta Legends - John Shepherd, Jeremy Burnett, and Hairy Larry
6:00 Anna and the Tanks
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