OT - Music/artists to listen to?

Seems that there a few here interested in music as listeners and players. I would like to get some ideas for artists and songs that might be worth checking out since it is so easy nowadays. I am just a hacker on guitar and keyboards so no special talent there but love listening to great music since I can't play it.

To simplify a bit, I have always been into guitar rock since I grew up in that generation but have always liked classic jazz, blues and blues/rock the most with a focus on guitar players although keyboards are appreciated. My Dad helped me get into classic jazz and even big band music early on so I still like everything.

Some of my favorites that might help narrow this down a bit:
Guitar - Joe Pass, Chet Atkins, Tommy Emmanuel. Mike Bloomfield, Robben Ford, Jeff Beck, Clapton, Page, Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn..... Gary Moore, Steve Morse, Steve Lukather
Jazz - Oscar Peterson, Milt Jackson, Basie, Dizzy, Brubeck, Joe Williams, Les McCann, Jazz at the Pawnshop, Wynton Marsalis
Other - Flim & the BB's, Bela Fleck, Chicago, BS&T

Any recommendations for musicians and songs in similar veins? Will not turn down good stuff outside this narrow field either. My music library is around 8,000 songs and 700 albums so just trying to find a couple of new gems for working out and outside listening music on the deck.

do you have spotify? if so it will recommend similar artists after you choose the ones you know you like. spotify has me listening to all sorts of stuff I hadn't heard of before and appreciating music that I was too cool to listen to when I was younger. and because i'm often in places where there is limited cell service I can easily back up music to my phone.

you tube is also great. I've found that I've appreciated many musicians more after I've seen them perform and you tube will also recommend other artists similar to the ones you listen to.

Mumbo said...
Blackjack - I like Derek Trucks, have most of the Crossroads videos and a CD. Tedeschi added something to the mix when she joined him. I think I he plays with the Allman Bros also. Never listened to Amos Lee, I actually drift to more instrumental music but will listen to anything on occasion.

F8 - Good idea, have not used Spotify in years. I do use the iTunes functions and check our similar artists but those tend to loop around the same artists. Have done YouTube when looking for specific things. Just put Spotify back on my iPad, will see how it goes.

I use spotify on my phone with wireless headphones. that way i can listen to just about any song that's ever been been written when i'm in the gym, walking the dog, working or standing behind a tripod waiting for the sun to set or the moon to rise. i have maybe 500-600 albums downloaded on MP3 but specific music is a lot easier to access with spotify especially if its something i haven't downloaded. i use a sports earplug set and i also have over-ear headphones depending on what i'm doing.

Gear said...
Pandora also chooses music similar to a list you create. Producers and DJ’s used to filter out the junk, today harder to find new groups in your style because there are too many. Streaming music sites are a great way to find new bands and let these sites help with the filtering.....anything rooted in the blues/jazz is fine with me.

yeah pandora or spotify. pick one. they are essentially the same. having a huge library of music plus being able to buy singles for 15 cents a song I was skeptical about the need for spotify but after only a couple of weeks into a 90-day free trial I was hooked.

F8 - My old 160GB iPod died some years ago which was my best friend, I had my entire collection on it and would leave it on shuffle for walks, still pissed at Apple about that. I would find myself hearing good songs I could not even remember so I would stop and try to read the screen in the sunlight so I could remember to listen to the full album again when I got home.

I have most of my music in iTunes Match so I can access from any Apple device as long as I have an internet connection, just eats up the GB’s like all the streaming services and I am too cheap for an unlimited plan.

Gear - I remembered Pandora when I download Spotify again and put the icons together in my music section. It was not that many years ago when cell service was so poor that you could not use streaming on road trips so I always had to have a collection with me. Nowadays you have to be in remote locations to lose touch so not quite as important. The dinosaur in me changes slowly although I have more electronics than the average person.

I guess I was just trying to save some time by getting some personal recommendations to follow up on, kind of fun that way but I suppose I can do it myself. For example, if you like piano boogie, Silvan Zingg is pretty good since few play that way anymore.
https://youtu.be/rlf14ffltl0

If you like Bach on synthesizer, try Don Dorsey:
https://youtu.be/muxtsjey3wq[img]

Also like James Taylor and Joe Walsh doing Steamroller on the 2004 Crossroads.

I have 1,000+ CDs and a small pile of old vinyl - also have Pandora, etc. but will often buy CD's at festivals or shows to support the artist. These dudes have to eat and Pandora and Spotify pay diddly. Saw Tedeschi Trucks at Merlefest in North Carolina a few years ago and remember Tedeschi from before Trucks - her family run a convenience store chain back here in Massachusetts. I like all kinds of music - rock, folk, blues, classical. Hung out at coffee houses in Boston and Cambridge in my teens in the 60s - Club 47, The Unicorn -- and followed the trail backward from Dave Van Ronk to the people who influenced him - Reverend (a.k.a. "Blind") Gary Davis, etc. If I had to pick one musician out of the many it would be Townes Van Zandt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq8wqj0f20y

Mumbo, your picks line up right there with Dave's. He introduced me to a lot of different music and musicians, as I was pretty much coming from folk rock, traditional country, and classical.

Here's a few that I particularly like:

George Shearing, jazz piano
Charlie Parker, jazz sax
Scott Hamilton, sax
Chet Baker, jazz trumpet (also pretty cool crooner)
John Fahey, guitar
Leo Kotke, guitar
Ottoman Liebert, guitar
Jesse Cook, guitar
Roy Buchanan, guitar

I will show Dave your list, maybe he will see somebody new.

...Barb

F8 said...
I ripped all my CDs to MP3 right after I was treated for prostate cancer. in fact that's when I bought the 160gb ipod. it was my buddy's idea because he knows I love music and I was depressed.

I took all my CDs to rasputin's music and sold them for almost $300 which nearly paid for the two 160gb ipods (I gave the other to my buddy for his help and support).

I have a pretty deep collection of blues, jazz, and gospel along with a lot of rock, folk, and classical albums ranging from Big Bill Broonzy, Sister Loretta Tharpe, Jimmie Rodgers to Charlie Byrd, Lena Horn, Shirley Horne, CCR, Benjamin Britten -- you name it. I've ripped 400+ of my CD's and have them on my cell phone, but there is no way I can give up liner notes. On long road trips (we have a travel trailer) I still bring a few boxes of CDs. My wife doubles as navigator and DJ and likes to read the liner notes, which you just don't have with MP3s. Oh - and she likes maps - she's sorted them into north and south of the Mason Dixon line in the passenger-side door pocket. Soon there will be no more liner notes; no more maps. Sigh!
Jim

Post Edited (Bohemond) : 5/29/2019 11:18:04 AM (GMT-6)

I don’t know if it was mentioned before, but one of very few newer groups worthwhile for me is the Black Keys. A two man band playing garage rock blues. Pretty decent guitar.

It's easier to list what I don't like than what I do: I am not a fan of opera or rap but anything else goes.

I was raised on my parent's swing, pop, and country-western and took years of classical piano lessons before I walked away from that and took up the guitar. I don't play it as much as I play at but I keep my callouses up.

I am originally from Los Angeles and went to LOTS of concerts, mostly rock, but lots of jazz. I guess what I really like can be determined more by what concerts I went to than by what records I own: Creedence, Three Dog Night, Guess Who, Steppenwolf, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Country Joe and the Fish, Judy Collins, Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Poco, Elvis Costello, Pink Floyd (saw them to The Wall,) Arlo Guthrie (many times), David Grisman (many times), Rosemary Clooney, Natalie Cole, David Sanborn, Gil Scott-Heron, The Roches, 10,000 Maniacs, John Prine (many times,) Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, Sadao Watenabe, Spyro Gyra, BB King, Etta James, The Johnny Otis Show, Bob Dylan, Boz Scaggs, Bonnie Raitt, Paul Simon, and many, many others.

And if I had to name one Desert Island band as my all-time favorite, it would be Steely Dan

I can disclose that my guilty pleasure is Brit-Pop. I especially like The Beautiful South, Belle and Sebastian, Culture Club, Keene, Oasis, and the Smiths (Morrisey).

I have a large record, tape, and digital collection. I just added 260 vinyl records from a sister who is downsizing, mostly 70s-80s jazz and some rock in mint condition. I play music on record, cassette, reel-to-reel, 8-track, and digital.

F8 & Bohemond - Music collecting started a ridiculously long time ago (after 8 tracks) with me ripping (copying at 1X) albums to cassettes (without computers) for my Sony Walkman player when I traveled. Did have a portable CD player but it took up too much space with CD's. Went to the Diamond Rio MP3 player at some point where I ripped MP3's from CD's with SoundJam software which effectively became iTunes later on. Went with the Apple eco system every since slowly ripping albums, CD's, and music video tracks until my collection was pretty complete with a few rock, classical and jazz CD's remaining that I cannot remember why I bought them. Almost all albums are gone now but lots of CD's on the shelf. Sounds like we all have been there in the pursuit of portable music. My latest vehicle does not have a CD player but does have Apple Play so probably a decent trade off.

DaveAndBarb - I have a few names on your list, will check out the others. Interested to see what Dave recommends.

mattam & Vince - it was just a matter of time before the desert island criteria would sneak in. We should probably have a separate thread for that with the 5 albums/CD's that you would be stranded with. Vince - Have or have listened to almost everyone on your list, saw David Grisman with Tommy Emmanuel a year or two ago, excellent concert. Sounds like you have an excellent collection IMHO. Rock on... mattam - not much experience with Black Keys, will have to give them another try.

Gear - Lived in the DC area for 10 years, well acquainted with the Nighthawks, Jimmy Thackery, and Danny Gatton. J Geils Band is similar. Will listen to the other band.

alephnull - Yeah, it has been depressing lately, the names are popping up in the paper and on-line faster than I can reconcile them. When I was working, I would play music in my office all day long of noted musicians that died and rarely did anyone know who the band or person was. Then I retired since it was clear I missed the last music boat.

Post Edited (Mumbo) : 5/30/2019 6:44:24 AM (GMT-6)

mattam said...
... since I caught a Stones concert in ‘81.

"Start Me Up"/Tattoo You tour? I saw it in Orlando that year at the Tangerine Bowl. Funny thing...I knew that I HAD to get tickets and go because if I didn't I might not ever get a chance to see this all-time classic group again in my lifetime...