1001 Albums Summary

So What - At the beginning this sounds like what I would expect to hear in an upscale restaurant. Classic jazz sound from the perspective of someone with an untrained ear when it comes to the genre. I enjoy the atmosphere, but it doesn't stand out to me until around 3 minutes. The saxophone solo around 3:30 is particularly enjoyable. The rest of the song continues to not stand out a ton to me, but it makes me feel like I should be drinking wine and I don't even drink. 6/10 Freddie Freeloader - The piano feels almost conversational, lively compared to the more toned down brass instruments. Not much stood out beyond the piano to me on this one. 4/10 Blue in Green - This song immediately sounds familiar, is it wrong that it reminds me of Charlie Brown? According to Google, the Charlie Brown Christmas album by Vince Guaraldi is the second best selling jazz album after this. So that shows how amazingly trained my ear is. Either way, I like it the most. It sounds winter-y without being Christmas-y. This song feels like evening walks downtown and watercolor art galleries, less like stuffy restaraunts. It is also the shortest on the album, which is a little disappointing as I found myself enjoying this as a backing track to my writing of this review. - 8/10 All Blues - This track also feels a bit less stuffy than the first on the album, a more mellow and relaxed vibe. Unfortunately a bit too relaxed for my taste, as it all sort of blends together into what feels at times like a loop. It doesn't elicit much of an emotional reaction from me. I don't feel one way or the other about it strongly, it's just what it is. It is also the longest song on the album by a two full minutes which you would think would warrant something particularly engaging to happen throughout. Overall, it was meh, and somewhat forgettable. 3/10 Flamenco Sketches - This song has a melancholy, cool feel. Has me picturing street lights reflecting off wet roads, smoking a cigarrete in an alley, that sort of imagery. I could definitely see myself listening to this on a solo night drive. This is the type of song that could truly add atmosphere to a movie that otherwise was lacking. 8/10 Top tracks: Blue in Green, Flamenco Sketches Overall, this album feels like something I would hear in an upscale restaraunt that I couldn't afford. I enjoy it, it is pleasant to to listen to, and the technical abilities are far beyond what I will ever possess in any area of my life, musically or otherwise. When searching the album and trying to understand what it is that makes this album untouchable for many, most people point to the fact that it was the first to do exactly what it did, it was revolutionary, it inspired every jazz album and musician that followed, and that is respectable, but I have little to no interest in including how influental or groundbreaking an album is in my review of how much I liked it on a personal level. I don't see myself diving a whole lot deeper into jazz like this. For me, it doesn't engage me enough to listen to in my free time, and isn't mellow enough to become background music. Music like this for me is similar to visiting a museum, I like to witness it, I like to engage with it, and then I like to go back to my art for simpletons that I enjoy in my freetime. Jazz like this has always been one of those things I want to love, but I just don't know if my maturity is at that level. Similar to Opera or paintings made of 1000s of dots. Maybe 40, 50, 60 year old me will get to that point. For now, I will appreciate it as what it is to 23 year old me, technically amazing art that doesn't interest me much. I will likely give it a relisten and change my review at some point in a different environment. I want to test this album as something to create an atmosphere more than to be intentionally listened to with headphones on. I could see the rating being much higher in a different setting. Overall rating - 6/10 & - 3 stars