Does anyone still listen?

Back in the day, one of my teenage rituals was buying the latest album from a favorite band or musician, putting it on the all-in-one compact stereo in my bedroom, placing the Radio Shack "Realistic" brand headphones over my ears and listening to it all the way through. I still enjoy listening to new music on headphones, but now they are connected to my iPod.

I recently read an article predicting that long form "albums" will eventually become a thing of the past, along with CDs, and music artists will release only single downloads. This got me to wondering about how people listen to music today.

Does anyone really LISTEN to music anymore? I don't mean playing a CD as background music while you are working or driving in the car. I mean sitting down and focusing on nothing but what you are hearing through the speakers or headphones. Sure, it's much harder to find the time to do this as adults, but I still find time to spend with a special old favorite or new release, usually on my iPod after getting into bed.

Should the "album" be saved? I know, it can be argued that many songs on albums are just "filler" and not worth owning, but there are many songs on many albums that I love that would probably never have been released as singles. And what about the concept album? Records like Pink Floyd's "The Wall" are an experience when listened to as a whole, telling a story along with the music.

Maybe I'm just reacting as a product of my generation. I still miss LP's, not because I think they sound better (although many argue they do), but mostly because of the larger form factor which better displayed and encouraged creative album artwork and packaging. Even so, there have been some artists who have created memorable artwork and packaging using the CD format (The last Tool release comes to mind). Listening to the music while reading lyrics and credits and looking at the album artwork is something I will sorely miss if everything goes to downloads and singles. I wonder if anyone else will miss them too?

Jazz By The Bay

A few weeks ago I was hired by the Gulf Coast Jazz Society to create a highlight DVD of their annual Jazz By The bay festival. The festival is held every October in Oaks By The Bay Park in the historic St. Andrews section of Panama City Florida. The performers are all excellent musicians who play true jazz music, not the "smooth jazz" that permeates the so called jazz radio stations today. If you missed it this year, make sure to check it out next year and if you think you don't like jazz music, watch the video below and maybe it will change your mind.


Jazz By The Bay 2008 from Louis Columbus on Vimeo.