Albums, Collections, and mp3s

Original albums or collections—and how about mp3 downloads?

Many jazz purists argue in favor of collecting jazz as issued in the original albums. In one sense I can see their point. It makes more sense to listen to music that was recorded by one band in one session together as there is a continuity of sound and feeling that gives the impression of listening to a single performance, and even if the original album comprised more than one line up or even more than one studio, then at least it was originally designed to stand as a unit and by listening to it as such, you will have a better understanding of its place in musical history.

Fine for students of jazz researching their Ph. D. thesis, but I am all for buying compilations or mergers of original albums. They often represent the best value for money and when I am driving in my car or playing music in the background at work or around the house, I can only listen to one track at a time.

Now we have a new option—the ability to download mp3 tracks from Amazon, Apple, e-music and elsewhere. Initially I thought “well, why the hell would I pay $1 for just a sing le three-minute track of music in an inferior, lossy, recorded format?”

That was my first reaction, but actually I have found that the single track download is a very useful feature. Firstly I noted that on Amazon tracks of more than 8 minutes can be downloaded only if you buy the whole album, but that jazz tracks of 4, 5, 6, or 7 minutes are available for the single fee of 89 cents or 99 cents.

The very cheapest CD you can buy will cost about $5, $2 for the CD and $3 for “shipping and handling”. For that $5 you can download yourself a mini album of 25-30 minutes, which does not sound like such a great deal , except that your 5 tracks can be absolutely choice tracks from 2 or 3 of the finest albums that exist, albums that would probably cost you at least $10 each.

Also I have found that if I do have a “Best Of” album that represents the best work of an artist from their best years, there may still be the odd favorite song I would like to add to round out the collection. Hence I might like to get a couple of Louis Armstrong numbers that I like, even though there are not from his best jazz period, like Hello Dolly, or the All the Time in the World heme from the movie On Her Majesties’ Secret Service—his last recording before his death—just to round out my collection. Downloading a couple of mp3 tracks provides a cheap and easy way to do this.

Additionally, you may already have some tracks from an album, perhaps in a “Best Of” collection, but there are a couple more tracks from an original album that you would like to add. Again, the mp3 download is an economical alternative to buying the whole CD.



Click here for Best 40 CDs list.