JAMMIN'

Bob Marley wrote about Jammin' or the getting together of a group of musicians to play music, not in an orchestral way, but perhaps more free form...producing an original work of art. I am a classically trained pianist and an amateur guitarist who can generate a few licks. I used to enjoy playing in a band decades ago but now the most I ever do is play with another "guy" who brings his AXE (usually a guitar) to a house where they have a piano. One of my faithful readers invited me to "Jam" with his group, The Vinyl Brothers. Presumably, based on the name, they play music that was popular prior to the invention of the CD.

I had a very large collection of vinyl records...45s and 33 albums, They included all the greats..Elvis, Chuck Berry, Richie Valens, Buddy Holly, and the Ventures, among many others. I donated my vinyl to an archive library in my home town. Even though I had a good deck, and needles, I could not listen to the pops cracks and hisses on these records that I had played so carelessly and repeatedly for 40 years. I went out and bought, either as CD albums, or individual songs on iTunes, most of my favorite Rock and Roll music. Purists will tell you that there is nothing like the "range" of a vinyl recording and that CDs clip the highs and lows in the interest of clarity and compression. Well, after 67 years of acoustic trauma from guns, Harleys, loud music, and grandchildren, I can't hear the highs and lows anyway, and what I want is clarity and the ability to have 10,000 songs on my iPhone. Looks like I just offended the cognocenti of recorded music by my blasphemy of vinyl. Tomorrow I will insult the oenologists out there who think they can tell a $1,000 bottle of Chateau Fru Fru Pino Noir from a $15 bottle of Kendall-Jackson from the supermarket.