Jazz listening: Is it about the music? Or is it about the sound?

Atmosphere rules.

G

I'd say that it's both, and I too listen to more jazz than ever these days.

To my ears acoustic music almost invariably sounds better than electronic on a high-quality system, and I suspect that the recording engineers (e.g. Rudy Van Gelder) who focussed on jazz were among the very best.

I grew up listening to should and funk, and still love to spin Tower of Power discs, etc. But ultimately, the nuances of acoustic music draw me in more deeply. 

Hate to tell you, but if any of your recordings sound worse then your system is more selective, not better. I have zero recordings that don't sound a whole lot better, and a lot of them that were blah are now captivating. Whole lot of em. Could give all kinds of examples, but what's the point, easier to just say all of em. 

Always loved rock and blues, always had jazz and classical too but never really got into them. Now my favorite record is Tchaikovsky, but my U2 is more awesome than ever and playing Crime of the Century the other night at concert level was a religious experience right up there with Tchaikovsky. I paid big money for a White Hot Year of the Cat, and it is in a whole new universe from the average pressing I had, but there was nothing wrong with that average pressing in fact it got better and better as my system improved. Which is one of the ways I know my system really did get better and better! 

If you are noticing ANY recordings that sound worse in any way, focus in like a laser beam on precisely why that is, because it is in your system and not the recording, and so if you can fix that problem then you will indeed have made your system truly better. 

I only got into jazz once I set up a vinyl system a few years ago.  Now, it's about all I listen to.  I can put on nearly any jazz album and just relax into listening.  It's really the sound that my system produces rather than specific albums/artists/songs, at least at this point, that I'm attracted to.  I can even listen to the same albums frequently and not tire of them.  That's not the case with other genres.

I can put on nearly any jazz album and just relax into listening. It's really the sound that my system produces rather than specific albums/artists/songs, at least at this point, that I'm attracted to.

Exactly!  So...the sound is the thing.  Not the melody or anything so much about the musical details.  At least with jazz.  Still, it's not like all jazz is created equal.  There's still jazz I like and jazz I don't, irrespective of sound quality..  Personally, I have a hard time with so-called "free jazz".  And I can't tolerate some artist's tendency to vocalize along with the music.