"Mountain of a man" is a great description of the greatness of Mingus. Slaw: You're exactly right. Listeners have the luxury of simply enjoying (or not) an artist's music. For artists, the music and the issue of respect is very very serious business. On the issue of Mingus and respect: the great Phil Woods tells a great story about being married to Bird's wife Chan and, out of financial necessity, borrowing Bird's horn from the family since he had had to hock (!) his horn. At the club that night who walks in but Mingus? Mingus recognizes the horn and proceeds to walk up to the bandstand and stand in front of Woods and glare at him for having the temerity and lack of respect to be playing Bird's horn.
On the subject of the "low fi" sound of some recordings (Black Keys): it should be remembered (respect?) that in some cases that sound is a deliberate choice by the artist and/or producer as part of the aesthetic vibe of the music.
On the subject of the "low fi" sound of some recordings (Black Keys): it should be remembered (respect?) that in some cases that sound is a deliberate choice by the artist and/or producer as part of the aesthetic vibe of the music.