New Listening Room / New Series Poll (Episode 369)

In this special episode Allan takes viewers behind the scenes at Ten-Minute Record Reviews headquarters, shows the development of the new listening room, and looks for viewer opinions on one or more new series for the channel.

00:00 - Channel Growth and Future Directions
01:30 - Jazz Focus and Channel Evolution
04:01 - Poll for Future Content
09:01 - Exploring the New Listening Space
14:18 - Record Collection and Organization
15:33 - Audio Equipment Setup
18:27 - Conclusion

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[bacarandii]

A VERY Special Episode! One of the things that sets you apart from YouTubers in other spaces is your respect for your audience's time and our shared interest in the music. As you undoubtedly know, there are people in some dark corners of the TubeSphere who post videos lasting an hour or more without doing any preparatory research or deciding what they actually want to say -- only to discover at the end of the day that they haven't said anything at all. You don't do that, and I, for one, am most grateful.

Jazz (old or new) is where it's at when it comes to discussions of interesting, unusual, challenging music (originally intended for physical media) in the sadly diminished age of streaming. I will happily contribute to your poll, but I first want to say that: 1) I have picked up a few LP gems on your recommendation that I have found quite rewarding (Bobby Timmons' "Little Barefoot Soul, " Bobby Hutcherson's "Knucklebean" and Ron Carter's "All Blues" immediately come to mind). So thanks. (I picked up Carter's 1977 "Peg Leg" on Milestone, which I like a lot, too.) And 2) you're the only other person I know of who has a Harman Kardon receiver from that late '70s series. Mine's an HK 670, which I was thrilled to find a few years ago because it's got a shiny look unlike anything else from the period. I have a collection of equipment from the so-called "Golden Age of Hi-Fi Stereo" (maybe 1962-1979), which is what I love, and that is one of my favorite pieces (along with other striking looking/sounding HK's like the "twin-powered" 430 and solid state and tube integrated amps, separates, and receivers from Sansui, McIntosh, Marantz, Pioneer, The Fisher, Sony, Kenwood, Sherwood...). I also wanted to express my appreciation for the Elvin Jones image (until this post all I could make out was the drums and his face peeking through) and the groovy vintage lamp (I also have several '50s/'60s thrift shop finds, with custom "retro-atomic" shades I ordered from a shop in SF). All music sounds better with the appropriate lighting. Keep up the great work!

[garymoen]

Firstly, your channel is criminally underrated and under subscribed. Your videos are super informative and you dash in a nice amount of humour as well. Your new room looks great. Love the decor. I’m just about to renovate my listening room and I like a few of your ideas. Keep up the great videos. 😊

[simonrossiter]

I really appreciate your videos and get more enjoyment and information in 10 minutes than I get in an hour on any other channel! In the style of online shopping recommendations, “people who bought product X were also interested in product Y “, how about taking a prominent jazz record and suggesting several lesser known records by more obscure artists which might also appeal. I appreciate that you do already make references to other artists in some of your reviews. Sorry that I was too late to participate in the poll. Thanks for your great work!

[mortofon]

"I Voted" ;-)

'Love the humorous cut-away shots, by the way.

[curtlizzi]

Love the channel. Can you talk about the pile of jazz books you have.

[kcydm]

Voted too
And please do not stop your jazz label series, it's the greatest jazz video series on YouTube.
Maybe you can add a personal top 5 for each label you are reviewing or already reviewed ?
Anyway thanks for all your great work !

[DanielHog]

You do such a great job w/ your "Label History" vids, either or both #2 & #4 for sure.

[riverman]

Hi, voted for the specific country/city option, mainly because I'd like to hear your take on the London scene of the sixties, which I'm not sure you have covered previously, but really I could have voted for any of the options, and hope you cover all of them anyway, at some point.
Groovy painting above the fireplace btw.

[TheJazzHog]

Great vid, I like your room and system! I recently bought the kalax shelving and discovered that if you lay a 2x4 on the wide side behind your records they line up perfectly at the edge of the shelf. Keep making the vids!

[Drforrester]

Very cool setup! Loved hearing how much of a team effort it was between you and your wife. I can only hope one day my own wife will be as invested in our sound system, but I think there are plenty of other steps that we need to take in life before getting there. I did vote as well, cast mine for international jazz histories, but I would also be a bit intrigued with videos about obscure instruments. However I'm also realizing artist retrospectives would mean potentially getting more info on albums I love that haven't gotten a spotlight yet (for example, Donald Byrd's Fancy Free or One Flight Up by Dexter Gordon). Whatever wins though, I'm sure to watch!

[DEEPY_DJ]

Your Hanoi report was great. If you happen to go to Jazz Festival here in Montreal in summer or somewhere else, that would be nice to see some live impressions of the Jazz scene in different locations.

[prestonhutchings]

Love the listening room! Can’t wait to have a nice set up like that one day soon!

[louisswaim]

Your new listening space looks very comfortable. I’ve used a subwoofer in my system for years, and love the way it renders jazz acoustic string bass and the lower registers of piano, baritone sax, trombone, and drums. The key is to adjust it so that you’re not aware of bass coming directly from the sub, but you hear it clearly in the main loudspeakers. As for organizing records, I too arrange by genre, then by artist. Mostly CDs, and mostly jazz, my collection lives in three separate rooms. My LPs have their own secret location. All easily accessible, and I know where everything is (usually).

[chinaphone]

Thanks for giving us a glimpse into your musical life! As a fellow hearing aid wearer, I was worried about how it would impact my enjoyment of music. I find that it makes me an even more attentive listener and I'm still able to hear minor details and complexities that other, less obsessive music lovers might not notice. I voted and I look forward to your next videos. I'm still hoping you find a copy of Gigolo by Lee Morgan or A Fickle Sonance by Jackie McLean to review.

[Markymarkvinylnut]

Thanks Allan, lovely video. Great to see your set up. I love Kallax and bought my third unit last Saturday (wife was surprisingly ok!) More space = more records. Your channel is brilliant, I wouldn't change a thing. Maybe do a live stream with a couple of others in the VC focusing on an artist or period of time? Thanks again

[jeffreysobczynski]

Love your channel. In particular the label reviews are great.

1. Mix in other genres - 80% Jazz, 20% other
2. Continue with Sublimedia
3. Liked the instrument angle: French horn, baritone sax, organ, valve trombone (can’t suggest flute, oboe or harp as not my cup of tea)
4. Other labels: Argo/Cadet, Muse, Pablo, addendum to Pacific Jazz (more late records that swing, Kenny Dorham, Les McCann, etc)
5. Liked under $20
6. career retrospectives is a great idea
7. Mono records and system set up

Keep it up! Love your channel.

[pawls]

Great video & great channel 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[YoungLPLovers]

Congratulations on the new space. It looks great.
I’m not much of a jazz guy, but I still tune in frequently because I appreciate your story telling so much.
I hope you still find time to do the occasional reggae and Latin videos. Much more to my current interests.
I love the idea of the music clubs. As someone who knows very little about jazz, I’m sure I would still appreciate the storied musical history represented by these clubs. I’ll swing by the poll and cast my vote as such.
Cheers

[charlesfagerquist]

"Jazz clubs" sounds really cool!

[andrewmacdonald]

So I voted for Obscure instruments in the poll with a preference for the cello. Fred Katz, was that a picture of him on the beach in your vid?, as part of the Chico Hamilton quartet, Doug Watkins has a great outing on New Jazz plus of course Ron Carter. Maybe also the harp with a leaning towards Dorothy Ashby. Some great outings with Frank Wess who also plays the flute so maybe a double header on that one! Anyway great channel and especially enjoyed the Verve episode. Norman Granz really did bring a host of artists to the fore from a period of jazz that pre-dated the LP and mass, , , ish market exposure for these greats. The hawkins websters and holidays of this world may well have never been given the praise they so richly deserved..