Do liner notes serve any purpose whatsoever?

[wtmusic]

I'm doing the CD art for a friend's jazz CD and he's trying to figure out whether include liner notes...

Brad Mehldau, one of my favorite current jazz pianists, has a virtual dissertation on every CD (one has 9 pages of notes) with the monologue extending to deconstructionism, Rilke, Allen Ginsburg, blah blah blah.

When I read that stuff I want to tell him to just shut up and play (somehow being an extremely talented jazz pianist makes him feel as though he's qualified to lecture on philosophy). :eyes:

[Left Is Write]

1. Sure.

When I started working in country radio, I knew very little about any artists other than Johnny Cash, the Statlers, Emmylou Harris, and Don Williams. And I was working at a so-called "hot country" station that didn't even play those artists.

I read liner notes of just about every CD we owned. I read everything else I could get my hands on too, but I spent quite a bit of time in the studio just reading liner notes. Within six months, I was a virtual encyclopedia of information on the music and the artists. When listeners called in with questions, they were sometimes asked to call back when I was there because I would know the answer.

That, in part, helped me get my promotion to music director less than eight months after I started the job. A good ear helped too. ;)

Liner notes that don't pertain to the artist(s) and the music seems overdone and possibly pretentious, though.

[wtmusic]

3. If they're written by someone else

and it's not just an artist promo handjob, they can be enlightening.

It's when people start talking about their own music. Same thing happens with classical composers and program notes at a concert. If you have to explain why you're music is so great, there is a problem.

[immoderate]

5. Same here.

I did a jazz radio show in college. Liner notes were a primary source. Liked the biographical, historical, musicological information. Agree that musicians should not philosophize, reeks of self indulgence.

--IMM

[HereSince1628]

2. Don't deny the volunteers at public radio their script!

If they don't have liner notes you've cut them off.

[madrchsod]

4. yes

i really miss the vinyl covers and liner notes. i collect cover art when i can afford it and something about the little cd format just doesn`t cut it for me. well written liner notes are an essential part of the music experience,for me ,it`s an understanding of why and how the music came to be..

[parasim]

6. I love liner notes

Particularly the kind of liner notes like Anthony Braxton writes for his records. I have no problem whatsoever with an artist explaining him/herself. I like to better understand where the artist is coming from. The insight often inspires my own music making.

Of course, the music itself does this sufficiently, but any information that enlightens me to better understand an artist I'm all for.

[Squeech]

7. Me too

I don't care how pretentious they are, I'll still read them-- in the spirit of trying to understand how the performers felt while playing the music.

The only ones I don't like reading are the "special thanks" lists.

I say this in part because I was involved in a free-improv session that's about to become an actual release, and they want me to contribute to the liner notes-- a "special thanks" list, as opposed to any text that might elucidate the music for a listener such as yourself :P

[parasim]

8. Yeah, I know what you mean about the special thanks lists...

But I tend to read those as well for insight. Because they often list influences and I've often found out about other artists that I was unaware of by reading them.

But I know they are primarily shout-outs to friends and family and usually don't pertain much to the music.

Hey, and congrats on the recording to be released. :toast:
That must be pretty exciting...

[Squeech]

9. It's good stuff

if you like non-idiomatic free improvisation, that is! :crazy:

What I like about it is, everybody else on the session is somebody I've known for a long time. There's a saxophonist, Ken Field, plays with Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, Revolutionary Snake Ensemble, and half a dozen other bands, one of the most in-demand musicians I know, and obviously a good player. We talked him into doing this session, and needless to say he was terrific, contributed mightily to the overall tenor of the music. I've known him since college, 30-odd years ago. And in all that time, I'd never actually played with him. Should've done it years ago. (As a lifelong rock'n'roller, I get intimidated by musicians who actually read the dots.)

I wish we'd played more at faster tempo, however. The introspective slow numbers definitely predominate.

[parasim]

10. See? Even a DU thread on liner notes has it's uses...

Thanks for the tip on Ken Field's stuff. I checked out some MP3s for the two groups you mentioned and I quite dig it. That guy sure can blow.

and yeah, the free improv stuff is right up my alley. If you're so inclined, it'd be great to know the name of the group and recording you're on that's gonna be released... I'd love to check it out.