Wasn't it said about Chet that he played as if dusting rare Venetian glass?

I listened to a lot of early jazz during those first, slightly surreal weeks of lockdown.  Often about half a dozen tracks at a time on CD.  They can make for interesting listening for someone like me, who basically began with Parker and Coltrane.  The music, of course, tends to be a good deal sweeter and lacks too much introspection, right?  In fact, much of it is downright joyous.  But I found it didn't match my mood so eventually stopped listening.

I'll look into that, Hank.  Thanks for the tip. 
I've actually acknowledged my father's tastes in a big way but I feel his instincts were right.  Melody was all-important.  I tried, about ten years ago, listening to things like 'A Love Supreme' but found myself not getting very far.  Then, separated from my wife and family for a while, I began listening to a lot of vocalists.  Much more satisfying. 
Not jazz but Fred Astaire singing standards like 'Night And Day' takes some beating.  Oh, the genius of Cole Porter.  Even as a stupid teenager I knew he had something to offer.

Woof, you and my old Dad would have hit it off nicely.  Coleman is bloody hard going.  And when it becomes 'hard work', well, you know you're onto a loser. 
You can get an argument about this but it seems likely that jazz became 'hard work' once the players stopped wanting to get people to dance or at least tap their toes and began exploring their own, Black In America situation.  Avoid free form, avant-garde, probably much hard bop and even bebop.  Maybe try Lester Young, Cannonball Adderley, Wardell Grey, Ben Webster.

@AFS - thanks for the suggestions, familiar with Young and Adderly but not the other two, so I shall delve.

Strangely enough we have tickets for Tony Kofi a British saxophonist tomorrow evening, he's doing a show called 'A Portrait of Cannonball'.

Hank Mobley and Wayne Shorter are both regularly heard in Woof HQ.

A one-off, I'm guessing, but I'm looking forward to 'Sketches Of Spain' turning up from one of my regular suppliers in Berlin.  I much prefer this to 'Birth Of The Cool' and 'Kind Of Blue'.  Trouble is, you want - need - a hazy heat in the background instead of an English autumn.  At any rate it'll remind me of being in Catalonia back in the late summer of 2012, alone, eating fresh bread from the market, choosing jewellery for the two women who happened to be dominating my life at the time, re-reading 'Portnoy's Complaint' while the couple in the adjacent room were fucking.

In 1991 I was studying up north. On a visit to Nottingham I noticed that a nightclub had live jazz on a Monday night so I went to check it out. The live band was led by an at the time unknown Tony Kofi. The next day I rang the venue, left them my number and asked them to get Mr Kofi to call me. He got in touch, I ended up promoting a jazz night at a live music venue up north with him as the headline act, the gig was packed and the audience loved him. He was very happy with the gig too as I recall. I just wish I'd kept up the contact and put him on again on a regular basis.

A few years later I was at a US3 gig and he spotted me and said hello. Since then I'm always happy to read that he appears to be doing very well as a solo artist and band leader. Definitely a great player.

Why the hell I didn't put him on every few months I have no idea. A wasted opportunity. I suppose I was too young to realise. At least I did it once.

Not jazz - but Miles.  Just listening to 'Sketches Of Spain': melancholy homage to that blood-drenched land.  Lorca, Hemingway, Guernica, Picasso.  The Carlist and Civil Wars.  Anyone know the story of the recording?

I’ve always enjoyed Talk Ivy but being a jazz lover as well I thought I’d contribute to the thread.
My understanding of  the background to Sketches is that Miles reluctantly accompanied his then wife, the dancer Frances Taylor , to a flamenco evening.His motivation being more around jealousy of the male dancers than the music.
When he listened to the sounds he started to appreciate the soulfulness  of the music. Next morning he went out and purchased loads of Spanish music to immerse himself more.This subsequently became the inspiration for the album.
Miles was always moving forward at the time, picking up on everything from modern classical music through to the American songbook.
I would of loved to see him perform any of his classic albums live.He was full on Jazz Rock by the time I saw him.

Many thanks for the welcome.
In my late teens I went on my first lads holiday. Rather than go to the traditional resorts like Ibiza that catered for young lads I ended up catching a coach to the South of France.
The holiday was a catalogue of disasters but there was an International Jazz Festival on. I'd been into jazz for about four years so when I heard the great Miles Davis was in town it was no brainer. What's more the support act were the Latin funk legends Airto with Flora Purim.
It was an outside gig in a park not far from Nice town centre. I got there early and saw Airto who was amazing. An hour of pulsating groove.
It was during the Star People and Decoy period. Very heavy guitar sounds with rock drumming. Not my bag at all.

My journey to Jazz started in the mid Eighties. I was, and still am, heavily into jazz-funk and soul.It was a rejection of all the heavy rock sounds that I thought belonged in the 70's.
As the funk scene became too electronic and the early hip-hop sound emerge,d Jazz started to become more relevant on the dance floor.
There was a great record shop in Berwick Street in a basement under Record Shack run by the DJ Paul Murphy. He introduced me to more straight-ahead sounds from Art Blakey, Tania Maria, Art Pepper and Cal Tjader. It's hard to believe now how well these artists blended into the soul scene.
So by the time I saw Miles it was a real shock that he was so into this heavy metal sound. It felt the antithesis of where jazz was at in the UK during those halcyon days.