Every jazz fan knows Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman, and of course
Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Coleman Hawkins, Sonny Rollins. But only a
small circle of connoisseurs would be able to tell who Claude Hopkins
was, where Dodo Marmarosa played or what the Goofus Five did. Music
lovers usually have their favourites, and jazz in its long history has
experienced many changes and produced many important artists. You don’t
have to know every one of them – or love them all.
You meet ardent collectors among jazz fans who simply must have each and
every album of their favourite music that has been published. Some even
possess only records of just a few bands or soloists. But the majority
of jazz buffs will most likely act spontaneously once they know what
they like: When they hear exciting music of the kind they prefer, they
will try to get it on record. Like this they accumulate a large quantity
of music and the mixture is quite exciting.