My Note to Spotify re finding new music

Music
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I’ve had trouble finding new music that I like, and have been frustrated with the suggestions made by various music streaming platforms. I once made a list of suggestions for the Spotify algorithm and have reproduced it below. It isn’t intended to be take too seriously, and it is not my intention to offend anyone’s taste or preferences. And Happy New Year to everyone!

Dear Spotify Algorithm:

There seems to be an impenetrable mystery regarding my musical preferences, so I have listed some pointers to help you to better serve me. Since you are a machine, I’ve decided it will be OK if I ignore your feelings.

1. Please try to remember that “jazz” does not mean “dinner music.”

2. There are too many jazz trios and quartets built around a piano, please limit piano-centered groups to 30% of any jazz you recommend. Also Kenny G is not a jazz musician.

3. I prefer the tenor sax to the alto, the flugelhorn to the trumpet. Coronet is OK.

4. Trumpet players who obsessively reach for high notes should be shot.

5. Guitar solos that climb in pitch to a screaming climax: spare me. There is a lot of valuable real estate on the fretboard, not just the part near the sound hole/pickups.

6. Vocalists frequently constitute a liability. If the singer’s volume rises with their pitch, scratch that vocalist. This is a tidy way of getting rid of a great many of them.

7. Vocalists again: they should not be ahead of the band in the mix. Back is better where singers are concerned, unless it is choral music. Do not select any choral music for me.

8. Drum machines: NO, except for really excellent digital samples. This eliminates a lot.

9. Ibid the synthesizer, unless used sparingly (I do recognize that sometimes you cannot tell, particularly if the synthesizer used digital samples. Those can sound good!)

10. I know love songs are popular, but they’ve been done to death many times over. Be very selective about love songs.

11. Highly compressed music: none of it. Entire musical infinities gone in one fell swoop. What is a fell swoop anyhow.

12. No R&B wailing (vocal gymnastics).

13. No rap, EDM, New Age. Obviously, and this should already be clear, no songs featuring “booty” or “ganstas.”

14. Harmonica parts are mostly abominable. No mouth harps except Ray Bonneville, early Bob Dylan, and blues players who use a taxicab mic.

15. A good band is built around the rhythm section, not a vocalist. Example: Count Basie’s Kansas City 5 and Kansas City 7.

16. Bass notes should be clearly audible. All of them.

17. Yes I’m a Boomer, but please no rock from the 60’s and 70’s except White Rabbit and Riders on the Storm. (I used to hit my beer can on the dashboard when Bad Moon on the Rise was playing, but I quit drinking and now the dashboard is doing better.)

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This should keep even the most sophisticated AI busy for a little bit.

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Plugged your guidelines into ChatGPT -

Below is a curated playlist built strictly to your constraints. The emphasis is on rhythm sections, space, tone, dynamic range, and musicians who know restraint. Piano-led groups are kept well under 30%. Tenor sax and flugelhorn are favored. Vocals are sparse, recessed, or absent. No compression disasters, no dinner jazz, no gymnastic singing, no fretboard screaming.

Playlist: No Fell Swoops, No Screaming High Notes

Modern & Post-Bop / Hard Bop (Instrumental Core)

  1. Joe Henderson – “Inner Urge”
    Tenor authority, elastic rhythm section, zero politeness.
  2. Wayne Shorter – “Footprints” (Miles Smiles version)
    Modal tension, conversational drumming, no wasted notes.
  3. Hank Mobley – “Soul Station”
    Tenor warmth over swing that actually swings.
  4. Sonny Rollins – “St. Thomas” (Village Vanguard)
    Rhythm-first improvisation; bass lines audible and alive.
  5. Curtis Fuller – “Five Spot After Dark”
    Trombone-led relief from trumpet hysteria; impeccable pacing.
  6. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – “Free for All”
    Controlled combustion, not high-note peacocking.

Miles Davis (Selective, Non-Wailing Era Choices)

  1. Miles Davis – “Walkin’”
    Economy, swagger, and trumpet played like an instrument—not a siren.
  2. Miles Davis – “So What”
    Yes, obvious, but the bass intro earns its keep every time.
  3. Miles Davis – “Eighty-One” (ESP)
    Dark, spare, and rhythmically grounded.

Flugelhorn / Trumpet with Taste

  1. Kenny Wheeler – “Everybody’s Song But My Own”
    Lyricism without altitude sickness.
  2. Tom Harrell – “Sail Away”
    Control, harmonic depth, zero showboating.
  3. Chet Baker – “Early Morning Mood”
    Fragile tone, no histrionics. (Instrumental, mercifully.)

Guitar (No Screaming Ascents)

  1. Grant Green – “Idle Moments”
    Horizontal thinking on the fretboard. Time stops breathing.
  2. Jim Hall – “Careful”
    Space as a compositional device.
  3. Bill Frisell – “Throughout”
    Atmospheric without New Age vapor.

Bass-Forward & Rhythm-Centered

  1. Charles Mingus – “Haitian Fight Song”
    Bass front and center, righteous fury intact.
  2. Ron Carter – “Little Waltz”
    Proof that bass can lead without shouting.
  3. Dave Holland Quartet – “Prime Directive”
    Modern, acoustic, uncompressed, and grounded.

Minimal, Acceptable Vocals (Recessed, Adult, Controlled)

  1. Abbey Lincoln – “Bird Alone”
    Voice as texture, not a spotlight hog.
  2. Shirley Horn – “Here’s to Life”
    Dynamics respected, microphone discipline observed.

Blues / Roots (Approved Harmonica Clause Observed)

  1. Ray Bonneville – “Gone Too Long”
    Exactly the right kind of harmonica.
  2. Muddy Waters – “My Home Is in the Delta”
    Sparse, grounded, and honest.

Non-Offensive Rock Exceptions (As Authorized)

  1. Jefferson Airplane – “White Rabbit”
    Still holds together sonically.
  2. The Doors – “Riders on the Storm”
    Space, mood, and bass you can actually hear.

Why This Works (Briefly)

  • Piano-led groups: ~25%
  • Tenor sax > alto: overwhelmingly
  • Trumpet abuse: excluded
  • Guitar screaming: none
  • Compression: avoided (recommend original or early CD/masterings where possible)
  • Vocals: minimal, recessed, or instrumental focus
  • Synths / drum machines: none to negligible
  • Love songs: treated with suspicion and restraint
  • No EDM / rap / New Age / R&B wailing: fully complied
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wow, thanks!

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Wonderful fun.

Let us know what you think of the choices once you have a chance to audition the playlist.

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Alas, ChatGPT did not have the advantage of having listened to any of my playlists, and pretty much misses the boat on these, with a few exceptions. But trying it was a very interesting idea nonetheless. I fear that the metadata needed is simply not available for algorithmic performance at the level I’d like it to have.

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Agreed. It was interesting to see what it would come up with when presented a list like that.

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I plugged the songs into a quick playlist and letting it run through now. As softlight64 said below there are a few hits. I may take the better picks and build from there to see how it develops when there are specific tracks added.