This past March 30th, we had the unfortunate passing of Bill Withers at age 81. Withers was a great American singer-songwriter and musician, as well as one of my very favorite R&B (rhythm and blues) artists. My favorite song of his is “Use Me”, but he had other well-known hits as well, such as: “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Just the Two of Us.”
All of which got me to thinking about my favorite music among all the different music genres that exist. Some people will claim to like music from all genres. But does anybody really listen to all music genres? I would say I have a wide range of tastes, but do not know or like all genres. Exactly how many different music genres are there?
A cursory Google search will yield several different answers. For purposes of this article, I settled on a list of forty-two (42) genres with multiple subgenres under each one. From those, I picked out what I consider to be the more mainstream genres, at least on this side of the world.
| Alternative | Easy Listening | Latin |
| Blues | Electronic | Pop |
| Classical | Hip-Hop/Rap | R&B/Soul |
| Country | Inspirational | Reggae |
| Dance | Jazz | Rock |
Although I have been known to enjoy the occasional Classical Music session or a bit of Country Music, if I were to condense these into the genres I most listen to, the list would look as follows:
- Blues
- Inspirational
- Jazz
- Latin
- R&B/Soul
- Rock
Of these, Blues is the relative newcomer to my personal list… but has since become one of my favorites. Within this genre, I favor the guitar-rich blues music, from artists such as: Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King, and Jonny Lang.
Inspirational music is a “pick-me-up” for me, and I am not particular regarding the individual artists. In fact, I would be hard pressed to name inspirational music groups. I just enjoy listening to it, mostly from a preset radio station in my car.
Jazz, like others on the list, has many subgenres. I probably enjoy only three: smooth jazz, Latin jazz, and whatever subgenre only needs drums, bass, and a piano. It is not listed on any subgenre list I was able to find, but I call it jazz trio music. It’s the type of jazz I envision myself listening to in a jazz club with a drink on my table.
Some smooth jazz artists I have enjoyed listening to over the years include: George Benson, Grover Washington Jr., Sade, and others. For Latin jazz, Eddie Palmieri, Willie Rosario, Ray Barretto, and a few others. Jazz trio artists I am not very familiar with, but enjoy their songs when I hear them.
Of Latin music’s many subgenres, my personal favorite is salsa. To many of us older salsa fans, the peak period for salsa music ran through the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. It is a genre that originated in New York City in the 60’s, and combines Afro-Cuban and Puerto Rican influence.
Salsa became so popular at one point that it spread worldwide. A prime example is the “Orquesta de la Luz”, a Japanese salsa band formed in 1984. It was amazing that a culture so different from ours could produce salsa of such good quality, complete with a wonderful lead singer who sang in Spanish. I always saw it as the ultimate compliment. Another example are the salsa congresses (multi-day dance festivals) held in different countries around the world. As a Puerto Rican, it makes me proud to see this wonderful export accepted so well on a global scale.
Not only are there many subgenres of rock, there is a lot of fusion between subgenres as well. As an example, two bands I have always enjoyed listening to are 70’s bands Dire Straits and Steely Dan. The former is classified by Wikipedia as a rock band with jazz, folk, country, and blues rock influences… the latter as a rock duo blending rock, jazz, and a handful of other genres. Rather than try to define my tastes by subgenres, I just went to a site of best ranked rock bands of all time, and looked for my favorites.
To my delight (and sometimes dismay), I found where my personal favorite bands rank among the readers who have voted. Mentioning some… Led Zeppelin (#2), AC/DC (#6), Eric Clapton (#10), Dire Straits (#24), Santana (#35 too low), Journey (#44), Def Leppard (#48), Scorpions (#62), Steely Dan (#87 ouch). In any case, this is another way of saying I enjoy a wide variety of rock, including jazzy, bluesy rock… as well as hard rock.
Finally, there’s R&B/Soul, for which again my preferences lie with some of the music and artists of past decades. In addition to Bill Withers, I have always enjoyed listening to Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, and a few other artists.
As of late, I divide my music listening time equally between 70’s to 90’s salsa, hard rock from the same time period, and good guitar blues. Depending on my mood, I’ll put on some smooth jazz, or jazz trio music. And in times like these, more than ever I also listen to some inspirational music to lift my spirits.
I invite you to share your own musical preferences either on my Facebook page at facebook.com/opinandoconrey/ or on my blog page at https://opinandoconrey.com.