What do you like most? Jazz or Classic?

I really don’t like the way violin lends itself to the type of jazz I enjoy the most, which is swing, bop, hard bop, soul jazz, and free jazz. None of the classic jazz ensembles of the 50s and 60s every really incorporated violin into their sessions to any large degree. I’m not even sure there is a BlueNote album prominently featuring a violin but I could be wrong. Maybe Nigel Kennedy tried this? Even an album like Mingus’ ambitious orchestration "The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady" didn’t feature a violin to my knowledge. I just don’t think of jazz and violin unless it’s the early stuff like Grapelli with Django or more fusion stuff like Ponty. Nothing falls into the sub-genres of jazz genre I like but that’s just me.

@frogman 

That's definitely jazz but not the type that ever really resonated with me.  While I totally admire the work and musicianship of Grusin, Ritenour, Gadd etc it was always a bit too slick for me.  Maybe I should have said pre-Liberty Bluenote ;-)