Lepus, yes I guess I can say the same thing there, that I still do like the music I used to listen to and I have branched out of the one type of music I listened to as a youth but now, to try and answer your question Jerry;
What has held my music together is, I learned to listen to the music, which is probably the reason for my taste changes. I believe there is more emotion involved in blues and jazz music.
Any music without the emotion just doesn't intrest me anymore. And my passion for the music has held it together. Now I have learned to take apart the music and I hear every note of every instrument I tune into. It's the movement and the rhythms and the musicians feelings that they put into their music. For those reasons I find the blues suits my attitude. Makes me feel better.
And that is now another step into jazz for me, because I can still hear the basic blues there, the elements of jazz are exciting.The improvisation and rhythms. I just find an emotional force in both blues and jazz these days.
It's an art form I hope to develop more into my music.
It is such a kick for me to find such beauty and emotion and passion in music.
Peace, Rustic