It's hard to go back

Once you've tried really good coffee, it's hard to go back to everyday coffee. Isn't this true of a person's tastes in art too? Let me use Terry Adams as a case in point.
I've always liked the piano in popular forms of music; its roles include melody, rhythm, and percussion, and its sound or tone can have a great variety of qualities.
I was pretty satisfied with most piano players in rock until I heard Otis Spann playing the blues and Thelonious Monk playing jazz. They prepared me for the rich and rootsy piano playing of Terry Adams, first heard in NRBQ. Since then, I don't have a lot of patience for and interest in everyday rock or blues piano players.
Also, when I discover a piano player new to me, say George Russell from the late 50s and early 60s, I reflect, "Hmmm, I bet Terry Adams listened to this guy."
This doesn't mean Adams is my yardstick by which all others are measured; it simply means I might admire others for some of the same reasons I admire Adams. For example, Nina Simone or Mose Allison.