The Unassailable Miles Davis, or, To Know Him Is To Love Him

As far as his 80's output, it's not his greatest work, but check out "Aura".

Maybe Miles is so great because of what Scott said -- he never made the same record twice (this could be going a bit far, though -- those mid-50s Presige albums are all pretty similar. All very good, too.) If you like lyricism, you got the Presige records, if you like sophisitcated arrangements, there's Sketchs & Miles Ahead, if you like funk, there's On The Corner, etc. He's the Neil Young of the jazz world, only Miles was such a major talent he could do all these things well.

Sundar - could you elaborate on that hatred a little, or are you just trying to play Devil's Advocate? I seem to remember a certain Kraftwerk thread in which you assumed the very same role... ;-)

Now: the Neil Young of jazz? I don't think so! That would mean he never changed his style ;)

Bill

free stuff aside, i love ed bickert's sound and playing, though he often works with lame musicians or plays on lame pieces. i even remember quite enjoying some cbc concerts by oliver jones and marian mcpartland, though i don't play them much. i've even liked some lenny breau, though again it's not something i play much and it was a long time ago that i liked it.

going back, i've liked things by dizzy gillespie, as well as duke ellington. some django reinhardt even - i think i just like guitarists. but i'll be honest - it's the free records that i pull out.

i've just been unable to listen to kind of blue without wanting to pass out by the third track or so. (outkast's aquemini, comparably, takes maybe six tracks. but it has shorter tracks, i think.) i'm not sure i can really elaborate much further without having the cd around to play. it just didn't grab or retain my interest. didn't seem like anything more than "pleasant," "tasteful," and "perfectly executed." my friend (who likes the album) once described it as "almost like ambient music," which goes a long way towards explaining things for me.

my dislike for bb and iasw comes partly from my distaste for john mclaughlin's noodling. and the laid-back wing-tip funk keyboards just aren't to my taste. i have no interest in herbie hancock or chick corea. i didn't think the rock side of md's jazz- rock fusions was cream-of-the-crop rock at all.

i don't think i quite hated round about midnight but i couldn't imagine wanting to hear it either.

clarke: what are you referring to? i really liked the mix, didn't care that much for radio-activity, liked some other things i'd heard from trans-europe express. i don't think i have ever said otherwise. outside of ilm, it has hardly been my experience that kraftwerk is so universally and uncritically acclaimed. do you think i pine away at night, secretly regretting that i sold radio-activity two years ago?

... do you think i pine away at night, secretly regretting that i sold radio-activity two years ago?

Well I should certainly hope so!

This is probably my favorite piece of music writing ever: http://www.ivy-style.com/the-warlord-of-the-weejuns.html

All I’m trying to say, really, is that most boutique customers should be lined up before a firing squad at dawn and that there should be a minute of silence to thank God for the existence of people like Miles Davis

There is something beautiful about this sentence.

US Postal Service to issue Miles Davis stamp

And it's the cover of Jack Johnson!

nice!

I will buy these stamps!

WTF challops shit was I on??

Squeaky door sounds just like Bitches Brew.

And I just saw Stanley Crouch run down there with a can of WD-40.

http://tsutpen.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-gunslinger-guide-to-miles-davis-7.html

Always glad to be reminded of "The Warlord Of The Weejuns"

Don Cheadle is playing Miles in a new movie

http://i.imgur.com/CWoPQiI.jpg

way too much muscle imo, unless it's a miles superhero movie

And especially because the movie centers around his coke-heavy never-leaving-the-house non-playing years. Don Cheadle's Miles weighs about triple what Miles did during that time.

why

i also heard that wayne shorter was now taller instead

miles davis: the man with the brawn

i guess setting it in the late '70s is a good way to get around the whole 'filming realistic performances' thing. although they could just have him play with his back to the camera.

Don Cheadle learned to play trumpet:

With the music—I know you mentioned that you play the saxophone—will you be playing the trumpet in the movie?
Yeah.

You will? You’ll be playing his songs yourself?
No. I’m not going to be, we’re going to be using Miles Davis playing. [Laughs] We’re not going to do a movie with the rights to his music and not have him playing.

We’re going to use his recordings. I’ve learned how to play. There will be elements of me playing the movie but when it comes to the pieces that are Miles Davis playing, it will be Miles Davis.

Good to read that it'll mostly focus on the intense gym routines he enjoyed in his later years and will heavily feature music from his early albums Workin', Steamin', Liftin' and Pumpin'.

Not to mention Stretches of Spain.

Kind of blew out my arms during that epic lift sesh

The idea of a miles biopic that concentrates exclusively on 1975-1979 is amazing. No flashbacks, just a dark house and occasional visits from Herbie Hancock and Lester Bowie.

you guys are tripping. Miles used to box

he def had biceps.

also this must be based on eric nisiensen's stories, in part.

http://www.amazon.com/Round-About-Midnight-Portrait-Miles/dp/0306806843

this was the first Miles bio I read .. he used to hang out w/ Miles all the time during that era

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J2i_zouRBH8/T-dKD592yLI/AAAAAAAAGfs/MoX-ypwdfek/s1600/Arnaud+Baumann+~+Miles+Davis,+ca.+1980.jpg

Miles, late 70s/v. early 80s

Actually, that photo is from somewhere around 1989-90; it's from the same photo session that yielded the album cover of Doo-Bop, which was released in 1991. This is a picture of Miles in the late '60s/early '70s:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jd80_x84iUE/TqSYqpD-UhI/AAAAAAAAAjU/SVSe7pWG5xU/s1600/miles-davis3.jpg

Based on the sunglasses, I'd guess that photo is '73/'74; he's wearing the same glasses on the cover of Get Up With It.

lol thought he looked old, Google lied to me

i guess he does have muscles on the cover of jack johnson too, but he sure looks like a skinny motherfucker in a bunch of photos from later in the decade

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Observer/Pix/pictures/2010/9/2/1283425873645/Miles-Davis-Muhammad-Ali-006.jpg

ok fuck this biopic shit and let's change the subject:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IJDi1gQZu8

I ran across this at my local library:

http://www.amazon.com/Live-Europe-1969-Bootleg-Series/dp/B008YCMM2A
MD Quintet live in Europe 1969.

It is as awesome as you would expect with generally good-to-very-good sounding recordings.
Also the dvd is a nice bonus.

lol
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CLu5mk4VAAAJ0nW.png:large

who is spc

sony pictures classics

pics look crazy but kent jones loved it, fwiw

haha, i was posting because of the "iconic singer" bit in the release...

Script notes:

-- Love the outline, just curious: Does he have to play trumpet? Not a problem, we can keep it, it's just ... you know how people get all puffy-cheeked when they play trumpet? Kinda gross. Just a thought.

iconic singer is funny cos i don't think MIles was supposed to talk above a whisper for years. Apparently he had throat surgery after he had nodes on his larynx or something and I think he lost his temper at somebody during a 2 week or something period that he was supposed to rest his voice. Shouted and wrecked his ability to talk, or so the story goes.
I wonder what his singing would have been like otherwise. Might have been an interesting aspect to hear him vocalise as well

Don Cheadle's last two tweets:

1. It wouldn't be entirely correct to call this a biopic

SteveKUVO ‏@SteveKUVO 3h3 hours ago
Denver's East High grad @IamDonCheadle debuts #MilesDavis biopic in NYC this Oct. http://www.downbeat.com/default.asp?sect=news&subsect=news_detail&nid=2783 …

Don Cheadle ‏@IamDonCheadle 3h3 hours ago
@SteveKUVO Not a biopic, but thanks for the shout out!

2. but it's totally fair to call miles a singer

Subliminal Threat. ‏@tallblackguy 2h2 hours ago
Does @IamDonCheadle know that the studio putting out his film thinks Miles Davis is a singer?
0 retweets 0 favorites

Don Cheadle @IamDonCheadle
@tallblackguy He was. Listen to singers talk about his playing.
10:30 AM - 6 Aug 2015

I always loved Miles' singing on his album of Jack Johnson covers.

kent jones loved it, fwiw

Kent Jones also loves the Zemeckis movie recreating the WTC wire walk fwiw

lmao xp

I just started going through Amazon reccommendations and found out that there was a date from the Japanese tour that gave us Agharta & Pangaea, recorded 12 days earlier. It just came out on Hi hat last month. Hadn't heard anything about it as far as I can remember.

the tokyo shows? must be a european import/bootleg. i think that's basically the kinda label hi-hat is.

Disc 1
Sorry, slightly out, must have got the 12 from it being 22nd or something, still somewhat fluey, like.
This i sthe Amazon description plus some info supplied from a review

On his tour of Japan in early 1975, Miles Davis presented some of the most searing, electric fusion ever heard in concert. The performances on this 2CD set, FM broadcast, hail from a January 22 gig at Shinjuku Kohseinenkin Hall in Tokyo. Staged ten days earlier than the February 1 shows at which his Agharta and Pangaea LPs were recorded, this includes some songs not contained on those albums, and spotlights one of the most adventurous bands Davis assembled.
1. Prelude & Funk (21:47) 1st set
2. Maiysha (15:45) 1st set
3. Ife (18:21) 2nd set

Disc 2

1. Mtume (4:11) 2nd set
2. Turnaroundphrase (5:19) 2nd set
3. Tune In 5 (4:06) 2nd set
4. Untitled (10:26) - actually "Hip Skip" 2nd set

So slightly out that I can't edit properly so Disc 1 appears above where it was supposed to.

always thought that gig was June 19th 1975, will check when I'm home

all those gigs have been on DIME for years afaict

JUst found that I have it already from Dime or somewhere. Just about to have it come on.

Also have 23rd and a couple of Febrary dates.

kent jones loved it, fwiw

Kent Jones also loves the Zemeckis movie recreating the WTC wire walk fwiw

― skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Thursday, August 6, 2015 1:37 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol ty for this. i can't tell if it's building on a simmering jgl-centric dispute between us. i actually noted this when it got announced for nyff & it made me check my reflex cynicism! i'm pretty curious.

wrong thread?

here's the info for the Tokyo show I have:

Miles Davis
June 19, 1973
Shinjuku Kosei Nenkin Hall
Tokyo, Japan

Disc One:
1. Turnaroundphrase - 12:46
2. Tune in 5 - 9:23
3. Right Off - 1:20
4. Funk - 10:44
5. Unknown F - 10:42

Disc Two:
1. Ife - 22:15
2. Agharta Prelude - 9:48
3. Zimbabwe (faded during Mtume conga solo) - 13:33

Musicians:
Miles Davis - trumpet, organ
Dave Liebman - tenor & soprano saxophones
Pete Cosey - guitar, percussion
Reggie Lucas - guitar
Michael Henderson - bass
James "Mtume" Heath - congas, rhythm box, African percussion
Al Foster - drums

Source:
pre-FM broadcast reel

Lineage
Reel >? >bootleg CD > CDR >EAC >FLAC Frontend

so '73, not '75

No that hi hat is from the same tour as Agharta/Pangaea in 75. I was listening to the circulated bootleg last night.
It's one of a few dates from that tour I have.
Also got a couple of NYC from the same year.
He retired for a few years at some point that year.

Also forgot to mention there's video of I think the Tokyo show from that 73 tour. I know I had it, not sure if I still do.

www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/davis-miles-live-in-tokyo-1975-2cd/HH.012CD.html

1/22/75 was out previously as
http://www.plosin.com/milesAhead/Disco.aspx?id=AnotherUnity

So is this 1-22-75 set on HiHat worth buying? Amazon prices for it are ok; mainly wondering about sound quality, since it's FM broadcast (like a home tape?)

of course would also be nice if the performances are distinctively good

Is it worth getting if you've already got Agharta and Pangaea? (I've got 80s Japanese imports of Dark Magus and Black Beauty, for that matter; not lacking for this era of Miles, but could use some more, if it's good)

Everything from that era is good, for Pete Cosey as much as (if not more than, sometimes) for Miles. I have that concert under the title Another Unity.

First clip from the Cheadle bio-pic:
http://www.indiewire.com/article/don-cheadle-tries-to-hit-the-right-notes-in-new-clip-from-nyff-closer-miles-ahead-20151008

I'm already ia at seeing an AKG d112 bass drum microphone being used to mic a trumpet section (and several decades before that model of mic existed).

https://media4.giphy.com/media/TbGwrJaWc9fLG/200_s.gif

I hope somebody got fired for that blunder.

lol, they probably wanted that vintage ribbon mic look and that was the closest thing they had lying around.

I can't tell a whole lot from that clip, but I can't say it looks bad.

The casting still bugs me; Cheadle looks more like Sammy Davis Jr. than he does Miles. I would have preferred to see Michael Wright as Miles. But I guess it's Cheadle's project, so...

idg why anyone makes these movies, they're so pointless

I'm not big on insisting on the actor who looks the most like the subject, but Cheadle's presence/bravado might be a bit lacking.

I'd rather just watch some stock footage of real miles myself. actors playing musicians have mainly been mediocre to absolute shite in recent history.

yeah it's not exactly a rich tradition. Kurt Russell did a good Elvis and Kilmer is v funny as Jimbo but ... yeah that's all I got

Angela Bassett did a good Tina Turner

Movies about fictional musicians are nearly always superior to movies about real ones, probably because the writers can't fall back on "and THAT was the moment where THAT THING happened!" and the actors can't fall back on trying to do an impression.

the writers can't fall back on "and THAT was the moment where THAT THING happened!"

I hated this so much about that recent Brian Wilson movie

I'm not crazy about big sweeping trying-to-be-accurate biopics; much prefer either an idiosyncratic approach or a focus on a specific short time period. Not that those kinds of films don't often suck too (last days eg)

Or that horrific vh1 movie where Lennon and McCartney hang out circa mid 1970s

Whereas Five Heartbeats, the Commitments, That Thing You Do, Crazy Heart all come to mind as examples of at least decent fictional musician movies.

Movies about fictional musicians are nearly always superior to movies about real ones, probably because the writers can't fall back on "and THAT was the moment where THAT THING happened!" and the actors can't fall back on trying to do an impression.

― on entre O.K. on sort K.O. (man alive), Friday, October 9, 2015 4:01 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm not crazy about big sweeping trying-to-be-accurate biopics; much prefer either an idiosyncratic approach or a focus on a specific short time period. Not that those kinds of films don't often suck too (last days eg)

― brimstead, Friday, October 9, 2015 4:05 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

isn't this film focusing on a barely-covered period of miles' life?

nah I hate all those movies too (well, Crazy Heart was okay)

did you not like Eddie and the Cruisers

xp

isn't this film focusing on a barely-covered period of miles' life?

that clip is clearly not from the late 70s

I assume that was either from Miles Ahead or Sketches of Spain? I haven't listened to either in a while but I assume the guy at the piano is supposed to be Gil Evans.

I would guess Miles Ahead since that's also the title of the film. And it doesn't sound like Birth of the Cool.

no its porgy & bess smfh fake ass fans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9qRk0ftySY

that clip is clearly not from the late 70s

― Οὖτις, Friday, October 9, 2015 4:15 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

right...but movies are usually ~ 2 hours long

the movie is set in the late 70s when miles was retired, but there are flashbacks to the glory days, or something.

but movies are usually ~ 2 hours long

Miles would be better served by a 45 minute movie comprised of a single scene of him sitting in his penthouse suite with the curtains drawn snorting coke and making abusive phonecalls to his ex-wives

no its porgy & bess smfh fake ass fans

Oh. The Gil Evans records are probably the Miles I've spent the least time with other than maybe 80s Miles.

i wonder where this will rank on the jazz instrument miming scale, where Bird is on the bottom, Whiplash is very near the bottom, and Mo' Better Blues is near the top. Round Midnight has to be at the top for actually having live performances (did Kansas City as well? can't remember).

I'm not crazy about big sweeping trying-to-be-accurate biopics; much prefer either an idiosyncratic approach or a focus on a specific short time period. Not that those kinds of films don't often suck too (last days eg)

― brimstead, Friday, October 9, 2015 4:05 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

isn't this film focusing on a barely-covered period of miles' life?

― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Friday, October 9, 2015 2:15 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i was just talking in general, i don't have an opinion on the miles movie

but i mean, yeah, that was one of the things that made me intrigued to see it

Was Round Midnight based on Bud powell or Dexter Gordon? I can't remember. It did seem like a half decent movie.

Bud Powell I guess, but Dexter Gordon starred in it.

huh never even heard of that before

i wonder where this will rank on the jazz instrument miming scale,

Cheadle actually played the trumpet in years past (no idea how serious his studies were), and he looks very convincing in the clip. Also, far more astute Miles aficionados than I have told me that Cheadle is holding the horn exactly as Miles did.

round midnight has some good performances in it, but it's not a great movie imo

Yeah it did star Dexter Gordon, didn't even notice that when i watched it recently! The real story of Bud Powell is very sad, quite similar to his pal Monk really :(

Just heard something from Ascenseur pour l'échafaudin a Lincoln ad. Ugh.

the movie is set in the late 70s when miles was retired, but there are flashbacks to the glory days, or something.

― tylerw, Friday, October 9, 2015 2:23 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i hope i'm wrong, but i wouldn't be shocked if the late 70s thing is just a framing device, in the same way the Folsom Prison show was in Walk the Line

I'd much rather see Cheadle play temporarily retired Miles at a "low point" in his life for a whole movie than the standard "Down-and-out late-70s Miles looks at a trumpet--cut to a young Miles Davis in East St. Louis seeing a trumpet for the first time"

^prescient post, i'm sure

haha definitely

The casting still bugs me; Cheadle looks more like Sammy Davis Jr. than he does Miles. I would have preferred to see Michael Wright as Miles. But I guess it's Cheadle's project, so...

― the top man in the language department (誤訳侮辱), Friday, October 9, 2015 4:39 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

idg why anyone makes these movies, they're so pointless

― Οὖτις, Friday, October 9, 2015 4:41 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm not big on insisting on the actor who looks the most like the subject, but Cheadle's presence/bravado might be a bit lacking.

― on entre O.K. on sort K.O. (man alive), Friday, October 9, 2015 4:42 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

agree with all these posts ^

Xpost. yeah that sounds about right.

Don't know that the 70s retirement period would make that watchable film, in his autobio he claims he was doing coke and sleeping with beautiful women but wasn't it the case that he was just getting fucked up on down for like 5 years? I mean it would be a pretty dark and narratively narrow film ha.

A second clip is released...aaaaand I'm out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zZXi6UGMs0

cheadle sounds like he's doing an snl voice or smth

I'm not crazy about big sweeping trying-to-be-accurate biopics; much prefer either an idiosyncratic approach or a focus on a specific short time period. Not that those kinds of films don't often suck too (last days eg)

― brimstead, Friday, October 9, 2015 5:05 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I remember The Hours and Times being really good; probably the exception that proves the rule, though.

This smelled bad from the get go.

would much rather watch something a la that nina simone doc. old interviews and live footage i haven't seen a ton woven together. the right director could make something amazing.

i was watching that old interview miles did with bill boggs recently - i have always loved bill boggs - and i'd rather watch that then a docudrama. also i totally forgot that the band bill boggs had on his show included christian mcbride and joey defrancesco. yo, philly! they have different trumpeters play for miles and they end with a young john swana. little kid plays and bill asks miles what he thinks and miles is like: "he needs practice, he knows that..." OUCH!

The Electric Miles DVD is probably the best Miles doc. There's one called The Miles Davis Story which is decidedly hit-or-miss. Mostly miss.

There was also a PBS special on Miles. I can't remember if it was Great Performances or American Masters, but it was made around 1986 or so, and while generally well-made, is has way too much contemporary footage of his digital-synth-drenched band and its worthless, mugging guitarist.

i love when bill boggs calls sketches of spain proto-new age music.

hahaha..."waitaminute...what did you say Sketches of Spain was?!"

miles' voice really did sound like that

the issue for me so far in that clip is just that don cheadle's presence just has a hesitant insecurity that is very un-Miles

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/don-cheadles-miles-davis-biopic-831212

John Coltraine

Yeah what d-40 said

New trailer! And it looks...not particularly good! Gonna go see it anyway.

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/02/02/don-cheadle-miles-davis-miles-ahead-trailer

lol Miles sure shot a lot of people

I've read his autobio maybe 10 times, and I can't recall a single instance of him saying he shot someone (or even at anyone...not even Steve Miller).

"miles the gangster" lol

this looks....... really bad, sorry don cheadle

the issue for me so far in that clip is just that don cheadle's presence just has a hesitant insecurity that is very un-Miles

― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Saturday, October 10, 2015 1:17 PM (3 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yea very much so

I'd much rather see Cheadle play temporarily retired Miles at a "low point" in his life for a whole movie than the standard "Down-and-out late-70s Miles looks at a trumpet--cut to a young Miles Davis in East St. Louis seeing a trumpet for the first time"

― intheblanks, Saturday, October 10, 2015 1:30 AM (3 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol this movie looks like it somehow manages to accomplish both

this looks like a rainier wolfcastle version of the miles davis story.

so this... was pretty daft. thought Don Cheadle was actually okay in this. ewan mcgregor was truly awful.

Yeah, I lost all interest after watching the trailer.

Music biopics are generally awful. Do we have a thread about them?

Anti-Miles memories from the founder of JazzFM (not a recommendation from this UK listener). Interesting because from my limited contact w. the British JazzSNOB world a not untypical mindset of the way jazz appreciation developed here, and the anecdote at the end is p funny despite the author:

https://12barblog.com/category/miles-davis/

ok lol classic Miles anecdote

lol

haha the author is such a prick way 2 go miles

heh, miles otm

Yeah, striking intuitive perception on miles part there.

Hahaha. I got as far as 'famous comedian Bill Oddie' and wanted to kill everyone. Miles otm.

Bill Oddie:
You won't believe the musical pretensions that went on in my head. I listened to a lot of jazz and a lot of funk, and that period of the '70s for me was fantastic - it was really the era when fusion started. The people I liked were Sly Stone and early Parliament, and I listened to what was happening in jazz at the time, when Miles Davis was coming up with some very interesting hybrid music. With 'Funky Gibbon', I started off - it's almost unbelievable considering how stupid the song is - trying to get the feel of a Miles Davis track, I can't remember which, probably just after Bitches Brew and that sort of era: some really choppy Miles Davis-type rhythm, again with a Sly Stone influence.
http://www.alwynwturner.com/glitter/funky_gibbon.html

what in the ever lovin fuck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAmx_XdQky8

forget it shakey its britishtown

That was like a nakh afl post filtered through Garrison Keilor.

RE: Funky Gibbon - "You know, for kids". One of the first singles I ever owned. Growing up in the 1970s, the Goodies were definitely a gateway for kids into Monty Python. Oddie was one of the regulars on the proto-Python radio series I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again at the same time that Derek Bailey was in the house band.

Oddie was also a regular customer when I worked in the jazz dept of a massive chain record shop, and absolutely no trouble at all. This is him answering questions on 'American Jazz' on Celebrity Mastermind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyTD4j1Wcso

American here who loves Miles and loved The Goodies as a kid when it aired on NYC Public Television. So Oddie's cool with me.

Love the Miles anecdote but I feel bad for Red Rodney going thru all that trouble lol.

To the jazz cognoscenti, Miles Davis’s peak playing years were when he was playing with Charlie Parker right up to when he made the series of recordings collated under the title “Birth of the Cool”.

Peak snobbery.

Peak dumbassery really, I don't think anyone thinks that and it mostly suggests he hasn't heard the records MD made with Parker etc or can't hear the frequent mistakes Davis makes on them. It's good, just super embryonic type stuff. Which I thought was a p much universally held opinion. I don't remember his playing being as tentative on BOTC but that's obv way more of an ensemble thing. Anyway there're pre-fusion periods one could make an argument like that for, but choosing that one seems kinda random/uninformed.

I honestly can't tell if this sentence is satire or just ignorance: "the very exclusive Getzen company in Wisconsin, who make only the finest hand crafted trumpets"

Getzen horns are not exclusive in the slightest and are basically middle of the road as far as being considered "fine"

Peak dumbassery really, I don't think anyone thinks that and it mostly suggests he hasn't heard the records MD made with Parker etc or can't hear the frequent mistakes Davis makes on them. It's good, just super embryonic type stuff. Which I thought was a p much universally held opinion. I don't remember his playing being as tentative on BOTC but that's obv way more of an ensemble thing. Anyway there're pre-fusion periods one could make an argument like that for, but choosing that one seems kinda random/uninformed.

yeah I've actually never heard ANYONE suggest that his peak playing was with Parker or BOTC. Not only is it the standard wisdom on him that he was never a "player's player," but his concepts really weren't well-formed yet when he played with Parker.

I mean I thought even straight-ahead curmudgeons preferred the Riverside/early Columbia era.

sry meant to say Prestige

To the jazz cognoscenti, Miles Davis’s peak playing years were when he was playing with Charlie Parker right up to when he made the series of recordings collated under the title “Birth of the Cool”.

Peak snobbery.

― Austin, Thursday, June 23, 2016 11:22 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol yea it took some effort for me to read past that first line, i was just like "wha?????"

like what jazz cognoscenti

second great quintet pretty universally adored too right

wasn't that era wynton marsalis's greatest inspiration

It seems like in the last 10-15 years even most people who hated the electric period either died or went into hiding. But I've literally never heard anyone suggest that he peaked at BOTC.

The Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool documentary on BBC2 tonight. A++

Also now on Netflix in North America btw.

yes it was good. horrific stuff with his wife. i didn't realise she was going to be in the west side story movie.

made me want to hang out with lenny white. 'and it just moved, like an amoeba... every now and again something sticking out, just all moving along together'

I ffwd through most of this tbh

not much there that was new but i ate up actually seeing everyone tell those stories.

Missed this, but may still be on PBS.org and/or re-broadcast for fundraisers etc.:

American Masters, starting Tues.:
Discover the man behind the legend. With full access to the Miles Davis Estate, the film features never-before-seen footage, including studio outtakes from his recording sessions, rare photos and new interviews.
https://aptv.org/schedule/detail.php?epid=2378952

― dow, Saturday, February 22, 2020

This was pretty boilerplate but a fun watch. The “never-before-seen/heard” stuff wasn’t a big deal imo. Like abt 98% of music docs, I just wished it had more actual uninterrupted music and performance.

Yup

Carlos Santana was funny

Was that West Side Story thing movie or Broadway show? I think film was a translation of a theatre thing to the screen.
Yeah, seriously nasty. Glad she was around to tell the tale. Her and Juliette Greco.

I think I'd seen most of the performance video stuff cos a lot of its been around on bootleg for the last decade at least.
Not sure about the 'In Performance ' set they used to illustrate On The Corner with the Indian percussion stuff.
& I think they used a clip of the band around 1969 with Dave Holland on electric bass to illustrate something a bit later. But not sure.

Quite enjoyed it though.

& had just caught a Fairport Convention doc on Sky Arts before that was mainly good. Missed the start though.
Also saw that ZZ Top Little Old Band From Texas thing on Sky Arts the night before. So great week for biodocs.

I liked when Stanley Crouch was like “it just didn’t sound good”

Wasn’t surprised to hear Crouch say that. Although some of the stuff in the doc I wasn’t that familiar with, so it was worth seeing for me.

Crouch is right. It didnt sound good, it sounded AMAZING

go tell that shit to your new leader, Sting

All the Complete sessions are being reissued and are available from his store: https://www.milesdavisstore.com/store/

I'm mulling over "The Complete On The Corner Sessions".

They gotta reissue the trumpet case!

https://www.popsike.com/pix/20180121/173113313489.jpg

i’m mulling over a “bitches brew” 50th anniversary coffee mug

the tshirt with the sketches of spain graphic is tite

I need physical copies of the 1965-68 quintet box and the In A Silent Way Sessions box. Thanks for the tip!

suprised they don't have VOTE FOR MILES shirts or buttons

All the Complete sessions are being reissued and are available from his store: https://www.milesdavisstore.com/store🕸/

I'm mulling over "The Complete On The Corner Sessions".

That’d be Newton Free, GMBB.

Thanks for the heads up! I think I might have to get On the Corner, it's the only one I want that I don't already have. (although I'm kinda tempted to swap out my Jack Johnson set since I only have the long box version that doesn't match the others)

That trumpet case is such a flex--just went through my old CD-Rs a couple nights ago and was v glad to find my burned copies on the Complete On The Corner; going to find some quarantime to put in the work

That’d be Newton Free, GMBB.

Hah, we borrowed the same copy! I made a playlist of my favorite bonus bits from the box, still not sure I need it all, my picks:
One And One (unedited master) - not the same song!
Jabali
The Hen
Peace
Mr. Foster
Hip-Skip
What They Do

It makes a perfect companion to OTC with a similar feel.

Thanks for the revive, this is great news. Would love to get the 65-68 box (and maybe the OTC one too).

Is it all of them? I don’t see Cellar Door in there (which is another I’d consider).

Why the fuck did they wait for a global pandemic/economic meltdown to do this?

no plugged nickle from what i can see

i just got the Bitches Brew box set last year (the long tall one). for some reason i was under the impression that OtC was the only OOP studio box? maybe just because i don't think i ever saw it in an actual physical store

in a silent way box i listen to all the frickin time

The Cellar Door and Plugged Nickel boxes have never been reissued since they came out.

The On The Corner box was the only one of the Complete ... Sessions sets they allowed to go out of print.

Yeah, I think the other ones can be picked up p easily in used CD shops across the country

the 65-68 second great quintet box is fantastic — though it does throw into relief how well sequenced the original albums actually were.

Plugged Nickel comes in 7 and 8 disc versions - the latter has an extra gig?

Listening to Workin' today, and it's beautiful and perfect

Plugged Nickel comes in 7 and 8 disc versions - the latter has an extra gig?

Nope; it was a Japan-only release in 1992 and several tracks were edited by two or three minutes so that the second set would fit on a single CD. In the 8CD box, it's split across two discs.

quality discographical info, thanks

Is the 15% discount applying for anyone ordering one of the Complete Sessions? It's saying it's applied but I'm not seeing it deduct anything and there is a caveat that "Some exclusions may apply including media" ...

Welp, sounds like pre-orders aren't eligible for some reason according to the email. Boo.

Can someone help me out by identifying this woman? This is from near the end of the American Masters documentary. I need her name for something. I'm sure she's identified earlier in the film, but I don't want to rewatch the whole thing right now.

https://phildellio.tripod.com/birth.JPG

(Terribly photographed with a camera, because you can't take screenshots from Netflix.)

Is it Frances Taylor? I feel like she was interviewed quite a bit in that.

She is, but it's not her (she appears directly after that scene and is identified). I think I'll have to watch the film again--my friend, who interviewed Davis in the late '80s, wasn't sure either. They must identify her earlier in the film.

Marguerite Cantu

Yes! Many thanks.

"Bess, You Is My Woman Now," right now on local station: arrangement briefly intros Miles and then disappears, staying out of his way (thanks, Gil). Living breathing solo.

Or I should say the melodic statement is the solo, and vice versa. Wow.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CtHljmUJxKM/

Jack DeJohnette’s Tribute to Miles Davis & More
AUGUST 9, 2023 @ 7:30pm

Performers:
Jack DeJohnette
Will Calhoun
Vernon Reid
Don Byron
George Colligan
Luisito Quintero
Matt Garrison

Plus:
Very Special Guests to be announced August 7, 2023.
Who might they be? Well… there’s a reason we need a 1,500 seat theatre!

Ticket Link

You might want to grab your tickets before August 7th…
Once we announce, those remaining seats will go Light Speed!!

Let’s Goooo!!! 🎉🙌🙏❤️

In terms of Miles's best known collaborators, I'm guessing maybe Dave Holland, who has some shows in NYC a week later. (He, DeJohnette and Jason Moran played an amazing show together last year in Woodstock.) Could even be Ron Carter - I don't think he has anything booked. Maybe Herbie Hancock? He's playing Newport on August 6 so he could definitely make it. John McLaughlin would be amazing - he's supposed to be retired, but I don't think a one-off performance would be out of the question.

Your comment reminded me about a question that entered my head yesterday: What kind of guitar was John McLaughlin using on IASW?

This thread claims it's a Duo-Sonic, citing compelling evidence from Robben Ford. There's also this picture of JM with Tony Williams:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_dVPBBf9Ti6M/TRJIDo5T5PI/AAAAAAAAAIU/k7Yh8hr_2Vo/s1600/Lifetime+7.JPG

on the other hand:

You played an acoustic with Lifetime?!

In the beginning, but it was tough because Tony's such a powerful drummer and Larry was pulling these weird sounds out of the organ. It was loud and sometimes would start to feedback, and it's hard to play when the guitar is freaking out. But, for example, [Davis'] In A Silent Way -- that's a Hummingbird, just a pure acoustic with a pickup.

xxp turns out the special guests are Carlos Santana and Cindy Blackman Santana.

“And more surprise guests will be joining Carlos, Cindy and Jack at the show. It’s going to be an amazing night at UPAC!”

To this day I still check the official store hoping for a miracle restock of the On the Corner sessions box. Still haunts me that I missed the brief window they came up for sale again a few years ago.

I stupidly passed on them that time.

I don't need the fancy box or anything, but man I would love a repress.