Anybody psyched for the next Miles reissue box?

There actually was a Miles box called The Last Word that Rhino was going to put out, which got killed for some reason. The box would have compiled all the lame* records from 1985 to 1991, including the Prince sessions (I think His Purpleness didn't give his permission for the stuff to be in the box).

* I still like Tutu *runs and hides*

This box set doesn't feature McLaughlin, for the most part. For that reason, I find it less interesting than Live-Evil--McLaughlin kind of cuts against the grain of the rest of the band on that album and complicates the sound. But it is even closer to the JBs. There's a lot more space in the music.

I have the advance discs for that The Last Word box. I don't know why they were never released - there's no Prince stuff on the CD-Rs. I think at least two of the studio albums from that period, Tutu and Siesta, are great. Amandla has some very good moments, and if you took away the songs with vocals from Doo-Bop, you'd have a hell of a six-song EP.

I'm always surprised at how many people dig On the Corner, which is just too weird for me (which if you know me is also kind of weird, since I'm really into AMM) - the stereo panning on that record just freaks me out. I think that's the most bizarre thing he ever did, really. (I know someone will now bring up something more bizarre that I forgot about.)

The thought of an On the Corner box, hmm ... I'm sure they'll do it eventually (especially since people really love that record). The seven 'complete sessions' metal-spine boxes are all out now, though I'm sure they could do another one, a No. 8 that compiles the Japanese live dates (Pangaea etc), On the Corner etc.

With Silent Way and onward, the working method of Miles in the studio - long unstructured jams that Teo Macero would edit down - meant that you had tons of unused bits lying around. Was that still true with the On the Corner stuff? I can't remember if Macero was still working with Miles by then.

In fact, if there's anything about The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions which really disappointed me, it's that we never heard what those sessions sounded like pre-editing. I mean, there are whole passages of that record that Macero loops (and a pretty good essay in the box explaining where they are) — some a few bars long, others several minutes long.

The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions did a better job of showing what the raw materials were for that record — although the edits weren't nearly as transformational as they were for Bitches Brew or On the Corner. For instance, there's this great story of Herbie Hancock going into Columbia offices or something and asking what it was on the PA and being utterly shocked when he was told it was On the Corner, which he had played on — that's the feeling I want when I hear that box.

Unfortunately, I think a lot of whether we get a box of those sessions will depend on how the Cellar Door box sells — I gather The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions didn't sell so well.

This wouldn't surprise me if that's what they did, as I can see older jazz 'purists' with disposable income snapping up the Miles Davis conventional jazz box sets and completely ignoring the electric stuff.

With Silent Way and onward, the working method of Miles in the studio - long unstructured jams that Teo Macero would edit down - meant that you had tons of unused bits lying around. Was that still true with the On the Corner stuff? I can't remember if Macero was still working with Miles by then.

Macero was still working on those albums. Several minutes of unreleased material from the On the Corner sessions appear on the Panthalassa; The Remixes album, in the 15 minute track that ends the record.

The quality is probably going to go downhill pretty fast as you go through the box, during this period Miles is into coke, booze, guns, is arrested, is hospitalized for: gallstones, breaking both his ankles, and something else. But of course I would buy the damn thing were it to exist.

Red China Blues 4:06
On the Corner (take 3) 19:57
What If 7:17
Black Satin 5:15
One and One (Black Satin pt 2) 6:09
Helen Butte (Black Satin pt. 3) 16:43
Mr. Freedom X (Black Satin pt. 4) 6:40
Jabali (take ?) 5:43
Jabali (take ?) 11:02
Untitled Original 720612a (take ?) 6:58
Untitled Original 720612b (take ?) 10:35
Untitled Original 720612c 7:05
Ife 21:34
Untitled Original 721129 30:17
Agharta Prelude (take 14) 17:35
Agharta Prelude (take 15) 9:24
Michael's Tune (take 4) 4:16
Billy Preston 12:34
Billy Preston (take ?) 20:36
Untitled Original 730104 (M. Davis) (take 1) 12:36

some missing sessions in Feb 1973

Untitled Original 730723 (take 4) 5:12
For Dave/Untitled Calypso (take ?) 5:12

some missing sessions in May 1973

Untitled Original 730726a/Big Fun 6:36
Big Fun (take ?, not the issued Big Fun) 6:36
Holly-wuud 2:50
Untitled Original 730726b 3:00
Untitled Original 730726b 3:25
Untitled Original 730723 4:09
Calypso Frelimo (part 1) 1:23
Calypso Frelimo (part 2) 15:48
Calypso Frelimo (part 3) 12:45
Calypso Frelimo (part 4) 15:44

30 fragments of He Loved Him Madly which made up the final edit

Dominique (take 1) 31:10
Mtume 15:08
Maiysha 14:50
Untitled Original 741106a (take 2 pt. 1) 18:17
Untitled Original 741106a (take 2 pt. 2) 2:26
Untitled Original 741106b (take 14) 15:36
Turn of the Century 15:47
Untitled Original 760330a (take 3) 4:23
Untitled Original 760330a (take 5) 5:05
Untitled Original 760330a (take 10) 9:11
Mother Dearest Mother (take 4) 5:57
Mother Dearest Mother (take 7) 11:23
Mother Dearest Mother (take 10 pt. 2) 6:15
Song of Landa (take 2) 4:04
Song of Landa (take 6) 4:34
Song of Landa (take 10) 9:35
Untitled Original 741106b/TDK Funk 5:33

skipping a session on March 2 1978 in which a drying-out Miles just plays organ

Though probably not until the '76 sessions or so — the latter bits that ended up on Get Up With It ("Mtume", "Maiysha") are still quite good. Much more spacious (and spacey) than the dense On the Corner-era stuff.

But of course I would buy the damn thing were it to exist.

As would I, of course — if only to hear what the band was doing w/ Cosey and Sam Morrison's material in those later sessions. Is it just me or do those session logs indicate that some of this stuff has been issued on bootlegs?

By the way, thanks everyone for participating in the thread, which is my first posted here ... it's nice to hang out with music freaks such as myself.

I've really been digging the Live at Filmore East 1970 2CD thing that came out a year or two ago.

Keith Jarrett on keybs (electric, both literally and figuratively), Gary Bartz (sax, awesome), Michael Henderson (bass), Jack DeJohnette (dr.) and John McLaughlin (on only a few shows, I think). It's a great act and I love Live-Evil, but for some reason I've never been as hott on hearing the complete Cellar Door set — couldn't even tell you why. That said, Miles is in peak form.

I've really been digging the Live at Filmore East 1970 2CD thing that came out a year or two ago.

I started listening to it a year or so ago and agree — it's excellent.

Yet unlike Miles At Fillmore, coherent.

Damn I want to hear that imaginary 1972-76 box NOW.

Indeed, someday we might.

Seth Rothstein, VP of Columbia Legacy writes:
"The Cellar Door boxed set is on schedule for release in Sep 2005. The liner notes will consist of essays by each of the players - Keith Jarrett, Gary Bartz, Jack DeJohnette, Airto Moreira, Michael Henderson, and John McLaughlin. Almost all have agreed to do this. And there will be an overview essay that I/Bob Belden have commissioned from [boxed set co-producer] Adam Holzman. Probably in 2006, our next Miles box would be an On The Corner & Beyond type concept, dealing with Miles'early '70s, material which so many people want to hear."

I won't be getting the Cellar Door box, but I wish I could download the liner notes.