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Just because.
For me there's no greater artist, and after all these years Miles and Pres are still my favorite improvisers. You can sing every note of their classic work. But Miles also changed music in more ways than just his soloing. The creative spirit is a restive spirit---looking ahead and not standing still. He never stood still and always took chances. He's my hero...
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10-07-2017 10:14 AM
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Nobody has anything to say about Miles Davis?
MILES DAVIS?!!
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What can we say that hasn't been said? Most here think he's a hero, some think he was overrated as a trumpeter player, some say he took credit for the work of others, some say he was a conceited racist douchebag, some say he lost it in the late 60's when he tried too hard to stay relevant....
Me, I just listen to what he played throughout his career, despite the various contexts (and boy, there were so many!) and even though I can't say I always liked the bands, or the tunes, or the clothes, or the album covers.... I will say that every damn time he puts the horn to his lips, I hear the truth....
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Sorry - it just puzzled me that this was tagged "Study Group". Huge Miles fan here (except for his later electric "fusion" work) and he's always an inspiration...
Originally Posted by fasstrack
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Miles' version of Prayer (Oh Doctor Jesus) from Porgy and Bess is probably my number 1 jazz piece of all time. I'll admit, I ain't delved too deep into Miles' body of work, what with there being so much of it, but... Damn, when I hear Miles play Prayer (Oh Doctor Jesus) I think I have the closest I've ever come to a religious experience.
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When my daughter was five years old, I put on a CD of Kind of Blue. She was digging the music, so I took her to the piano and said, "You can join in. Just play the white notes, and when the music goes higher (I'll give you a signal) just play the black notes." With no brainwashing that music was difficult or only for musicians, she jammed along, and had a great time. Sometimes she got the change without my help, sometimes she didn't, but either way she was part of the conversation. That was one of the best moments of my life, and I thank Miles for it!
By the way, she found her own path, and is now an art student in London, not a musician. Either way, life will be hard, but she has commitment. Maybe Miles taught her that - and maybe a little bit her dad too!
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First Jazz album I ever bought was Kind Of Blue in 1989, not too shabby of a start, huh?
Troubled Genius is the tag I'd hang on him, if I had to try to label him (but a genius nontheless.)
Bitches Brew, In A Silent Way, Sketches Of Spain, Miles In The Sky - how can you not respect this guy?
Looking forward to seeing how this thread develops.
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I have always been fond of the "Birth of the Cool" sessions. Capitol put out an extended version with the live performances as well. Great writing and wonderful playing. They prove quite definitively that a band doesn't need more than nine pieces.
Last edited by guido5; 10-09-2017 at 08:11 PM.
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That wasn't my decision. Must've been a moderator. But it's cool... Originally Posted by TOMMO
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If you guys get a chance, listen to the CD reissue of 'Round About Midnight. There are bonus tracks: Little Melonae (with a gorgeous Miles Solo on open horn, and Red Garland playing an atypical bass clef solo), Budo and Sweet Sue (a reissue from an early album, arranged by Teo Macero). There's also a CD 2 also with great stuff on it.
I think if I wanted to pile into something and learn I'd study Miles's mid-'50s solos. They are perfection...
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One of my favourite Miles tracks is 'Circle'.
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Huge Miles fan, OF COURSE. But there have been great swathes of ambivalence. His personal life, his drug use, his misogyny, his not always on-it-ness, his claiming sings that he didn’t write-ness. But yes.
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Water Babies may be my favorite from that group and period. Just sick good writing and playing...
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T o quote Miles himself about Thad Jones. Originally Posted by henryrobinett
'I'd rather hear him miss 12 notes than hear (fill in technically perfect but soul-dead player of your choice) make 2'...
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But the music and his playing!! I did a bunch of ear transcriptions of early Columbia and Prestige recording with Rollins and Trane. Eye opening for sure taste.
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That tune Deception is very heavy. Not sure if he wrote it---but harmonically it's pretty deep...
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Milestones album turned up to 11. Can’t believe how good that is. Leaves me Breathless.
Imagine being in the room when they did Two Bass Hit live.
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Miles wasn't racist. He was simply fed up with taking *hit from certain others. Tell the truth.
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That was Birth of the Cool, right? I think he’s listed as the composer. But you’re know, it could have been John Lewis. Gerry Mulligan? Gil Evans?
I played that music on two or three concerts. One with Ingrid Jensen.
Israel was partially weird. Not the changes we play. We had the original charts.
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Kind of Blue and Wayne Shorter - Adams Apple are my two "I need to go back to the source of my love of jazz" touchstones
Will
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Colin Friels the Australian actor tells a great story of Miles when they were filming the movie Dingo.
They were at some outback airport and Miles was sitting on the ground talking to a little kid. It was his birthday so Miles played him a tune. Colin says it was the most beautiful music he had ever heard, Miles played so faintly it was just audible and it morphed into Happy Birthday.
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It's very similar to George Shearing's 'Conception' - I think Miles was being a little deceptive here! Originally Posted by fasstrack
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Miles is listed as composer---but I've learned not to trust Google, and also 'dead men tell no tales'. Originally Posted by henryrobinett
Someone also said that Deception is like Conception. I think it's a totally different tune---deviating from Conception from the 5th bar on---and the person was joshing. Either way, there's something very unique and moving, to me anyway, about the harmonic architecture of Deception. It moves in its own way, and I want to master it and play it in public so listeners can hear what a great piece it is.
Also, Miles as a soloist in that period----ca '49-55---was really into something: sound, ideas, spacing, relaxation. I don't mean to say the other, later, periods weren't great also---just that these solos are to me in a special class or category of genius. They make me want to play on that level in my own way, even if I'll never get there, and I probably won't. We all need inspiration, and that is mine, or a big part of it...Last edited by fasstrack; 10-10-2017 at 06:46 AM.
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I was being serious - it's not just me, google it and you will see a lot of people have made the same comparison, e.g. Deception by Miles Davis/Arr. Gerry Mulligan| J.W. Pepper Sheet Music. Sure Miles changed some bits and added a pedal-point intro/interlude but there are lots of similarities. Originally Posted by fasstrack
Later I think Miles recorded it as 'Conception' but made it a sort of hybrid of both tunes, even more confusing!
Actually I prefer Miles 'Deception/Conception' to Shearing's 'Conception', just sounds more appealing for some reason. (Shearing's bridge melody is a bit too 'busy' for me).
Chet Baker used to play it Miles' way a lot (though the track was usually listed as 'Conception' on Chet's records, following Miles' later version.)
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Whatever you say. I don't 'google'. I use my ears, or ask someone who knows more than me.
It's a totally different tune, harmonically and in all ways, after the 4th bar.
Can we talk about something else, please?
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