Miles Davis?

aydee said:
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PS- Here's a short ( incomplete ) list of his drummers just to keep the thread in context of this forum:
Max Roach, Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Art Taylor, Kenny Clarke, Jimmy Cobb, Elvin Jones, Tony Willians, Jack De Johnette, Billy Cobham, Al Foster......
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Every drummer on this list is a hero to me. But I saw Miles play with Philly Joe Jones and I was just mesmerized.
 
aydee said:
ahahahaaha.....




I think the only person who didn't do heroin of all the people Miles played with was Bill Evans.

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Evans might have drunk himself to death, but I am pretty sure that back in the 1950s it was heroin like everyone else. Miles got Coltrane off heroin. I would bet he did the same for Evans. I don't remember if that was in the book.

The Vanguard has been around since forever. They used to have comedy nights and Comden and Green got their start there in the later 1930s. Their music director was Lenny Bernstein. Later, Lenny Bruce played the Vanguard and of course by the late 1950s you see all the jazz greats playing there. But I have never been able to figure out when that place became a jazz mainstay, although they claim it always was. There is a new recording of Barbra Streisand recorded a couple of years ago there, and she said that she played there back in the 1960s. That's how Broadway destroyed jazz. :p
 
While Miles's musical importance and influence cannot be overstated, his autobiography is best read with a grain of salt - he was given to exagerration.


Bill Evans was a terrible junky, he used for years even after leaving Miles's group - however by the middle of the 1960's the pervasive use of heroin diminished to a degree. The group with Tony, Ron, Herbie and Wayne was not plagued by drug problems and created some of the most compelling, innovative and interesting music put to record.
 
I remember when I was a little kid I found a Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" cassette. I've been a huge fan ever since. That is what I think of when I think of jazz.
 
Not everything he produced was gold. Jack Johnson album was a low point IMHO.

He was human and fallible like the rest of us. Reputation in jazz is everything and he had it. Yet, apart from kind of blue, how much MD do you hear these days? I'm sure i hear more Brubeck and Basie than i do Miles.

Just a thought.

Davo
 
That autobiography has inspired more non-jazz people I know to investigate jazz than anything else I can think of. It's so hard to put it down. I've read the book probably 10 times, just by opening it up to random pages over and over again over the years. It's not always pretty, but it's fascinating.

Miles is my favorite jazz musician. His bands were so, so good. And yes, his influence is just ridiculous. All the greatest players came through his groups. He broke new ground and led the way that others followed. For me, the pinnacle of 20th century music was the 60s quintet with Wayne, Herbie, Ron and Tony. I have all the studio and live work that band did and it's the most compelling music ever recorded, for my money.

The only artist who approached Miles in terms of turning out talent as a leader would be Blakey, I think.
 
8Mile said:
That autobiography has inspired more non-jazz people I know to investigate jazz than anything else I can think of. It's so hard to put it down. I've read the book probably 10 times, just by opening it up to random pages over and over again over the years. It's not always pretty, but it's fascinating.

Miles is my favorite jazz musician. His bands were so, so good. And yes, his influence is just ridiculous. All the greatest players came through his groups. He broke new ground and led the way that others followed. For me, the pinnacle of 20th century music was the 60s quintet with Wayne, Herbie, Ron and Tony. I have all the studio and live work that band did and it's the most compelling music ever recorded, for my money.

The only artist who approached Miles in terms of turning out talent as a leader would be Blakey, I think.
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I loved that book from start to finish. Wow what a life. As far as influencing and/or creating more American artistic genres of music I don't think there's anyone in jazz who can touch him.
 
I found it interesting that my son, who was never really exposed to much jazz as a young child, chose "Kind of Blue" from among several CDs I offered him when he was perhaps ten (I think I was giving him one for Christmas or something). I don't remember what the others were - more mainstream pop or rock, probably. But I played several samples from each and Miles was the one that interested him. I was both surprised and pleased. Miles certainly had appeal as well as influence.
 
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@ Ken- I meant the younger Bill Evans ( The alto player ) ..

What also fascinates me about Miles is that he constantly threw himself out of his comfort zone and looked for new creative challenges. Even when he was on top of the game. He didnt just crack a winning formula and milk it into a successful career like so many others. Damn, thats gutsy.

Great story Keith Jarrett tells of Miles saying to him " Keith, do you know why I dont play ballads anymore?" ............." Because I love them too much"

Im just so impressed by the way he looked at his own music. He was objective, self critical and arrogant at times, but always seeking purity, honesty.

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aydee said:
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@ Ken- I meant the younger Bill Evans ( The alto player ) ..

What also fascinates me about Miles is that he constantly threw himself out of his comfort zone and looked for new creative challenges. Even when he was on top of the game. He didnt just crack a winning formula and milk it into a successful career like so many others. Damn, thats gutsy.

Great story Keith Jarrett tells of Miles saying to him " Keith, do you know why I dont play ballads anymore?" ............." Because I love them too much"

Im just so impressed by the way he looked at his own music. He was objective, self critical and arrogant at times, but always seeking purity, honesty.

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Makes sense. I thought that might be the case.

I was watching something the other day, oh, the making of Aja and Wayne Shorter stated that quote about Miles, "Don't give it all away. " He interpreted that as meaning, "Don't wear your heart on you sleeve." I think in a certain sense that has to do with the Miles aesthetic, Don't get all riled up in what you're doing. Be cool and collected and let it happen. Shorter saw that as a having a certain macho appeal, you don't discuss your art with people. You just do it and let them try to figure it out.
 
wsabol said:
He mostly did it at white clubs because he hated white people.
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Wasn't so much he "hated" white people ... he hated a rude audience.​
Miles, playing before 600,000 at the Isle of Wight ... http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2njlh_miles-davis-at-the-isle-of-wight-70_music​
The "European" audience got it ... on so many levels ... and they treated Miles like a king ... and with the respect that, well, really, everyone deserves ...​
Then Miles would come back to "the states" ... and let's face it ... it wasn't "the summer of love" here ...​
A friend of mine, Herbert, got to meet Miles once .... and said Miles was one of the nicest cats he'd ever met. And Herbert was a "big" white dude. But then, Herbert went over there, with Buddy Miles ... Herbert ran around with Hendrix ... so like, Miles liked Herbert 'cos Herbert obviously didn't have a problem with "black" people ...​
One thing I heard about Miles .... I should read the book ...​
Does it mention Miles owning a "favorite" ride cymbal. I've heard a few stories about how he had a "favorite" ride cymbal ... one he felt didn't interfere with the frequency of his horn, and while his drummers changed (a lot) ... the ride cymbal remained a constant ...​
Anyone know anything about that?​
 
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Gotta get me that book.

Davo-London said:
Not everything he produced was gold. Jack Johnson album was a low point IMHO.
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I used to dislike Jack Johnson and found it incredibly thin but it just clicked with me recently. I certainly don't get Dark Magus though. I love exploring his 70s period because when I've heard one of the albums I've literally no idea how much I'm going to like it in 6 months, and I can't think of any other music I experience like that. I can't stand On The Corner right now either (used to be one of my faves).

He was human and fallible like the rest of us. Reputation in jazz is everything and he had it. Yet, apart from kind of blue, how much MD do you hear these days? I'm sure i hear more Brubeck and Basie than i do Miles.

Just a thought.

Davo
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Usually a couple of hours a day. ;)
 
Now you've got me thinking: When was the last time anyone here heard BITCHES BREW?
 
Duckenheimer said:
About 4 or 5 days. But I never heard it on the radio or anything.
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That's really what I meant. I only hear it when I put it on. Otherwise, nada. Like it's not part of the culture anymore.

Somehow, this discussion has made me think of Don Ellis. His work was adventurous as hell, constantly changing, forging in new directions. I loved everything he tried to do, and I miss it.

But not as much as I miss Miles.
 
Davo-London said:
Yet, apart from kind of blue, how much MD do you hear these days? I'm sure i hear more Brubeck and Basie than i do Miles.

Just a thought.

Davo
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The sounds tossed out there by Miles Davis are in just about everything we hear in popular culture. I remember sometime when I was 13 or so, listening to some 80s Miles and as always I liked it. But I wondered Now what part of this possibly influences anyone? Then ten minutes later I'm watching a Taco Bell commercial and the music features a harmon mute trumpet electro pop sound that could have come directly off the Tutu album. Now that impressed me.
 
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