Miles Davis appreciation thread

[Pirate Utopian]

Genius jazz-musician. Went from cool jazz to free jazz to jazz fusion.
Get Up With It has to be his best album!

Red China Blues:
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All Blues:
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Boplicity:
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He Loved Him Madly (excerpt):
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[JimmyJazz]

Not that crazy about him in general (like I am about Mingus and Coltrane), but:

http://www.kosmikradiation.com/albums_files/miles_silentway.jpg

is pretty win.

[Pirate Utopian]

Good album. :cool:

[communard resolution]

I'm not into his 'cool' phase so much, but I'm a sucker for his late 60s/early 70s output, *****es Brew being my favourite. The earlier stuff is ok, but he got really heavy when he got married to Bettie Davis. She was the one who influenced him into listening to rock (Hendrix), dress funkier, and become more 'free' and avant.

Although this is Miles Davis appreciation thread, I'd really like to take the opportunity to pay tribute to Bettie Davis as well as she remains rather under-appreciated. In the 70s, she recorded a few great albums of super-heavy, super-raunchy, and super-sexually charged soul/funk. Pirate, I think you will dig:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=YHsSIoBcTt8

[Pirate Utopian]

Good stuff, I'll be sure to check more stuff by her.

I like *****es Brew but I'm not as crazy about it as most are, Get Up With It beats it out of the park.

What's cool is that Miles was a mutual fan of The Stooges and had on ocassion snorted coke with them.

[communard resolution]

Good stuff, I'll be sure to check more stuff by her.

Yeah, when I first heard her I thought "Why the hell didn't I know about her earlier?"


What's cool is that Miles was a mutual fan of The Stooges and had on ocassion snorted coke with them.

Ha! I didn't know that.

[Pirate Utopian]

I hope this works but in the fantastic oral history book on NY punk called Please Kill Me, Ron Asheton (late guitarist of The Stooges) is quoted about Miles Davis.

Check the Asheton quote:
http://books.google.nl/books?id=1PV5Q-MYK68C&pg=PA65&lpg=PA65&dq=the+stooges+miles+davis+please+kill+me&source=bl&ots=vGjeM_dnvb&sig=GTVWogOJjgX2FL0IG-y0aCdjKOY&hl=nl&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result

[communard resolution]

I hope this works but in the fantastic oral history book on NY punk called Please Kill Me, Ron Asheton (late guitarist of The Stooges) is quoted about Miles Davis.


Okay, in this case I must have known it before as I've read the book - it's just there's so many stories of debauchery in there I forgot about this one.
'From The Velvets To The Voidoids' IMO a great companion tome - it definitely favours the artier bands such as Television/Talking Heads and hates the Dead Boys and Heartbreakers, where with Please Kill Me it's more the other way round. I think both books are great in their own way, and I actually like how diverse the proto-punk/NY punk scenes were. Dumb loud rock and art rock, I like em both.

Oh wait, this was supposed to be a Miles Davis thread. Cough, cough.

[Pirate Utopian]

The slight anti-British tinge to the book was a bit offputting but otherwise a good book.

But to get back on Miles Davis.
I obviously never got to see him live but I saw two of his former musicial companions Chick Corea and John McLaughlin in probably the most pretentious and dull jazzconcert ever.
Dire as fuck.

[ls]

The man was a genius. I can't think of a bad album he's done.


The slight anti-British tinge to the book was a bit offputting but otherwise a good book.

:lol: Ah well..


But to get back on Miles Davis.

I obviously never got to see him live but I saw two of his former musicial companions Chick Corea and John McLaughlin in probably the most pretentious and dull jazzconcert ever.

Dire as fuck.

John McLaughlin can be excellent but sometimes tends to focus more on skill than substance - dunno if you've ever heard of The Mahavishnu Orchestra (http://www.last.fm/music/Mahavishnu+Orchestra/_/Birds+of+Fire?autostart) (Birds of fire, one of my personal favourites)?
Chick Corea can also be pretty good but tends to be a bit more pretentious. :lol:

[Pirate Utopian]

Hmm... not my thing to be honest.

[ls]

Hmm... not my thing to be honest.

Fair enough, I guess it's for a specific taste. :P

Back on to Miles, his live stuff with Coltrane, best of all So What IMO is excellent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4TbrgIdm0E

Also for six months, sketches of spain was my favourite and only constantly played album. Still remains a deep favourite.

Whadya think of that one?

[Pirate Utopian]

I dig Coltrane and I dig Miles Davis' tunes from that time (although like Nero I also perfer the electric stuff from the late 60s/early 70s) so yeah I can dig it.
Miles' cool jazz is also one of the only examples of cool jazz I actually dont completely loathe.

[Y Chwyldro Comiwnyddol Cymraeg]

Kind of Blue is a beast of an album...grreat. So What...All Blues the standout tracks...niiice. I also love Tuxedo Junction and Olde Devil Moon by him...The best cool jazz albums in my opinion are Kind of Blue - Miles and Blue Train by John Coltrane..... coooool.

I hope people are picking up on my Fast Show refs?!


Anyway I was'nt keen on *****es Brew as a song, I have not heard the album all the way through.


If you like Miles, you'll love http://www.last.fm/music/Duke%2BEllington%2B%2526%2BJohn%2BColtrane/_/The+Feeling+of+Jazz John Coltrane and Sir Duke. Wooonederfull

[ls]

Kind of Blue is a beast of an album...grreat. So What...All Blues the standout tracks...niiice. I also love Tuxedo Junction and Olde Devil Moon by him...The best cool jazz albums in my opinion are Kind of Blue - Miles and Blue Train by John Coltrane..... coooool.


I hope people are picking up on my Fast Show refs?!

:lol:



Anyway I was'nt keen on *****es Brew as a song, I have not heard the album all the way through.


Why not just clear that up on last.fm. :)


If you like Miles, you'll love http://www.last.fm/music/Duke%2BEllington%2B%2526%2BJohn%2BColtrane/_/The+Feeling+of+Jazz John Coltrane and Sir Duke. Wooonederfull

:cool: Duke is the man, I think it was in Charles Mingus' semi-autobio 'beneath the underdog' where he describes Ellington as a "beautiful person" to his kid. :D

[Pirate Utopian]

Miles Davis' He Loved Him Madly is a tribute to Duke Ellington.