https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/qvpgqp/the-guide-to-getting-into-miles-davis
The Guide to Getting into Miles Davis
ByJeff Andrews;illustrated byTara Jacoby
Aug 1 2017, 12:34pm
In his own words, Miles changed music "five or six times." That might even be undercutting it. So where do you begin?
Definitely "Kind of Blue."
Second choice: "Jack Johnson."
A friend of mine that's a jazz musician told me how Miles' best album was Kind of Blue and that his last good album was Bitches Brew, since in his opinion every album and live performance after that is basically coked up wankery from Miles that goes nowhere.
I happen to enjoy some of Miles' music post-Bitches Brew but it's not for everyone.
[Edited on 8/2/2017 by The_Newt]
I love '50s jazz. His albums from the '50s would be a great start. The albums from the '60s were great also. To tell you the truth I'm not nuts about his fusion electronic stuff in the later years. Maybe I just haven't listened enough.
Kind of Blue. Definitive jazz album, not just definitive Miles
From there, for the 1st quintet, I would go to Round About Midnight
2nd quintet (with Herbie, etc): Live at the Plugged Nickel or Bootleg Series, Vol 1, Live in Europe 1967
Fusion: In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson
I agree with spoonbelly - I'm not into this period as much but those are my favorites. I guess I would start with In a Silent Way because that was earliest. For a 'guitar oriented rock fan" Jack Johnson might do it
I like Sketches Of Spain a lot
Definitely "Kind of Blue."
Second choice: "Jack Johnson."
Couldn't agree more.
I like Sketches Of Spain a lot
Such a great album. I'll add Birth of the Cool to the list.
Wish I had that about a year ago, ha! Of course I started with KOB, but once I started reading Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece I took a few step backs and started listening to some of his first albums. Then I pretty much went down the rabbit hole and started listening to Cannonball, Dizzy, Coltrane.... I can go on forever. But KOB is probably my favorite album of the bunch. What I did after that was listened to the different live versions of "So What", as he changed musically, his live performances followed and this is easily seen in his different versions of "So What". And, Derek did a cover which I like also.
In terms of Miles's shift to fusion, I do not think "Bitches Brew" is a good entry point for a listener. It is a double album with a very free sense. I think the album before or after it, "Silent Way" or "Jack Johnson," have that fusion essence but as single albums are leaner and just have a wee bit more melody and focus.
I believe that after that trilogy comes "On the Corner," 1972, where Miles shifts to some funk mode but for me, that is where it gets tough as a listener. It gets more dissonant, more minimialist in terms of chord progression, and Miles starts to content himself with the occasional BWAP horn interjection. It is cool groove / trance music, but not great if you want to hear Miles himself. Most of the rest of the 70s stuff I know follows that trajectory.
Seems to me Columbia has released a lot of live and expanded albums lately, all of which are worth checking out.
A little known gem is the soundtrack to Ascenseur pour l'échafaud. Recorded in 1957 in Paris with some French musicians. An important step on the path to Kind of Blue.
someday my prince will come. One of my favorites for sure. Down on the corner and doo-bop are both pretty cool but definitely take several listens to get into.
Definitely "Kind of Blue."
Second choice: "Jack Johnson."
Those are probably my two favorites, but you can't go wrong with so many of these, and I know the '50s stuff way better than what came after. Kind of Blue, Sketches of Spain, Porgy and Bess, '58 Miles... they're all terrific. So is the film soundtrack ScottC mentions. In English I think the title is Escalator to the Gallows, and the songs were also released on albums with names like Jazz Tracks and Compact Jazz, sometimes mixed in with other stuff. And I agree that Jack Johnson and In a Silent Way are much easier to get into than Bitches' Brew. I always found BB to be kind of murky and dense, and I think of that album as sort of a theory. By the time Jack Johnson came around they found a way to put that theory into practice and I think it sounds much more natural, so they made a great album out of a casual jam session.
Do check out Miles Smiles with his second great quintet. Tony Williams excelling as Miles' favorite drummer with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock on the front line. Maybe the last stop before Miles completely broke with hard bop jazz.
Really liking the Jack Johnson Complete Sessions set. More recognizable structure and progression to the jams which works better for me. The On The Corner Sessions set is nice also. Thanks for these suggestions as I have tried but never really clicked with Miles tunes before. He lived a few doors down from me here in NYC so I think his spirit is enjoying that his tunes are playing so close to one of his homes 🙂
Fellow ABB fans who like jams should be giving way more love to post-Jack Johnson 70s Miles.
There are more inconsistent nights from '72-'75, but the best of that stuff is awesome.
ABB fans who primarily value the songs and the compositions and like some improv should start with 50s era Miles. Those ABB fans who are here for the jams should focus in on '69-'75 Miles. Those who are caught in between those two worlds should start with the '61 to '68 stuff. If you have a huge affinity for the synthesizer you should start late 80s. For me personally, you could live within '69-'75 Miles forever. He did so many amazing things just in that 6ish year window - that alone would be all-time great status. The early to mid 80s are sneaky good as well, though they all that stuff has an inescapable 80s flavour. Those early 80s bands with Al Foster, Cinelu, and Marcus Miiler backing Mike Stern, Bill Evans, and Miles - those are good sometimes too.
My short answer - there's almost no wrong answer to this question - except maybe late 80s early 90s. Even that stuff isn't that bad. Otherwise, listen to Miles Davis immediately - he and his bands are outrageously good.
[Edited on 8/5/2017 by slothrop8]
[Edited on 8/5/2017 by slothrop8]
A little known gem is the soundtrack to Ascenseur pour l'échafaud. Recorded in 1957 in Paris with some French musicians. An important step on the path to Kind of Blue.
Very interesting recording, Miles improvised the music by recording as he watched clips from the film. Truely in the moment. I used to have a copy of the film but I loaned it out and it never came home. The soundtrack is out there if you poke around.
Released as Elevator to the Scaffold in the US.
From a review:
"Performed by a Miles Davis-fronted European band for a movie by Louis Malle, this music helped define the sound of film noir. It made viewers think the genre's films had always sounded just so, with slow-walking bass beats and muted, slithering horn lines miming the characters on the screen--and underlining their emotions. The melodies here are brief fragments, sometimes rising up only to disappear and then briefly return. This is Miles playing in the moment, improvising musical impressions as he watched the screen. And what he played managed to capture the era of postwar everywhere, while it offered Davis the freedom to test his on-the-spot compositional skills within a minimalist context. How many other beboppers who worked within the shadow of Charlie Parker could have ever recorded these little gems?" --John Szwed
Re your comment below, can you suggest some specific releases to check out? Thanks!
Fellow ABB fans who like jams should be giving way more love to post-Jack Johnson 70s Miles.
There are more inconsistent nights from '72-'75, but the best of that stuff is awesome.
[Edited on 8/5/2017 by slothrop8][Edited on 8/5/2017 by slothrop8]
Recently checked Elevator to the Scaffold out of my local library, not sure how I missed this earlier but it seems like Miles doing this was an important step in getting to KOB--also got a laugh out of the film protagonist being stuck in an elevator over the weekend with the power off being ripped off on "Last man on earth" last season--also notable since female lead Jeanne Moreau died recently--pretty stunning first film by Malle considering in his words he had previously "only directed fish" since he was stepping up from doing nature films and using the elevator gimmick was pretty advanced since apparently most buildings in paris didn't even have them installed at that point in time.
got plenty of time to kill?
Keyboardist Robert Glasper's cds have a lot of miles influence (he worked on the miles ahead movie) and he can be interesting in concert, but he tends to talk more than he plays--he didn't even make it through "time after time" on miles' birthday this year without stopping to make some comments about how he thought that song should be played.
Fellow ABB fans who like jams should be giving way more love to post-Jack Johnson 70s Miles.
There are more inconsistent nights from '72-'75, but the best of that stuff is awesome.ABB fans who primarily value the songs and the compositions and like some improv should start with 50s era Miles. Those ABB fans who are here for the jams should focus in on '69-'75 Miles. Those who are caught in between those two worlds should start with the '61 to '68 stuff. If you have a huge affinity for the synthesizer you should start late 80s. For me personally, you could live within '69-'75 Miles forever. He did so many amazing things just in that 6ish year window - that alone would be all-time great status. The early to mid 80s are sneaky good as well, though they all that stuff has an inescapable 80s flavour. Those early 80s bands with Al Foster, Cinelu, and Marcus Miiler backing Mike Stern, Bill Evans, and Miles - those are good sometimes too.
My short answer - there's almost no wrong answer to this question - except maybe late 80s early 90s. Even that stuff isn't that bad. Otherwise, listen to Miles Davis immediately - he and his bands are outrageously good.
[Edited on 8/5/2017 by slothrop8]
[Edited on 8/5/2017 by slothrop8]
Agree with your comment about Jack Johnson
There is plenty of intense improv/ jamming on kind of blue and the live releases from the 2nd Quintet (61-67)
To me, the electric stuff tends to be more abstract, kinda like modern art. What I like about the 67 live series is you can hear them pushing the boundaries
It's all great stuff. You will definitely find what you like if you look for it
Re your comment below, can you suggest some specific releases to check out? Thanks!
Fellow ABB fans who like jams should be giving way more love to post-Jack Johnson 70s Miles.
There are more inconsistent nights from '72-'75, but the best of that stuff is awesome.
[Edited on 8/5/2017 by slothrop8][Edited on 8/5/2017 by slothrop8]
In terms of official releases Agharta and Pangaea are great place to start. Both live albums from shows in Japan in 1975. Very different from other parts of his career - dark, pulsating funk grooves with guitar, saxophone, and trumpet solos and long stretches of improvisation. There are compositions, but songs in the structure that we traditionally think of them are largely deconstructed, - mostly improv over shifting grooves. Dark, moody, intense. He didn't have a keyboard player in his band anymore at this point so he alternated between organ and trumpet - playing organ washes, drones, and vamps. Guitarist Pete Cosey is a big star in the band at this stage playing unique, wild guitar solos.
There is also Dark Magus - a double live album from Carnegie Hall in 74 with a second saxophonist and third guitarist - Dominique Gaumont. Similar style of music to Agharta though I like Agharta a little better - same idea though, funk grooves, dark rhythms, lot of vamps and cross riffs, and some explosive improv and soloing when they click.
Those years are not for everyone and it's a very different listening experience than most of the rest of his career - doesn't all work, but there are also sections that for me are extraordinary.
There's also a compiliation of studio sessions from between 70-74 called Get Up With It with a number of different lineups that has some very interesting stuff.
Going back a little there is a live album from '72 called In Concert that sees the music moving toward the Agharta direction - funk grooves, vamps, guitars, sitar etc. There's also Live Evil from '71 which is more in line with the Bitches Brew style of deconstructed angular grooves, shifting moods, at times spacey, at times atonal, at times jamming. Keith Jarret on keyboard on that one.
I love all that stuff, even though the Live Evil style in 71 is quite different than what he was doing by '75. Miles was always evolving.
For unofficial stuff, there are lots of good torrents on dime adozen if you are a torrented/downloader. There are some really good Sbds and FMs from '73 especially.
If I'm not mistaken,Duane listened to Kind of Blue for years,almost exclusively at times.
I'd think that's a wise path to follow.
"I've listened to that album so many times the last few years,I haven't hardly listened to anything else."
Duane Allman
[Edited on 8/6/2017 by dadof2]
The posts about live Miles from 73 reminded me I have some shows from that year. Giving one a listen now. Reading the torrent file and one of the shows I have has this lineup. The sitar and tablas add another dimension that I really liked.
Miles Davis - trumpet
Dave Liebman - soprano and tenor saxophone and flute
Pete Cosey - guitar and percussion
Reggie Lucas - guitar
Khalil Balakrishna - sitar
Lonnie Liston Smith - keyboards
Michael Henderson - electric bass
Al Foster - drums
Badal Roy - tabla
James Mtume Forman - congas and percussion
Recorded April 13, 1973 (first concert) at Crampton Auditorium, Howard University, Washington, DC
The posts about live Miles from 73 reminded me I have some shows from that year. Giving one a listen now. Reading the torrent file and one of the shows I have has this lineup. The sitar and tablas add another dimension that I really liked.
Miles Davis - trumpet
Dave Liebman - soprano and tenor saxophone and flute
Pete Cosey - guitar and percussion
Reggie Lucas - guitar
Khalil Balakrishna - sitar
Lonnie Liston Smith - keyboards
Michael Henderson - electric bass
Al Foster - drums
Badal Roy - tabla
James Mtume Forman - congas and percussionRecorded April 13, 1973 (first concert) at Crampton Auditorium, Howard University, Washington, DC
That's an interesting gig to have as that lineup only existed for a very, very short time - 6 or 8 weeks maybe in Spring '73. It's kind of like having some ABB shows where the lineup is Warren and David Grissom - there's a few out there, but they are a bit rare to come across. Pete Cosey had just joined the band. Lonnie Liston Smith was also brand new to the live band and would be the last keyboard player to be in Miles' touring band until after his came out of retirement in the early 80s - Miles took over organ himself by summer of '73. The sitar, tabla, and keyboard player would be gone by end of Spring and that core group Liebman/Cosey/Lucas/Henderson/Foster/Mtume would comprise the live band more or less for the next couple years.
[Edited on 8/6/2017 by slothrop8]
