Official Electric Miles Davis Thread

If you like (or are getting into) electric Miles, definitely give this DVD a whirl:

http://www.amazon.com/Miles-Electric-Different-Kind-Blue/dp/B00069FKN2

Interviews with Hancock, Jarrett, etc. and the full '70 Isle of Wright performance (one long 30-minute improv). I "rented" from Netflix and was surprised by how awesome it was - recommended!

 

Have it, great companion DVD.

 

Have you heard the 6 disc Cellar Door Sessions from 1970? It's pricey but well worth it IMO. Michael Henderson is just killing - all over the place. Huge sound and all. Overall, it's a dry, up front sounding recording which I like.

 

Yes, Murray Lerners excelent miles electric: a different kind of blue DVD is a must for fans of electric Miles.

One question about the DVD. Has anybody managed to get the Electric Sessionography database bonus feature to work on their computer? I can't.

 

According to the Miles Davis discography project, the electric guitar and keyboard sessions prior to the tracks recorded with Benson were with Joe Beck on December 4, 1967 ("Circle In The Round") and December 28, 1967 ("Water On The Pond"). There was also a session with Bucky Pizzarelli on January 12, 1968 ("Fun").

These tracks were all released after the fact on "Circle in the Round" and "Directions." Now they're on the '60's quintet box.

The Benson sessions started a few days later, and "Miles in the Sky" was in the can by mid May. Half of "Filles..." was recorded in June (with the Corea/Holland tracks following in September).

Zaniwul's first session with Davis was on November 25th and 27th, 1968, along with Corea and Hancock. The sessions for "In a Silent Way" began in February '69.

So, it was in the winter of '67-8, after the busy recording activity of the previous spring and summer and a series of European concert dates that fall, that Davis began to move in the direction that led him to "In a Silent Way" the following winter and beyond. Quite a journey for one year of music-making!

L.

 

Seconded by me, and recommended by me in any thread I've seen about the fusion period. The Isle of Wight performance is complete, I believe. Within the composition, which Miles facetiously said was entitled 'Call it Anything', the band plays several of the tunes that were in the book at the time that are segued together. It's a remarkable performance, featuring Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett on keyboards, Dave Holland on bass, Airto Moreira on percussion, Gary Bartz on saxophone, and Jack DeJohnette on drums. All of the musicians involved, plus Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana, and Joni Mitchell give interviews about that period of the music. The interviews were conducted present day. Each musician plays a short musical tribute to Miles on their instrument solo, and Airto is magical. I don't own many dvd's, but this was a keeper. Excellent surround mix in Dolby and DTS as well.

For details of any of the recordings, a decent reference is the two volume biography Milestones I&II by Jack Chambers.

 

That would be the sessions which resulted in the song Circle In The Round which appeared on the compilation of the same name in the late 70's.

 

Thirded by me - I ripped the performance to an incredibly high bitrate (about 2,000kb/s) AIFF file and placed it in iTunes. Those 30-odd minutes are the pinnacle of the 1969 to 1970 'Bitches Brew' era and worth every penny. The picture quality on the DVD is stunning also.

Losin's site has a full breakdown of the tunes played for that gig.

 

listening to disc 7 of the complete live at montreux. completely disgusting (in the best possible way).

 

It's interesting to see Jarrett playing an electric instrument (I think a Wurlitzer?) before his anti-electric crusade. If memory serves, I think he talks some smack about it in one of the bonus videos on the DVD, too.

 

Keith Jarrett has been playing acoustic piano exclusively, I believe, for many years. But as anyone who was listening to him in the 60's and 70's will attest, he was equally adept at electric piano and organ. IIRC, he talks about how much he disliked playing the organ in the Miles Davis band on Miles Electric. Check out his duets with Jack DeJohnette on the ECM release Ruta+Daitya sometime, or the collaboration with Gary Burton on Atlantic. Great electric piano. And of course, there's the entire Cellar Door box set. You have to take what he says away from the keyboard with a grain of salt.

 

Of course I'm not doubting his skill or his immense talent...his position on electric instruments (however much I disagree with it) is extraordinary (in a good way). Talk about being in the minority!

 

On that note, it's awesome when Herbie (on the DVD) talks about first sitting behind a Rhodes (!), and thinking that it was a "toy"?! Priceless. I can't imagine a world without Herbie behind a Fender Rhodes.

 

To be honest, when I heard Keith saying he felt the electric instruments are inferior etc. etc. and that he only played them because it's the only way he could play with Miles... I call bulls**t.

Look at him on stage on Miles Electric! I've seen a few other concerts from that era, and he looks like the guy who's enjoying it all the most! I've boycotted his solo stuff since he has far too high an opinion of himself, and he didn't add much to the gigs he played with Miles. I tend to fast-forward his solos because they're too far up his own backside. The guy just comes across as a p***k.

Perfectly rational thinking then

 

Interesting! I would have thought your love of Agharta/Pangaea would lead to a preference for the more more raw sounding Miles! Miles! Miles!

I wasn't comparing them either, just pointing out that I have no anti sampling/Hip-hop snobbery and I still haven't liked Doo-Bop from the day of release.

Now, what I would love to see is an official audio/video release of the Villette, Paris show from July 10. 1991. It was shown on TV in Europe at the time.

http://www.plosin.com/milesAhead/Sessions.aspx?s=910710

A very fitting send off, IMO.

 

Miles' playing on so much of the electric period (ISLE OF WIGHT, JACK JOHNSON, CELLAR DOOR) is so darn physical; the amount of strength and stamina to play in such a muscular way is awe-inspiring ( I guess a lot of that had to do with his love of boxing).

I had read about PANGAEA and AGHARTA for years before I actually heard them, and I was not disappointed when I finally got to play them. Looking at the live sets through the years, Miles truly was one of the great live performers. It must not go unnoticed that he was also a great bandleader, coaxing incredible performances from such stellar musicians. The Mclaughlin link has John talking about how Miles was able to bring out things in his playing that he didn't know were possible.

 

Thanks. I was just too lazy to look it up.

 

I love everything that has been released from his electric period until his 'retirement'. It's all fascinating stuff. As someone else said, every time you play it you seem to hear something new. That quality seems to exist in only the greatest jazz music. The other quality that I only pick up in the greatest jazz music is a sense of effortlessness to the music. I don't know how to describe it, like an organic, ease to the sound. Most of Miles' music has it. It just sounds absolutely perfect and natural like it couldn't have been played any other way somehow.

 

I believe there has recently been an official release on DVD, but it's of the TV broadcasted edit, not the full gig.

 

Well, no, it doesn't have the edge of the 70s music, but it certainly has its own qualities - and it is of its time just like the 70s music is of its time. Miles was one of very few major jazz artists whose music always kept reflecting - or leading - the larger world of contemporary popular music. Try the Warner UK best-of collection, or Live Around the World, as a starting point.

- Joe

 

I dont mind the 80s live stuff, but when you have kids,, as you very well may, and you finally have a momenty to spare to hear some music, you tend to go for the sure things that bring instant gratification.

Yesterday was Miles Davis's Sorcerer I bought from a member here, today will be Miles '73.

 

Keith IS a tad bit . . . uhm . . distracting? I would have expected Miles to ask him to chill out a bit on his stage demeanor.

 

To be honest, to quote another poster, for a musician who has been so successful commercially and artistically playing a music that isn't commercial Jarrett brings a lot of his personal baggage to his concert performances and his interviews.

OTOH, there are a lot of people who say that this behavior, as well as his performance mannerisms, are so off-putting that they won't even listen to his music.

It's their loss, IMO.

 

I must be the only person in the world who missed out on Miles' electric period for many, many years because I got Bitches Brew and didn't like it. Like many people coming from a rock background, I heard that that was the place to start, got it, didn't really like it, and so didn't pursue the matter any further. It was only years later when I grabbed In A Silent Way and Agharta/Pangaea and loved 'em that I realized I'd been missing something.

Having said that though, I think I couldn't have gotten into either Agharta/Pangaea or Jack Johnson (which, along with IASW and Dark Magus are my favorites) without first getting into James Brown, which I didn't do until about 3 years ago. I kind of didn't 'get' groove-oriented music until then.

And there's still something about Bitches Brew that leaves me flat. Definitely my least favorite electric period album. I think it's mostly to do with the multi-keyboard setup, which I'm not that fond of. Not a big fan either of the Rhodes electric piano sound per se, which doesn't help.

Haven't really listened too closely to his post-comeback 80's stuff, but would really like to hear about it in more detail. For people who are fans, how would you compare and contrast it to what went before? Is it "of its time" in any ways other than kind of superficial ones (e.g., digital keyboards, samples, etc.)? What are his sidemen from that era like in the context of his earlier groups?

Geoff

 

I've proposed a bunch of Miles electric releases on Sony / Legacy's Uservoice page:

A complete 1975 Japan tour box, e.g. Agharta and Pangaea and any other recordings they can find - many of the concerts on the tour were recorded for Japanese radio, and are available as bootlegs, but I imagine Sony would have access to better versions.
http://legacyrecordings.uservoice.c...76713-miles-davis-complete-live-in-japan-1975

A box set of the 1970 "At Filmore" material, the 2 LP/CD set isn't enough, it is too heavily edited in my opinion.
http://legacyrecordings.uservoice.c...s/76711-miles-davis-complete-at-fillmore-1970

A box of all the 1980s Columbia albums, and any unreleased takes and live recordings from that period:
http://legacyrecordings.uservoice.c...-miles-davis-complete-columbia-1980s-sessions