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What is your favourite Miles Davis album?

Started by holyzombiejesus, July 13, 2020, 09:34:48 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Sin Agog

Hey, NoSleep- you were talking about Sun Ra sidemen just now.  Are you a fan of Philip Cohran & the Artistic Heritage Ensemble?  I think On The Beach (not the Neil Young record, this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQUd4nZ2Krk&t=7s) might be one of my most played jazz albums.  We all tend to find little nooks and crannies in the jazz world to cuddle up in, and I think the more spiritual side is the place I feel most at home.

chveik

I've heard this kind of stuff called 'spiritual jazz' (not too harsh/dissonant free jazz with often an oriental or african inspiration). Yusef Lateef for instance


but these categories are always a bit arbitrary.

kalowski

A lot of sense being written in this thread. For me, I'm in agreement with a lot of you. My list:
Miles Ahead
In a Silent Way
On the Corner
Get Down With It
Kind of Blue
Porgy and Bess
Sketches of Spain
Filles de Kilimanjaro
The whole Walkin'/Steamin'/Workin'/Relaxin' albums too.

spaghetamine

Am I a basic bitch for saying Kind of Blue or is that considered an acceptable answer to Miles aficionados?

Sin Agog


NoSleep

That late 60's to mid 70's era produced a bunch of albums that were exactly my cup of tea. They all owe a debt to Bitches Brew to some extent. For example:

Quote from: buttgammon on July 18, 2020, 01:01:43 PM
Speaking of Headhunters, I'm a big fan of Herbie Hancock's three album run of Mwandishi, Crossings and Sextant. There's a thickness and complexity to a lot of that music, but it also acts as something of a bridge between the stuff he was doing with Miles and his later, more immediately accessible stuff.

Then there's the album trombonist Julian Priester made, entitled Love, Love, which features Patrick Gleeson (who I believe assisted on those Herbie Hancock albums above, too) on mellotron and synths, Julian Priester playing trombone through distortion and wah-wah pedal, Bill Connors (from Return To Forever) on electric guitar, and the funkiest riff in 15/4 you'll ever hear. My favourite kind of mysterious underworld jazz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_biJZfDk5c

Joe Zawinul, between leaving Miles and before forming Weather Report dropped his solo album, Zawinul, which includes his own version of his composition In A Silent Way; without all the chords removed as in the Miles version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqyepMYvUac

It also has a version of his Double Image, which is another track he did with Miles (appears on Live/Evil). And his first version of Doctor Honoris Causa (dedicated to Herbie Hancock, who also appears on the album, both he and Zawinul on electric piano) which would later be recorded by him with Weather Report (but I love this earlier version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_QozQhnhuc
Sleeve notes from Miles!

Chick Corea's pre-Return To Forever music is my favourite period of his work. Most of this is collected on the album The Complete Is Sessions which includes both his album Is which is some amazing free jazz (the title track is a mindblower), and the (slightly) more relaxed Sundance. Also features another Miles departee, Dave Holland on bass:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJsR8G7ucjw&feature=youtu.be&t=1635

If you listen to the album Bitches Brew Live you might recognise the above was played as part of Miles' Isle Of Wight performance (but no credit given to Corea, naturally).

NoSleep

Oh... mustn't forget Bennie Maupin's Jewel In The Lotus. Bennie's a big part of both the sound of Bitches Brew as well as Herbie Hancock's post-Miles music.

Title track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjAfiLtys3E ...which sounds in part like a tribute to Coltrane.

But generally the album has a more mysterious abstract sound and isn't afraid to linger in places that other artists would only use as an intro to something beatier:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgwLP5jcjjs

beautiful

buttgammon

Quote from: NoSleep on July 18, 2020, 10:07:14 PM
That late 60's to mid 70's era produced a bunch of albums that were exactly my cup of tea. They all owe a debt to Bitches Brew to some extent. For example:

Then there's the album trombonist Julian Priester made, entitled Love, Love, which features Patrick Gleeson (who I believe assisted on those Herbie Hancock albums above, too) on mellotron and synths, Julian Priester playing trombone through distortion and wah-wah pedal, Bill Connors (from Return To Forever) on electric guitar, and the funkiest riff in 15/4 you'll ever hear. My favourite kind of mysterious underworld jazz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_biJZfDk5c


Joe Zawinul, between leaving Miles and before forming Weather Report dropped his solo album, Zawinul, which includes his own version of his composition In A Silent Way; without all the chords removed as in the Miles version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqyepMYvUac

It also has a version of his Double Image, which is another track he did with Miles (appears on Live/Evil). And his first version of Doctor Honoris Causa (dedicated to Herbie Hancock, who also appears on the album, both he and Zawinul on electric piano) which would later be recorded by him with Weather Report (but I love this earlier version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_QozQhnhuc
Sleeve notes from Miles!

Chick Corea's pre-Return To Forever music is my favourite period of his work. Most of this is collected on the album The Complete Is Sessions which includes both his album Is which is some amazing free jazz (the title track is a mindblower), and the (slightly) more relaxed Sundance. Also features another Miles departee, Dave Holland on bass:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJsR8G7ucjw&feature=youtu.be&t=1635

If you listen to the album Bitches Brew Live you might recognise the above was played as part of Miles' Isle Of Wight performance (but no credit given to Corea, naturally).

I haven't heard this before but it sounds right up my street - thanks for this!

Petey Pate

Quote from: Sin Agog on July 18, 2020, 09:21:55 PM
Hey, NoSleep- you were talking about Sun Ra sidemen just now.  Are you a fan of Philip Cohran & the Artistic Heritage Ensemble?  I think On The Beach (not the Neil Young record, this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQUd4nZ2Krk&t=7s) might be one of my most played jazz albums.  We all tend to find little nooks and crannies in the jazz world to cuddle up in, and I think the more spiritual side is the place I feel most at home.

Not heard this before. It's great - thanks for linking it.

Fans of 'spiritual jazz' might also like the similarly titled Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes, Horace Tapscott's Pan-Afrikan People's Arkestra and The Art Ensemble of Chicago.

Mtume also recorded a couple albums in the early 70s in this vein before finding greater fame with Juicy Fruit and his 1980s R&B hit (Mtume of course was also Miles Davis' percussionist on Agharta/Pangaea).

Petey Pate

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on July 18, 2020, 06:43:50 PM
Much bigger fan of his wife's work tbh.

I think Miles played a bit of trumpet on her album Nasty Gal, or at least helped write some of the songs.

It was one song on that album, written by Miles Davis with arrangements by his long time collaborator Gil Evans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-Pw6IkzaD0

chveik

Quote from: Petey Pate on July 19, 2020, 12:56:51 AM
Fans of 'spiritual jazz' might also like the similarly titled Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes, Horace Tapscott's Pan-Afrikan People's Arkestra and The Art Ensemble of Chicago.

similarly, The Pyramids - King of Kings

Sin Agog

Quote from: Petey Pate on July 19, 2020, 12:56:51 AM
Not heard this before. It's great - thanks for linking it.

Fans of 'spiritual jazz' might also like the similarly titled Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes, Horace Tapscott's Pan-Afrikan People's Arkestra and The Art Ensemble of Chicago.

Mtume also recorded a couple albums in the early 70s in this vein before finding greater fame with Juicy Fruit and his 1980s R&B hit (Mtume of course was also Miles Davis' percussionist on Agharta/Pangaea).

Will get on those Lonnie Liston Smith albums, cheers.  Weird that there'd be two great jazz musicians called Lonnie Smith- the other one was a member of George Benson's band.  They both were big, bearded self-actualised individuals who played the organ.  Wonder if anyone's ever booked the other one by mistake and just said, "Fuck it! Let's play."

You may also dig Marvin Hannibal Peterson's stuff.  Favourite of his is Angels of Atlanta, which was made as a memorial to all those murdered school children from Atlanta as depicted in Mindhunter.  The track The Inner Voice always brings tears to my eyes.  I don't know why I only play it in the middle of heavy winds...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXcJeDxRiEI

magval

Quote from: spaghetamine on July 18, 2020, 09:58:52 PM
Am I a basic bitch for saying Kind of Blue or is that considered an acceptable answer to Miles aficionados?

I'm here because Stewart Lee did a routine about that album after Simon Munnery insisted he recognize it as the most beautiful recording of all time by playing it constantly when they lived together.

I don't think I'd ever have listened to On the Corner or Agharta either if Ad-Rock hadn't recommended them on a Beastie Boys album commentary. Jazz is hard. Sometimes it takes someone you respect saying 'listen to this' to properly commit to mentally investment in something. Other times, like with Kind of Blue, that also crosses over with 'best ever' being said by a lot of people, but in its case there's a lot of weight to it. It's an excellent album altogether, and it's definitely easier to listen to than Bitches Brew (as an example) because of the structure of it.

famethrowa

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on July 18, 2020, 06:42:44 PM
Could I ask a question too, kind of unrelated to Miles Davis? I'm not really sure what all these terms for types of jazz mean. What kind of jazz is the first 3 1/2 minutes of this piece? Is it just 'jazz' or is there some subgenre that it belongs too. I really love that mix of piano drums and brass, fucking brilliant. .

Yes definitely post-bop, as mentioned before, it has a real Dave Brubeck vibe.


Quote from: spaghetamine on July 18, 2020, 09:58:52 PM
Am I a basic bitch for saying Kind of Blue or is that considered an acceptable answer to Miles aficionados?
No, it's rep as the best Miles album is totally justified. It's the only full studio album with the amazing Miles/Coltrane/Bill Evans triple-headed hydra to the fore. It's the Miles album where Coltrane's energetic playing is most successfully integrated into the muted, hazy Miles sound-world; on some of the earlier records it can sound a bit like a keep-fit instructor has suddenly come bouncing into a roomful of stoners having a pizza night.

Kind of Blue's status as the only jazz record in the Rolling Stone top 100, for example, is complicated though: I can quite get why some people might be annoyed by that. It's a bit like if something like OK Computer was the only rock album on a list- it would still sound good, but a bit different divorced from it's context.

The New Sounds
Blue Period

'Round About Midnight
Workin'
Relaxin'
Steamin'
Cookin'

Ascenseur pour l'échafaud

1958 Miles
Kind of Blue

Mostly things Shagatha and Astronaut Omens already recommended: beginnings, first great quintet and the Bill Evans modal stuff. I think it's best to watch the film rather than listen to Ascenseur pour l'échafaud soundtrack.

I'll try to use the guidance here to crack some of the harder and later stuff. Thanks for the breakdowns and other tips.

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on July 18, 2020, 06:42:44 PM
My first ever Bill Evans album arrived today

Which one did you get?

Cuellar

Tough one!

I'd have to say...the Best of Miles Davis.

holyzombiejesus

Quote from: Smeraldina Rima on July 19, 2020, 07:52:40 PM

Which one did you get?

Waltz for Debby. It was pretty cheap, about a tenner cheaper than the the Village Vanguard one. There do seem to be some pretty nasty pressings around though so I might have got one of those.

shagatha crustie

Gorgeous album - let us know what you think HZJ!

Cursus

Quote from: NoSleep on July 18, 2020, 10:07:14 PM
That late 60's to mid 70's era produced a bunch of albums that were exactly my cup of tea. They all owe a debt to Bitches Brew to some extent. For example:

There's the album trombonist Julian Priester made, entitled Love, Love, which features Patrick Gleeson (who I believe assisted on those Herbie Hancock albums above, too) on mellotron and synths, Julian Priester playing trombone through distortion and wah-wah pedal, Bill Connors (from Return To Forever) on electric guitar, and the funkiest riff in 15/4 you'll ever hear. My favourite kind of mysterious underworld jazz

Quote from: NoSleep on July 18, 2020, 10:24:08 PM
Oh... mustn't forget Bennie Maupin's Jewel In The Lotus. Bennie's a big part of both the sound of Bitches Brew as well as Herbie Hancock's post-Miles music.

Title track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjAfiLtys3E ...which sounds in part like a tribute to Coltrane.

But generally the album has a more mysterious abstract sound and isn't afraid to linger in places that other artists would only use as an intro to something beatier:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgwLP5jcjjs

beautiful

The Priester and Maupin albums are two of my favourites.

Patrick Gleeson and Maupin are also on the first two albums by trumpeter Eddie Henderson (Realization and Inside Out), both of which are worth a listen.

Impossible to pin down a 'favourite' but..

Kind of Blue - Still untouchable.
(Cookin' Steamin' Workin' etc.) - basically learnt how to play listening to these albums over and over again. Milestones and any of the 56-64 ish period of standards/originals combined I've listened to hundreds of times.
In a silent way - can't point to why but love it.
Bitches Brew - I love the slow build on Miles runs the Voodoo down. I play this album at full volume when doing the vacuuming.

Surprised no one mentioned (sorry if I missed it) the '64 concert that was turned into two albums: my funny valentine and four&more. Pretty much perfection. I love the live at the plugged nickel recordings too although that's very much about Wayne and the rest of the band's playing bursting at the seams rather than miles who could hardly play after a spell in hospital. In general, I prefer listening to the live concerts/bootlegs from the second quintet and electric period to many of the albums which are variable in quality (all have superb individual tracks though, eg. On Miles smiles/on the corner)

It is I guess a normie cliche like most of my opinions but the 80s stuff can sod off. Dated synthy nonsense that does very little for me.

Quote from: little pianist on July 22, 2020, 04:02:53 PM
(Cookin' Steamin' Workin' etc.) - basically learnt how to play listening to these albums over and over again.

The trumpet?


SpiderChrist

Thanks to this thread I listened to Jack Johnson yesterday and I think it is jolly good. On The Corner is up next.

spaghetamine

I can't see the name Miles Davis without wandering if he ever at any point in his life dialed the phone of someone called Mavis, might have been mildly amusing - Miles Davis dials Mavis

Is it meant to be be doo be doo be doo be do doo SO WHAT?

hummingofevil

I have not much to add at this stage but I love Tutu so this thread has challenged me to listen to ever MD album ever. See you on the other side peeps

Quote from: Smeraldina Rima on July 23, 2020, 09:02:22 PM
Is it meant to be be doo be doo be doo be do doo SO WHAT?
Quote from: Smeraldina Rima on July 23, 2020, 09:02:22 PM
Is it meant to be be doo be doo be doo be do doo SO WHAT?
Putting it like that has merged it with 'That Don't Impress Me Much' by Shania Twain in my mind.

So-you-think-that-you're-Brad-Piiit? SO WHAT?
So-you-think-you're-something-special? SO WHAT?
You're a rocket sci-en-tist? SO WHAT?
El-vis or some-thing? SO WHAT?

holyzombiejesus

Quote from: shagatha crustie on July 19, 2020, 08:19:37 PM
Gorgeous album - let us know what you think HZJ!

Just listened to it (Bill Evans' Waltz for Debby) for the first (and second) time and... I'm pretty disappointed to be honest. Find it a bit bland and noodley. Guess I'm just a bit picky. The second on side 2 is ok and like the start of Milestones but that just seems to get bland pretty quickly. There doesn't seem to be enough mood or melody. I listened to a few seconds of the other one recommended - Sunday At The Village Vanguard - and that didn't really sound like my cup of tea either, again too many notes.



What do people think about this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhbG1JPe_JI&feature=emb_title

Does it fit in with anything else or do yous think it's a horrible modern pastiche? I really like it.

Quote from: Smeraldina Rima on July 23, 2020, 05:11:31 PM
The trumpet?

I dabbled briefly but meant more generally about how jazz improvising works.