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What is your favourite Miles Davis album?

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

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famethrowa

It's a tossup between Kind of Blue or In A Silent Way for me. By the way, I just discovered that it isn't "A Kind Of Blue", as I'd always thought, but simply "Kind Of Blue", no A. Changes the interpretation somewhat.

But if we're talking titles, the record I don't get on with is Miles Smiles. Way too "nice", slow, ordinary. And why does it have that title? Smacks of the record company saying "come on grumpy, the kids are out there with flowers in their hair, free love, cheer up. Look, Miles is smiling on the cover! Well kind of grimacing, making a face like he'd just seen Sonny Rollins fall off his chair. Oh that'll do"

Quote from: little pianist on July 24, 2020, 01:47:12 PM
I dabbled briefly but meant more generally about how jazz improvising works.

Thanks. It was the trumpet/little pianist thing.

Quote from: Astronaut Omens on July 24, 2020, 10:37:59 AM
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?


I've since found this Eddie Jefferson version with lyrics about Miles Davis that is a bit like that (most of his versions of this song don't include the 'so what' backing vocals).

I have a funny relationship with jazz standards that are based on original songs; and hearing them differently if you know the song. When I first heard Bill Evans' version of "Some other Time" and the related "Peace Piece" I hadn't heard the Bernstein song. I like the song and watched On the Town only to find out they didn't include this in the film. It limits the way I can hear some of the piano music now. I also thought that there were some traces of it recurring in Reflections in D (from 1.20) but this is Evans' version of Duke Ellington's Reflections in D recorded in 1953 (which does the same sort of thing from 30 seconds in and 2.50 and probably doesn't need to come from the song). So now, if I'm listening to Bill Evans, the hinterland of Ellington's Piano Reflections and Bernstein's song seem to come together in "Some other Time" and in "Peace Piece" (I'm assuming perhaps wrongly that Ellington wasn't deliberately echoing "Some other Time").  Other times, I enjoy hearing a linguistic phrase coming in implicitly: in "It's only a Paper Moon" and "Emily" for example.

Petey Pate

Quote from: Smeraldina Rima on July 24, 2020, 02:56:21 PMI've since found this Eddie Jefferson version with lyrics about Miles Davis that is a bit like that (most of his versions of this song don't include the 'so what' backing vocals).

Eddie Jefferson also did a crazy version of Bitches Brew with lyrics.

Quote from: famethrowa on July 24, 2020, 02:50:58 PMBut if we're talking titles, the record I don't get on with is Miles Smiles. Way too "nice", slow, ordinary. And why does it have that title? Smacks of the record company saying "come on grumpy, the kids are out there with flowers in their hair, free love, cheer up. Look, Miles is smiling on the cover! Well kind of grimacing, making a face like he'd just seen Sonny Rollins fall off his chair. Oh that'll do"

That reminds me of a story of how Miles was unhappy with the original cover for Miles Ahead: "Why'd you put that white bitch on there?"