Miles Davis Tribute Thread

Comet · #1 (**permalink**) 12-28-2011, 01:36 AM

I figured this forum would not be complete without a Miles Davis tribute thread. MD is without question my all-time favorite jazz artist. Cannot get enough of him.

So, share with us your favorite Miles Davis songs, albums, memories, stories, etc...

I will start with some basics regarding the great and legendary Miles Davis.

From Wiki:

Quote:

Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz, and jazz fusion.

On October 7, 2008, his 1959 album Kind of Blue received its fourth platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of at least four million copies in the United States. Miles Davis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. Davis was noted as "one of the key figures in the history of jazz".

On November 5, 2009, Rep. John Conyers of Michigan sponsored a measure in the US House of Representatives to recognize and commemorate the album Kind of Blue on its 50th anniversary. The measure also affirms jazz as a national treasure and "encourages the United States government to preserve and advance the art form of jazz music." It passed, unanimously, with a vote of 409–0 on December 15, 2009.

Miles Dewey Davis was born on May 26, 1926, to an affluent African American family in Alton, Illinois. His father, Dr. Miles Henry Davis, was a dentist. In 1927 the family moved to East St. Louis, Illinois. They also owned a substantial ranch in northern Arkansas, where Davis learned to ride horses as a boy. Davis' mother, Cleota Mae (Henry) Davis, wanted her son to learn the piano; she was a capable blues pianist but kept this fact hidden from her son. His musical studies began at 13, when his father gave him a trumpet and arranged lessons with local musician Elwood Buchanan. Davis later suggested that his father's instrument choice was made largely to irk his wife, who disliked the trumpet's sound. Against the fashion of the time, Buchanan stressed the importance of playing without vibrato; he was reported to have slapped Davis' knuckles every time he started using heavy vibrato. Davis would carry his clear signature tone throughout his career. He once remarked on its importance to him, saying, "I prefer a round sound with no attitude in it, like a round voice with not too much tremolo and not too much bass. Just right in the middle. If I can’t get that sound I can’t play anything." Clark Terry was another important early influence.

Miles Davis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Comet · #2 (**permalink**) 12-28-2011, 01:54 AM

This is the complete Bitches Brew album. Calling it a masterpiece would be an understatement.

This is not music.

It is magic.

Here are some great reviews and comments regarding it.

From Wiki:

Quote:

Bitches Brew was a turning point in modern jazz. Davis had already spearheaded two major jazz movements – cool and modal jazz – and was about to initiate another major change (like Davis' album Filles de Kilimanjaro, the album's cover also sports the phrase "Directions In Music By Miles Davis" above the title.) Some critics at the time characterized this music as simply obscure and "outside", which recalls Duke Ellington's description of Davis as "the Picasso of jazz." Some jazz fans and musicians felt the album was crossing the limits, or was not jazz at all. One critic writes that "Davis drew a line in the sand that some jazz fans have never crossed, or even forgiven Davis for drawing." Bob Rusch recalls, "this to me was not great Black music, but I cynically saw it as part and parcel of the commercial crap that was beginning to choke and bastardize the catalogs of such dependable companies as Blue Note and Prestige.... I hear it 'better' today because there is now so much music that is worse."

On the other hand, many fans, critics, and musicians see the records as an important, vital release. In a 1997 interview, drummer Bobby Previte sums up his feelings about Bitches Brew: "Well, it was groundbreaking, for one. How much groundbreaking music do you hear now? It was music that you had that feeling you never heard quite before. It came from another place. How much music do you hear now like that?" The Penguin Guide to Jazz gave Bitches Brew a four-star rating (out of four stars), describing the recording as "one of the most remarkable creative statements of the last half-century, in any artistic form. It is also profoundly flawed, a gigantic torso of burstingly noisy music that absolutely refuses to resolve itself under any recognized guise." In 2003, the album was ranked number 94 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Along with this accolade, the album has been ranked at or near the top of several other magazines' "best albums" lists in disparate genres.

Bitches Brew - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Enjoy.

Miles Davis - Pharaoh's dance - YouTube

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew - YouTube

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew - YouTube

Miles Davis - John McLaughlin - YouTube

Miles Davis - Miles runs the voodoo down - YouTube

Miles Davis - Sanctuary - YouTube

Comet · #3 (**permalink**) 12-28-2011, 02:11 AM

Sweet Pea - Miles Davis - YouTube

Comet · #4 (**permalink**) 12-28-2011, 02:14 AM

Miles Davis - On The Corner - YouTube

cnredd · #5 (**permalink**) 12-28-2011, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Comet

Miles Davis - Bitches Brew - YouTube

I'm listening to this as we speak...

Until Miles shows up, the beginning sounds like the beginning of a bad 1960s movie where the humans meet the aliens for the first time on an unknown planet, but starts to get a LOT better when Miles shows up from his bathroom break...

I'm assuming it's going from song to song...I'm 19 minutes in and haven't heard a break yet...A couple of slow points...I assume that's when one song ends and another begins...That's pretty "Zappa-ish" (Or maybe Zappa thought that was "Miles-ish")...

LOTS and LOTS of fuzz organ...very cool...

Comet · #6 (**permalink**) 12-28-2011, 02:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cnredd

I'm assuming it's going from song to song...I'm 19 minutes in and haven't heard a break yet

Nope. That is one song.

Almost all of the songs on this album are long.

Comet · #7 (**permalink**) 12-28-2011, 03:09 AM

I love this one. You will really dig this, cnredd.

Yes, it is another 20+ minute song.

But worth every second.

Miles Davis - Yesternow (A Tribute to Jack Johnson) - YouTube

Comet · #8 (**permalink**) 12-28-2011, 03:13 AM

Here is one from one of your favorite MD albums.

Miles Davis "Stella by Starlight" - YouTube

saltwn · #9 (**permalink**) 12-28-2011, 03:40 AM

The one type of music my husband and I completely agree upon. We love listening to stuff like this on the car radio as we cruise along.

Comet · #10 (**permalink**) 12-28-2011, 03:52 AM

Autumn leaves - Miles Davis - YouTube

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