Members blackpig Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 I recently heard some lovely jazz playing in a shop somewhere. My brother in law said it was Miles Davis. This was seriously nice chillout music. Can anyone recommend me an album that will be a good introduction? So far the only jazz I like is Reinhardt/Grappelli. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rudolf von Hagenwil Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 There is only one Miles Davis record available with Bouzouki on it ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members where02190 Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 I'd recommend a compilation CD called Love Songs. A collection of the mellower, less dynamicly frantic stuff, good for chill mode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members piano39 Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 The Miles Davis album called " Kind of Blue" os the number one selling jazz album of all time. Good place to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Will Chen Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 Miles really has 3 different persona's which developed over the course of his career. For Bop, Birth of the Cool also there's a great cheapy live CD called Miles and Coltrane which is worth checking out. For Chillin' Modal Miles, Kinda Blue or Sketches of Spain. For Fusion Miles, Bitches Brew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members spokenward Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 'chillout' makes me think it might have been "In A Silent Way". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blackpig Posted December 30, 2005 Author Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 Cheers folks! I'm off to the downloads... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ryst Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 i gotta agree with Bitches Brew! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members myshkin Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 Sketches of Spain is excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 Originally posted by spokenward 'chillout' makes me think it might have been "In A Silent Way". Ho ho! Great album -- but maybe not for 'beginners' or jazz traditionalists -- I think I'd second Kind of Blue. It's a good starting place and if you don't go any farther you've still got one of the all time jazz albums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blackpig Posted December 30, 2005 Author Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 I just put "Sketches Of Spain" on a cd and I'm going to listen to it with a beer when I'm cooking dinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 Sketches is, for sure, a well loved album. But it's not very representative of Miles' work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Super 8 Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 Kind of BlueIn a Silent Way They are different, but flow together nicely.Blue is a cool Bop sound, and Silent an ambient Fusion. Miles is an excellent place to start for discovering Jazz. Look at the musicians that play with him on his albums. Check out their albums. It will lead you in some interesting directions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Will Chen Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 Originally posted by Super 8 Kind of Blue In a Silent Way They are different, but flow together nicely. Blue is a cool Bop sound, and Silent an ambient Fusion. Miles is an excellent place to start for discovering Jazz. Look at the musicians that play with him on his albums. Check out their albums. It will lead you in some interesting directions. Coltrane, Coltrane Coltrane! Check out A Love Supreme or Giant Steps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 BTW, one of my clients' bought me Miles' "Cellar Door Sessions" box set for Christmas. Wow. The masters had, I guess, been misplaced/lost 'til recently. If you're a fan of 1970-era Miles, this is a great opportunity to see how that sound works out with a cookin' live band. A bit of an odd live band, to be sure, with Keith Jarret on electric organ and clav or e-piano, Gary Bartz on sax, Airto on percussion, the hard-smackin' Jack DeJohnette on kit drums and Motown bassist Michael Henderson laying down distinctly funky and very un-trad bass lines. I was expecting shabby in-audience recording quality -- but it sounds, by and large, given the givens, pretty darn good. Not a good starting place, for sure. But for someone who's already a fan and likes Miles BB and beyond work, it's a real invaluable missing link. (The box set is puh-ricey though, at something over $100!) _______________ Big, big Coltrane fan, here. I'm not sure Love Supreme is the first place I would send someone looking to get into Trane. It may be, for many, the culmination of some of his 60's explorations -- but it's a dense and challenging work. Someone who isn't already into the avant-garde jazz of the 60's is going to be at sea, I think. It's kind of like Ulysses. If someone said they wanted to get into James Joyce, I think I'd suggest they read Portrait of the Aritst and Dubliners first, to get some footing... I had a young friend who (somewhat sheepishly) admitted that she and her girlfriend kind of liked Kenny G. She's only around 19 but she's a sharp enough intellect that I figured someone ought to boost her up a bit. I suggested the compilation, Coltrane for Lovers -- which is my cat's absolute favorite album, period.* She liked it, but I think her GF got it when they broke up. But I think anytime you can get someone who likes Kenny G to listen to some real jazz, you're doing God's Work. *(Once, when he bolted and hid in my neighbor's yard where I couldn't get him, I actually lured him home by blasting the album out my open window. He likes other mellow sax like, say, Stan Getz's bossa period -- but he goes nuts for Trane, at least the mellow stuff. Anyhow, it's a big change for a rescue cat who was afraid of music when he first came to live with me. I think he likes sax because it sounds, in a funny kind of way, a bit like how the 'vowels and consonants' of cat utterances work. Either that or he heard Coltrane was hip...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members where02190 Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 It seems like yesterday, yet it was almost 20 years ago I was blessed with working with him....man those were somem amazing years....(82-87 as PM and monitor engineer). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted December 30, 2005 Members Share Posted December 30, 2005 Originally posted by where02190 It seems like yesterday, yet it was almost 20 years ago I was blessed with working with him....man those were somem amazing years....(82-87 as PM and monitor engineer). OK... now I'm impressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarkZ Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Seems like you should start with classic, 1950s Miles Davis (though Miles' music evolved so often, what is "classic"?). 1950s band of Miles, Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Jo JonesAlbums to check out:'Round About MidnightRelaxin'Steamin'Cookin'Walkin'MilestonesKind Of Blue (Bill Evans and Jimmy Cobb replace Garland and Jones) If you like this era, move on to the early-mid '60s albums:Seven Steps to HeavenSomeday My Prince Will ComeFour and More/My Funny ValentineESPMiles SmilesNefertitiThe "Plugged Nickel" live albumsThose last few titles are with Miles' band of Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams. As Super 8 mentioned, you should sample any of these artists' works (my first recommendation: Herbie's "Maiden Voyage"). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blackpig Posted December 31, 2005 Author Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Downloaded "Sketches Of Spain" but there's something wrong with my cd drive or maybe it's just bad discs, so the music won't copy to cd properly. I've only listened to snatches of it on my copmputer. Now I'm going after "Kind Of Blue" and then I'm going to put both albums on my mp3 player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fulcrum Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Yeah, Sketches of Spain is sublime, but it's not always mellow. This is one of the three or four albums Miles cut with arranger Gil Evans, which some critics regard as a high water mark of Miles' work and even of the jazz idiom in general. But because Evans scored for a big band, the music can be mellow or crest to a very high peak indeed. For a good overview of that period of Miles' career, check out Miles Live at Montreux with Quincy Jones conducting the Gil Evans Orchestra-- one of his last gigs before the conductor punched his ticket. Miles had lost a lot of his lip by then and wallace Roney was covering his old parts, but it was a magical concert. Other'n that, Ima hop on the Kind Of Blue bandwagon. I go back to that one from time to time just to listen to Trane and Evans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blackpig Posted December 31, 2005 Author Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Kind of Blue is sublime. His take on Rodriguez on Sketches of Spain is pure genius. I've just found a whole new genre to enjoy. I wouldn't have bothered with this stuff 20 or even 10 years ago. Thanks folks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members myshkin Posted January 1, 2006 Members Share Posted January 1, 2006 Sgt Peppers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gonkulator Posted January 1, 2006 Members Share Posted January 1, 2006 Kind of Blue for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bejeeber Posted January 2, 2006 Members Share Posted January 2, 2006 Kind of Blue appears to be the most consistently mentioned album here and for good reason. I'd say that'd be the #1 pick to start with. He also plays real nice on the great Cannonball Adderley's "Somethin' Else" album from around the same time period. Originally posted by where02190 It seems like yesterday, yet it was almost 20 years ago I was blessed with working with him....man those were somem amazing years....(82-87 as PM and monitor engineer). Hey let's hear some stories about that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members where02190 Posted January 2, 2006 Members Share Posted January 2, 2006 I was thinking at brunch yesterday, after meeting some new musicians of a regular client, and of course my years with Miles becomes the immediate topic of conversation that I need to find someone that I can spin all these amusing stories to before I forget them and publish something along the lines of an autobiographical my years with Miles kind of book. One of my most memorable was in Seville Spain summer of 84. It was hot, that dry, nasty spanish hot that occurs during july, when you can blow onto yur hand with all your might and not feel a thing hot. We're playing the bull ring, often used for concerts during the summer months when the bullfighting is out of season. The smell and feel of death is everywhere.... As is typical, we don't go on until the wee hours, probably 11pm or later. The shows back then ran 3 hours plus... Miles is playing Jeanne Pierre, and has gone off into that etherical, almost hypnotic free style where only Miles can go....the Harmon mute at it's most effective.... The air is still as death, and it's still as hot as hell itself.... Lights low, shadows dancing....then as I stand in my monitorworld, I notice movement around Miles, like little fairies dancing, or small little cyclones, that seem to follow his every move.... The local promoter notices this too, and comments to me that he believes Miles has broken to the next world, and the ghosts of the dead bulls and matadors who have lost their lives in this ring are now dancing to his ghostly sounds. My crew also notices this, and we all stand and watch in amazement as this dance from the next life goes on around him for several minutes. Miles, seems either oblivious or completey insync with the ghosts of the ring.... Then, as it Miles' way, out comes the mute, one mighty blast finishes the dance, and as quickly as they appeared, the ghosts are gone. I knew then just how not of this world Miles really was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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