Miles Davis'
Kind of Blue is one of the most iconic records in
American music, on par with Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde,
Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors, and Michael Jackson’s
Thriller - meaning that, like those other records, it’s
available at Urban Outfitters across the country,
purchasable by hip college guys and girls everywhere.
Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it’s probably fair
to say Kind of Blue is not only the one Miles Davis
record some of these kids know, but quite possibly the only
jazz record in their uber-hip vinyl collections. Kind of
Blue is nothing short of amazing - but "the most
important album in the history of jazz" is just one
milestone in Davis' perpetually groundbreaking career.
This month’s playlist is called "10 Essential Songs by Miles
Davis not on Kind of Blue." Some of the trumpeters
best cuts are on this playlist. "Sivad," off the
Live-Evil album, is bombastic funk culled from multiple
nights of live jams at Washington D.C.’s Cellar Door and
then cut-and-pasted into new tracks in the pre-Ableton
fashion of actually cutting and pasting tape reels in
the studio (by Davis and longtime producer Teo Macero).
"Frelon Brun" (Filles de Kilimanjaro, 1968) is
probably one of my favorite jazz recordings ever. In
hindsight, we know that Miles would eventually embrace
electronic instrumentation, changing the face of jazz music
(hell, all music) with the game-changing Bitches Brew
record. but in 1968, Miles himself didn’t know that - on
Filles (and Miles in the Sky, released the same
year) you hear the trumpeter and the equally iconic Herbie
Hancock first toying with the idea of "going electric."
There’s also a couple cuts here from Miles’ second great
quintet: Ron Carter, Tony Williams, Herbie Hancock, and
Wayne Shorter. Nefertiti, Water Babies, Miles in the Sky ...
if Miles Davis was a boxer (actually, Miles was a boxer),
these albums were his left-handed jabs, softening up his
adversary before cold clocking ‘em with the right hook of
Bitches Brew, Get Up With It, and On the
Corner.
:Miles
Davis - Honky Tonk:
(Get Up With It, 1974) :Miles
Davis - Wili (Part 1):
(Dark Magus: Live at Carnegie Hall, 1974) :Miles
Davis - Sivad:
(Live-Evil, 1970)
:Miles
Davis - Nefertiti:
(Nefertiti, 1968) :Miles
Davis - Frelon Brun (Brown Hornet):
(Filles de Kilimanjaro, 1968) :Miles
Davis - Splash:
(Water Babies, 1967) :Miles
Davis - Willie Nelson:
(Black Beauty: Live at Fillmore West, 1973) :Miles
Davis - Great Expectations:
(Big Fun, 1970) :Miles
Davis - Paraphernalia:
(Miles in the Sky, 1968) :Miles
Davis - On The Corner - Thinkin' Of One Thing Doin' Another
- Vote For Miles:
(On the Corner, 1972)
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