fange
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Listening to long jazz tracks
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Post by fange on Oct 6, 2023 14:22:40 GMT
Yeah, i remember seeing that, and my first impression still stands - i understand the appeal of trying to shine more of a light on Miles' post-70s albums, but having a good 25% of the list made of them is just going overboard. The Prestige period is woefully under-represented, and adding Round About Midnight or The Birth of the Cool or Filles... just makes more sense, even if it's not as "interesting" as a list. |
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fange
god
Listening to long jazz tracks
Posts: 4,555
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Post by fange on Oct 6, 2023 14:27:44 GMT
What WOULD the Miles expert recommend to a fan of such entry level mellowness? I definitely do NOT consider myself an expert, but my first reaction would be to recommend you try Sketches of Spain, mate. |
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Post by osgood on Oct 6, 2023 14:48:59 GMT
What WOULD the Miles expert recommend to a fan of such entry level mellowness? I definitely do NOT consider myself an expert, but my first reaction would be to recommend you try Sketches of Spain, mate. And then proceed chronologically |
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Post by fonz on Oct 6, 2023 15:14:50 GMT
I'm gonna be pathologically real and transparent here and say that my late uncle had a copy of Kind of Blue when I lived with him...35 years ago? Anyhow, I absolutely loved it. Something like 'All Blues', I don't even want to say that it's "the kind of jazz I like", it's just...a kind of music and sound that I find really satisfying. Based on everything I've read about Miles Davis, this particular album is...I dunno, music for neophytes, muzak, easy listening, coffee table jazz, whatever..."Miles for dummies"? I've had that copy ever since, and I play it pretty regularly, but...I've NEVER felt like I had ANY sense of where to go next. On the surface, descriptions of records like Bitches Brew always seemed like...dare I say it, Zappa or something. Just..."you couldn't possibly get, understand or enjoy this, kid - but you're also a cunt for not trying" (I'm projecting a lot into this, obviously). There's box sets of all of these supposedly impossibly abstract works, and you're getting into names like John McLaughlin (again, I may be the problem here, but...fusion-y names, right?). So...entry level Miles Davis. I love it, but my general "there be monsters" feeling once we step out into traffic is not insignificant. What WOULD the Miles expert recommend to a fan of such entry level mellowness? Someday my prince will come IASW |
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Post by Stacy Heydon on Oct 6, 2023 15:31:58 GMT
I'm gonna be pathologically real and transparent here and say that my late uncle had a copy of Kind of Blue when I lived with him...35 years ago? Anyhow, I absolutely loved it. Something like 'All Blues', I don't even want to say that it's "the kind of jazz I like", it's just...a kind of music and sound that I find really satisfying. Based on everything I've read about Miles Davis, this particular album is...I dunno, music for neophytes, muzak, easy listening, coffee table jazz, whatever..."Miles for dummies"? nah, that's just pointless snobbery. |
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Post by Stacy Heydon on Oct 6, 2023 15:34:02 GMT
I definitely do NOT consider myself an expert, but my first reaction would be to recommend you try Sketches of Spain, mate. And then proceed chronologically Or jump around all over the place ! |
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Post by riggers on Oct 6, 2023 15:50:29 GMT
'In A Silent Way'
'On The Corner '
'A Tribute to Jack Johnson '
For me. I've never quite got 'Bitches Brew'.
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Post by davey on Oct 6, 2023 15:56:09 GMT
I'm gonna be pathologically real and transparent here and say that my late uncle had a copy of Kind of Blue when I lived with him...35 years ago? Anyhow, I absolutely loved it. Something like 'All Blues', I don't even want to say that it's "the kind of jazz I like", it's just...a kind of music and sound that I find really satisfying. Based on everything I've read about Miles Davis, this particular album is...I dunno, music for neophytes, muzak, easy listening, coffee table jazz, whatever..."Miles for dummies"? nah, that's just pointless snobbery. It would be like calling Blonde on Blonde “Dylan for dummies.” Dylan’s a good corollary to Miles. Both have a huge discography with lots of twists and turns and phases. I’ve satisfied most of my interest by getting to know the signpost records. But you can find gems all through his discography- and a few big swings that don’t quite satisfy. I don’t even aspire to get my mind around all of it. Seems daunting. |
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loveless
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Bringing ballet to the masses. Sticking to the funk.
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Post by loveless on Oct 6, 2023 17:02:45 GMT
I'm not sure what I'd tell someone who said "I really love Abbey Road, what next?"
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toomanyhatz
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I've met him/her. He/she's great!!
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Post by toomanyhatz on Oct 6, 2023 17:03:29 GMT
True confession time: the one that's never quite 'reached me' like I assume it's 'supposed to' is In a Silent Way. And it's an all-time favorite album for a mutual friend of Davey and I.
The Dylan corollary is a good one. Similarly he did what he wanted when he wanted, plowed over any objections from his label (same label, in fact!) and swung wildly, pulling out an all-time classic when you least expected it (Jack Johnson and On the Corner for me, and I certainly don't love all that came before or after) and managing some head-scratchers along the way as well (still haven't connected with, for example, Live-Evil).
The only period I have little regard for is from about '82 on as he seemed to be largely going through the motions (and admitting as much in period interviews) but even there there's an occasional surprise.
Ultimately with him it'd be great to just get the whole picture, but it can be a bit daunting because there's so much, and a lot of it isn't instant. So I've kind of left it to chance assuming the good ones would eventually find me. But it's hard to go wrong picking your spots.
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Post by DarknessFish on Oct 6, 2023 17:17:59 GMT
I'm not sure what I'd tell someone who said "I really love Abbey Road, what next?" Fucking anything. |
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Post by fearlessfreap on Oct 6, 2023 18:56:48 GMT
I think the second quintet and the pre-retirement electric albums tower over everything else. The Blue Notes, recorded when he was kicking heroin are lackluster, the Prestige jam sessions are fun, but they’re jam sessions. He wasn’t a virtuoso trumpet player, like Navarro, Gillespie, Edison, Morgan or Brown, he was more of a band leader and idea/concept man. That isn’t to say he was a bad player, just that jam sessions have limited appeal for me. I think he came onto his own with the “dropped g” quartet of Workin’, Steamin’, Cookin’ Relaxin’ and shortly after with the Coltrane quintet. I also like the third stream Gil Evans material, but once he added Shorter, who was an all time great composer as well as player, he went into the stratosphere for me, and his seventies electric albums are my favorite music by anybody. I own more Miles albums than albums by anyone else and he’s been a favorite of mine since I was sixteen.
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Post by Half Machine Lipschitz on Oct 6, 2023 22:44:27 GMT
What WOULD the Miles expert recommend to a fan of such entry level mellowness? Coltrane. |
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loveless
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Bringing ballet to the masses. Sticking to the funk.
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Post by loveless on Oct 6, 2023 22:54:44 GMT
What WOULD the Miles expert recommend to a fan of such entry level mellowness? Coltrane. Fair enough. That was (in no deliberate or linear way) where I eventually went next. |
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Post by Charlie O. on Oct 7, 2023 1:41:34 GMT
The Dylan corollary is a good one. Similarly he did what he wanted when he wanted, plowed over any objections from his label (same label, in fact!) [irrelevant trivia]And both were instrumental - in very different ways - in getting The Byrds their Columbia contract![/irrelevant trivia] |
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