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LetYouDown
08-31-2005, 10:51 AM
I've always liked jazz, but somehow I'm only starting to get into it lately. I've acquired a ton of Miles Davis tracks, but I'm really unfamiliar with him. What are generally considered his best works/tracks? There's a lot of stuff to filter here.

rusellmj
08-31-2005, 10:56 AM
Bitches Brew.

08-31-2005, 10:58 AM
Smells Like Teen Spirit

mmbt0ne
08-31-2005, 11:05 AM
Seven Steps to Heaven
Stella by Starlight
Joshua
Basin Street Blues
Walkin'

codewarrior
08-31-2005, 11:06 AM
[ QUOTE ]
Bitches Brew.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll second that.

MrWookie47
08-31-2005, 11:06 AM
[ QUOTE ]
Bitches Brew.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't really care for any of the tracks on that album. Sketches of Spain doesn't really do it for me either. I much prefer Birth of the Cool and Kind of Blue.

Edit: Also check out Porgy and Bess.

Edit 2: This isn't my favorite genre of jazz, so maybe my advice is worthless. I much prefer jazz from the 20's and 30's. However, the albums I listed, especially Birth of the Cool, feature a lot of innovation, and I can certainly appreciate the fine musicianship.

turnipmonster
08-31-2005, 11:20 AM
miles davis has a huge range of work, from electric funk/fusion to completely straight ahead. here's a few of his different bands/albums and their (IMO) best work:

"birth of the cool" - this record is a nonet miles had early in his career. it is a good record with interesting arrangements, but IMO it is somewhat overrated.

the "first quintet" - miles' first quintet had red garland, philly joe jones, paul chambers and john coltrane. their most famous records are cookin',workin',steamin', and relaxin'. the music is all jazz standards, and is quintessential hardbop.

"kind of blue" - this cd is probably the most famous/bestselling jazz cd of all time. it's must have, enough said.

the "second quintet", which is one of my favorite musical groups ever, had tony williams (who joined the band at 19 and already had a completely unique style that revolutionized jazz drumming), ron carter, herbie hancock and a rotating cast of tenor players, the most notable being wayne shorter and george coleman. they have an absolute ton of great recordings, but the absolute best is "my funny valentine + four and more", which is a live recording. tony is unbelievable, as is everyone. the studio recordings mostly feature new compositions instead of standards, my favorite is "miles smiles" although they are all good.

miles davis/gil evans - miles did a few records with the arranger gil evans. they're modern big band recordings with interesting instrumentations and beautiful arrangements, very subdued. "miles ahead" is my favorite, but "sketches of spain" and "porgy and bess" are classics and also great.

"bitches brew" - a lot of people say this is first fusion record, at any rate it's all electric instruments and is completely different from all the stuff mentioned before. it's a classic though. another good one from this period is "in a silent way".

later electric stuff - if you like bitches brew, you'll want to check out "live evil", "dark magus", "agharta" and "pangea". I can't really explain this music, but it's sort of like funk and awesome.

anyways, this is really just scratching the surface of all the stuff miles did. if you had to limit it to 5 albums you should get, I would choose:

kind of blue
milestones
miles ahead
my funny valentine + four and more
bitches brew

turnipmonster
08-31-2005, 11:25 AM
one quick comment. in general, in jazz you want to think albums as opposed to tracks. miles ahead for instance is arranged as an unbroken work the whole way through, from start to finish. listening to just one track or in random order in my opinion sort of diminishes the value of it a little, it's like looking at the corner of a painting instead of the whole thing.

just my opinion obviously, I just can't imagine listening to one part of "a love supreme" or something like that, and feel the same way about a lot of miles' work.

edit: the other thing that's hard about tracks and jazz is that jazz musicians record the same songs lots throughout their career, but the playing/improvising is always different. someone said "seven steps to heaven", which is a great song, but I have at least 10 different recordings of miles playing it and they are all different.
--turnipmonster

peachy
08-31-2005, 11:41 AM
i love "It never entered my mind" and "straight no chaser"

ThaSaltCracka
08-31-2005, 11:47 AM
Turnip, I will heed your advice, your recommendations to me on Herbie Hancock were excellent. I will definitely check out Bitches Brew and a few others you listed.

turnipmonster
08-31-2005, 11:54 AM
if you liked the headhunters record you would also like miles' "on the corner". bitches brew is a lot lot lot different from headhunters.

ThaSaltCracka
08-31-2005, 11:55 AM
ok I will, explain fusion for me.

turnipmonster
08-31-2005, 12:20 PM
it's kind of like jazz-rock, can be very frantic/erratic. you might like bitches brew, but it is nothing like headhunters, which I would consider more jazz-funk.

LetYouDown
08-31-2005, 12:38 PM
Excellent point. I'm a relative jazz newbie, I just know that what I've heard, I've liked. I can completely appreciate an album being a much better representation than a specific track. Part of my problem with music over the past decade is that most "albums" feel entirely too disjointed and it's really just a haphazard collection of singles than a true album. I'll take the next few days with the recommended albums and listen from start to finish at work. Thanks to everyone for the replies.

cwsiggy
08-31-2005, 12:49 PM
Kind of Blue and it's note even close.

edtost
08-31-2005, 02:13 PM
how is this thread still going after turnip's replies?

KJS
08-31-2005, 02:24 PM
Not sure what Hancock he suggested, but if was the Headhunters-era stuff, be sure to check out both Bobby Hutcherson (Oblique and Happenings) and Andrew Hill (Judgement). All great CDs that have that same 1960's sound but with vibes to compliment all the great piano work.

KJS

KJS
08-31-2005, 02:33 PM
turnipmoster's reply is all you need for Miles but I would add this:

When I first started getting into jazz, an easy way I found to get into new stuff was to follow the artists that appeared on albums I really dug. Find some stuff where one of the non-leaders were now the leader and see if I liked it too. It worked a lot of the time. And since the groups were so incestuous and oftentimes who got the top billing was based on contracts, you could even find albums with nearly all the same guys on it.

Take Kind of Blue as an example. If you looked for other stuff with those guys, you would end up with

Bill Evans, Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Cannonball Adderly, Something Else
John Coltrane, Love Supreme

All fantastic albums in their own right. Look at stuff with the other players on those (Philly Joe Jones, Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Paul Chambers, etc..) and the circle expands even more (Grant Green's Matador, which features Tyner and E.Jones, for example)

KJS

turnipmonster
08-31-2005, 02:59 PM
good call!

xadrez
08-31-2005, 03:18 PM
[ QUOTE ]
Not sure what Hancock he suggested, but if was the Headhunters-era stuff, be sure to check out both Bobby Hutcherson (Oblique and Happenings) and Andrew Hill (Judgement). All great CDs that have that same 1960's sound but with vibes to compliment all the great piano work.

KJS

[/ QUOTE ]

Check out Duke Pearson's "The Phantom" for some nice Bobby Hutcherson vibe work.

xadrez
08-31-2005, 03:21 PM
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Bitches Brew.

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Bitches Brew is the most classic in this era of Mile's stuff. But IMO "Live Evil" and "Agharta" are superior.
Also, check the Bitches Brew predessesor "In a Silent Way" for a more sublime electric Miles work.

Moneyline
08-31-2005, 04:06 PM
Excellent suggestions, but I have to add In A Silent Way to the mix. It's from the same time period as Bitches Brew, and IMO a superior album. In fact, In a Silent Way is probably my favorite jazz album of all time.

EDIT: I lied, Coltrane Jazz is my favorite jazz album... but In a Silent Way is damn good.

dynamite
08-31-2005, 04:10 PM
So What, Four, All Blues, Walkin, and Straight No Chaser are my favorites.

turnipmonster
08-31-2005, 04:33 PM
when I was first getting into jazz, someone lent me mile davis' autobiography (which is AWESOME) and he spent a whole chapter raving about tony williams. so I go to the cd store and get the first miles record I can find with tony, which is in a silent way. great record, not the best place to hear tony play, since he plays quarter notes on a hi hat for 30 minutes straight /images/graemlins/smile.gif.

twang
08-31-2005, 04:47 PM
Miles did a beautiful version of Cyndi Laupers' "Time after time". It's not jazz, but in that song he really shows what tone and phrasing is about.

KDawgCometh
08-31-2005, 04:53 PM
[ QUOTE ]
in jazz you want to think albums as opposed to tracks

[/ QUOTE ]


exactly. I was a jazz major at Rutgers and am still very into the music.

As far as miles albums that are recomended:

At Carnegie Hall- 4+more, this is a two disc album with the in between quintet. THis is a live show and is one of the best albums that you can get

Kind of BLue- one of downbeat's few 5 star albums, nuff said

58 stella by starlight sessions- this one is one of the best sutdio albums by the sextet. It features an amazing version of On Green Dolphin ST

Bitches Brew- the first Jazz album to sell 1 million copies, and is a landmark album

Live at the Blackhawk-another live album, real good one

Live at teh plugged Nickel- famous christmas to new years run in chicago. THis album stretched the bounds of standards and really pushed things, really good stuff

Sketches Of Spain- My favorite GIl Evans collaboration

Miles SMiles- the first album of the second quintet in full force

ESP- another great second quintet album

SOmethin Else- this is actually under cannonball adderly, but is the sextet minus trane, this one is awesome

Miles in the Sky- this is where he started to transition to his sound of the 70s, his concept of music is really stretching here and is one of my favorites

In a Silent Way- this one should be bought with Bitches Brew as they go together perfectly

Jack Johnson- in his electric period and really good stuff, his play is much like a boxers movements, very good stuff

Dark Magus- IMO the best electric period album, live at the filmore west is just as good


well, those are just off the top of my head. If you want any help with other jazz musicians, just shoot me a PM, and that goes for anyone else who is interested. I have a jazz collection that is 400 deep and the music has been my life since I have been 10