[brother love]

Provocative thread title aside,  I do see where Tyson is coming from …

While I appreciate the jazz masters, try as I may, I tend not to like a lion’s share of the highly acclaimed stuff.  The only Coltrane I can listen to regularly is Blue Train or Giant Steps (I never can get all the way through A Love Supreme, it is just too much).  Same goes for Miles … I love Kind of Blue & his playing on Cannonball Adderley’s - Somethin’ Else.  Birth of the Cool is good too, but most everything else just doesn’t float my boat.  I enjoy Lee Morgan’s trumpet playing more, like on the more commercially accessible Sidewinder or his playing in Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers stuff like Moanin’.

I liken it to the rock jam sessions of yore. I enjoy the Allman Brothers- Eat a Peach & Live at the Fillmore East, but that 30 min. plus Mountain Jam or the 20 min. plus Whipping Post wear me out. Or like John McLaughlin w/ the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Impressive guitar work, but give me Jeff Beck to listen to any day of the week on a regular basis.

As Sly said, "Different stroke for different folks, & so on & so on ...".

[North Star]

Hate is an awfully powerful word to describe one's feelings about another man's art.

Doc

...So is the word LOVE used to describe our deep feeling towards a woman! 

* Love & Hate; those are just two words among a huge ocean of multiple words. 

_________________

And the meaning, the context in which our words are used, are as various as each time we say, write them!
...And for each person who hear, read them!
--- I hate this! .... I just love it! 

[North Star]

A trumpet is a beautiful instrument to listen to. ...It has soul, emotion, power! ...It could be real soothing, inside and body vibrating, in the most pleasurable way.

And Miles was among other greats who knew how to well master it as well.

[Devil Doc]

I reserve the word hate for those who would like to do me harm. If I didn't, it wouldn't really mean much would it?

Doc

[wushuliu]

True, except we here represent (hopefully) the intended audience for the jazz artists, and so our opinions actually do matter a bit more than critics' opinions. Unless the musician is playing for him- or herself, for other musicians, or for the critics. The only caveat is that we as an audience need to be somewhat informed on the subject, which is the gist of this thread.

Actually no our opinion does not matter. That's why he plays with his back to us. He owes us nothing.

[watercourse]

Actually no our opinion does not matter. That's why he plays with his back to us. He owes us nothing.

I was responding to the posting about being critical of musicians in this thread, and how the poster of that comment questioned this entire thread because of it.

With Miles, well, he probably didn't and wouldn't care if he were still here. If you believe his biography, he was a pimp at one point, so, that says it all, doesn't it?

[North Star]

Miles a pimp! Wow I did not know that! ...Now I hate him! 

[PMAT]

I've tried on many occasions and couldn't get into it. Really wanted to. For me I think that I'm just not into trumpet.

[wushuliu]

I've tried on many occasions and couldn't get into it. Really wanted to. For me I think that I'm just not into...

Oh, for a second I thought you were going to say pimping. 

[watercourse]

I think it was Ice-T that said it best "Pimpin ain't easy"...

[lazydays]

the most studied jazz record period is Bitch's Brew. Why? Because it was a light year ahead of it's time. Miles tended to set the pace for those that were to follow him. Just pick up a few recordings and read the credits on the jacket. You will read a who's who in the jazz community! Was Miles the best? We'll argue that point long after I'm cold and in the ground. But taking it from Miles himself, he said more than once the best was Louis Armstrong. Some how   I have to toss in Bix, Baker, Nic payton, Dizzey, and maybe two others in to that mix as well.

I've seen Miles play in near perfect acoustics a couple times. One time he never faced the audience! Still smoking hot! But his quintets were just as ood as he was. I've also been in there with Nic Payton jammin' till the crack of dawn. Good, yes he was, but so were the two other trumpet players. Baker was about as smooth as it ever gets, and was good at his game. Presentation wise you simply couldn't top The Diz. Sandavol is excellent, but his style is different. Yet day, and day out  Miles was at the top of the ladder
gary

[Devil Doc]

There's been a lot said about Miles not facing the audience. I remember reading somewhere a long time ago that he stated he wasn't trying to make a statement, he just liked the sound.

Doc

[Doublej]

There's been a lot said about Miles not facing the audience. I remember reading somewhere a long time ago that he stated he wasn't trying to make a statement, he just liked the sound.

Doc

I heard that this started after he was exposed to a pair of Bose 901s.

[Mudslide]

I was responding to the posting about being critical of musicians in this thread, and how the poster of that comment questioned this entire thread because of it.

With Miles, well, he probably didn't and wouldn't care if he were still here. If you believe his biography, he was a pimp at one point, so, that says it all, doesn't it?

I don't know about pimping.  ??  I met him at a club in San Francisco in 1962 or '63.  He was a really gracious, personal, and helpful person.  (I had played the trumpet up until that time, and he was very encouraging...even tho' I needed tons of practice.   )

There is not much jazz I like, but his middle and late stylings are interesting, I think.  But I'll side with brother love ... gimme the Allmans or the Outlaws or Marshall Tucker.

[Mudslide]

Some people think the Beatles are overrated. Those people are crazy. You are crazy.

Hahaaa...count me in with the loonies.  I was a young adult and into music when they hit the scene.  I found and still find them to be a highly overrated pop band that played simpleton music, flexed only on occasion by drug influence.  Think about every video you've seen of the Beatles.  There is no one in the audience but young, screaming, wannabe groupie females.  That and that alone is their legacy as far as I can tell.

Okay...bring it on.  I'm ready for the hate bombs.   

[geowak]

Hahaaa...count me in with the loonies.  I was a young adult and into music when they hit the scene.  I found and still find them to be a highly overrated pop band that played simpleton music, flexed only on occasion by drug influence.  Think about every video you've seen of the Beatles.  There is no one in the audience but young, screaming, wannabe groupie females.  That and that alone is their legacy as far as I can tell.

Okay...bring it on.  I'm ready for the hate bombs.   

Yeah those two- McCartney and Lennon, such losers. They couldn't write a decent song. Heck, the Village People wrote better music then those two jokers. (Now didn't that sound really stupid? Yeah I thought so.) Name me a band today, where each of the singers took lead vocals and those songs were hits! And so many hits!

If you listen to the songs and read the lyrics, they were far ahead of the times. And very cool.... even the political songs.

Heck, even Brian Wilson admits the Beach Boys were the kings of Pop in the USA, until the Beatles arrived. After that, the Beatles were #1.

But hey what do I know. I'm a Miles Davis fan. Ha Ha

[jimdgoulding]

I met him, too, once, sorta.  It's kind of embarrassing but here goes anyway.  Miles and part of his Bitches Brew ensemble are appearing at one of my favorite haunts in SF, Both/And, and I pop in kinda late.  There is absolutely no place to sit except in the window seat.  There is a space for one next to me.  I had just got there and Miles with his trumpet in hand decides to come off stage for a listen and is looking around for a seat.  He sees that small space finally and meanders over my way and sits down.  After a short time he buzzes something in my ear.  I can't hear a word so I ask him to repeat- not once but twice- and I'm starting to feel embarrassment now, but it's very loud and he can mostly just whisper.  Some guy had shot him in the throat in NY.  Finally, I hear him . . "Hey man, can you scoot over".  I laughed out loud.  "Sure, man" I says and squeezed up to the guy sitting on the other side of me.

[Clio09]

Everyone should have a copy of Bitches Brew. If anything for the liner notes written by the late Ralph J. Gleason that provide amazing insight into this period of Miles' music and particularly the music on that record. Miles did indeed define the terms during that period and it was very much his turf.

His toughness combined with the cool attitude we saw on the exterior never really hid the fact that you could hear Miles cry every time he played one of those ballads, from the early days right to the end. Take a good listen to the cover of Time After Time, then go back to My Funny Valentine. The emotional aspect of Miles has always been there.

He was invited to a White House dinner in 1987 during the Reagan administration and was literally unknown to the other guests. The person sitting next to him asked what he had done in his life to merit being invited to such an event. Miles simply replied, "We'll, I've changed the course of music five or six times. What have you done except fuck the president?" That person asking the question was Nancy Reagan. Miles an egotist, sure. Was he spot on in his comment, absolutely. The proof is in his music and in the respect he gathered from his peers and others he influenced throughout his career. Miles was also responsible for launching or enhancing the careers of many other jazz greats.

Think he was a dick? Bob Dylan makes him look like a paragon of virtue.

Miles' music is not for everyone. I too had a hard time getting into the music of the fusion period. For quite some time I even refused to acknowledge it existed, much the same way I once thought that the only relevant music Frank Zappa made was when he was fronting the Mothers of Invention (the band he assembled in the very late 70's changed that silly perception I had). So it was with Miles and revisiting that period in the 70's. It now happens to be some of the most frequently played music in my Miles Davis collection (some thanks in order to Mosaic Records for putting together the Bitches Brew and In a Silent Way box sets).

Anyway I said more than enough. Miles never really needed or wanted anyone to defend his talent. His music is, it simply is.

[Phil]

someone at my office asked what Jazz was.  Didn't know how to answer so I gave her two CDs:  Take Five and Kind of Blue.  She returned them and said, "I didn't know I already knew about Jazz."  I left it at that. 

Whether you like those particular musicians or music, the power they have as common reference points is undeniable.  If you have accomplished something similar in your own field of interest, hats off. 

Now listening to Hank Jones - For my Father.  He was a great musician and a true gentleman. 

[jimdgoulding]

"His toughness combined with the cool attitude we saw on the exterior never really hid the fact that you could hear Miles cry every time he played one of those ballads, from the early days right to the end. Take a good listen to the cover of Time After Time, then go back to My Funny Valentine. The emotional aspect of Miles has always been there."  I feel you.