CRM114

I can't get over how incredible this era was - specifically In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson, Live-Evil, and On the Corner.

It transcends jazz and rock and I'm blown away. I've heard Bitches Brew through the years but it took me this long to actually HEAR what Miles Davis was doing.

Apparently, a lot of jazz critics thought he sold out. James Mtume (a band member from the era) described Miles state of mind preceding this era as "technical exhaustion" - basically, that he had done everything that needed to be done in traditional jazz. He wanted to create a new form of music and bridge the gap from jazz to the newer more popular forms of music. The result is something exciting and displays even more virtuosity.

Miles Davis band actually opened for the Grateful Dead in 1970. Phil Lesh said "As I listened, leaning over the amps with my jaw hanging agape, trying to comprehend the forces that Miles was unleashing onstage, I was thinking What’s the use. How can we possibly play after this? […] With this band, Miles literally invented fusion music. In some ways it was similar to what we were trying to do in our free jamming, but ever so much more dense with ideas – and seemingly controlled with an iron fist, even at its most alarmingly intense moments."

Here is that concert:

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stvn1974

Those 5 albums you listed are among my most played. I wish Hendrix hadn't died when he did because he was moving away from the Experience and Davis was influenced by them when he made Bitches Brew. If the two could have only worked together.

CRM114

It sounds like chaos a lot of the time but Mtume said that the band could change from 5/4 to 4/4/ to 7/4 without even looking at each other because that's how rehearsed it all was. You can see Miles give an occasional glance backwards and the entire band would change time.

Supermallet

IMO Davis is the greatest figure in all of jazz and this era along with Kind of Blue perfectly illustrate how that could be so.

davidh777

That's the thing: Miles bridges so many eras of jazz. I tend to fixate around the hard bop and modal periods and need to branch out to the many many other recordings I own.

Hokeyboy

Miles never stopped evolving. He dominated almost every era in which he was involved.

Agharta is still my all time favorite.

Supermallet

He was a guy who could do hard bop and then turn around and do Sketches of Spain. If jazz was about improvisation, then he was the ultimate improviser. Just an absolute musical genius.

CRM114

A Miles Davis film is in the works featuring Don Cheadle as Miles.



http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/07/0...c-miles-ahead/

cdollaz

My favorite era is Seven Steps To Heaven thru Miles In The Sky.

My nine year-old son is starting to get into music and likes the Radio Disney pop-type stuff. I find no merit in that, but I am not one to belittle what he likes, try to tell what to listen to or what is good and bad in music, but I am definitely exposing him to other things when I get the chance. So we listen to a lot of Miles Davis.

manicsounds

I think some stuff during this era is more reminiscent of Squarepusher or Meat Beat Manifesto, etc. But obviously Miles was way ahead. Like "Rated X" from "Get Up With It"

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Jason

You need to check out:

A Tribute to Jack Johnson
Agharta
Pangaea
Dark Magus

Heavy fusion with more rock influence in places. I personally enjoy these more than Bitches Brew.

CRM114

Love Jack Johnson.

hanshotfirst1138

Robert Christgau phrased it extremely well when he said all of the experimentation creative threads tie up brilliantly and coalesce on Jack Johnson. It's brilliant, a near perfect "electric jazz" or "jazz rock" record unlike anything else I've ever heard. Some "jam bands" experimented with "jazz rock-" the Allmans, the Dead, Chicago, various prog bands- but they never sounded quite like this.

That said, I like this stuff, but I find it a little bit hard to penetrate. I'm sure that's true of all great music, of course, and I frequently find myself fascinated and coming back to it, but I can't help but wonder if I'd "get" jazz more if I played an instrument or knew more about music. But year, "Electric Miles" is an amazing era.

Why the hell doesn't the Legacy Edition of Bitches Brew come with "Fieo," by the way?

It wasn't just in jazz though. His so-called "fusion" stuff is every bit as primal and electric as the best rock, IMO.

Supermallet

The fusion stuff was a given, considering that was what started the thread. I was just showing that even within straight up jazz Miles was incredibly eclectic.

stvn1974

This just arrived on hybrid CD/SACD