Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Miles Davis: Legendary Concerts

10

Miles Davis: Legendary Concerts

By

Sign in to view read count
Miles Davis: Legendary Concerts
Like the curate's egg, parts of trumpeter Miles Davis' 1980s recordings and performances were excellent, and others considerably less so. The 1985 Columbia album, You're Under Arrest—of which the CD/DVD set Legendary Concerts was a partial live performance, with one important personnel change—was the strongest of the early to mid 1980s albums, on which keyboardist Robert Irving 111's heavy on the back beat groove-arrangements, first heard on The Man With The Horn (Columbia, 1981), and Davis' increasingly minimalist playing, meshed most convincingly.

Legendary Concerts was filmed at a performance in The Hague's Tuinpaviljoen in 1985 and is part of the eponymous, and outstanding, series from the North Sea Jazz festival. Longtime Davis drummer Al Foster, no fan of Irving's approach, is replaced by Vincent Wilburn Jr, an altogether more groovalicious player. Wilburn is aided and abetted by bass guitarist Darryl Jones, who joined Davis' band for Decoy (Columbia, 1984), replacing Marcus Miller. Jones is a great rock bassist (he replaced Bill Wyman in the Rolling Stones when Wyman retired in 1993), less flashy than Miller but bringing a good deal more in-the-moment passion to the proceedings. Guitarist John Scofield, saxophonist Bob Berg and percussionist Steve Thornton are retained from You're Under Arrest. Guitarist John McLaughlin, also on the studio album, has gone. It is a kicking band and, Davis aside, a young one.

The DVD, which includes two tunes not included on the CD, is also great theatre. Davis' live performances were visual events almost as much as they were musical ones and, at the Tuinpaviljoen, wearing an exuberant sci-fi meets Michael Jackson assemblage, Davis is a charismatic presence. He takes no lengthy solos, instead spending much of the time directing (and at times coercing) his band. Playing or directing, he commands the stage.

About half the performance was drawn from You're Under Arrest, with the addition of a couple of tunes from Star People (Columbia, 1983) and Decoy. In 1985, this music was not jazz as most people knew it, but it was, and remains, compelling stuff.

Track Listing

CD: Street Scene; Star People; Maze; Human Nature; Something’s On Your Mind; Time After Time; Ms Morrisine; Code MD. DVD: as CD plus: Pacific Express; Medley: Katia/Jean-Pierre/You’re Under Arrest/Then There Were None.

Personnel

Miles Davis
trumpet

CD & DVD: Miles Davis: trumpet; John Scofield: electric guitar; Darryl Jones: bass guitar; Robert Irving 111: keyboards; Bob Berg: saxophones; Steve Thornton: percussion; Vincent Wilburn Jr: drums.

Album information

Title: Legendary Concerts | Year Released: 2013 | Record Label: Bob City Records

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris
Candid
Sunny Five
Inside Colours Live
Julie Sassoon

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.