Jazz Articles about Miles Davis

Miles Davis: The Complete Concert 1964 / Fred Lonberg-Holm: Other Valentines

by Florence Wetzel
February 5, 2006

Miles Davis The Complete Concert 1964 Sony 2005

On February 12th, 1964, Miles Davis played a benefit concert at Lincoln Center to help register black voters in Louisiana and Mississippi. Davis and his luminous sidemen--George Coleman on tenor sax, Ron Carter on bass, Herbie Hancock on piano and eighteen-year-old Tony Williams on drums--launched into eleven standards and, according to Davis, “We just blew the top off that place that night. It was a motherfucker ...

Miles Davis: The Cellar Door Sessions 1970

by Greg Masters
December 20, 2005

For devotees of Miles Davis's so-called “electric period," the full release of the music recorded live in December 1970 at the Washington, DC club The Cellar Door has long been something of a holy grail. A healthy sampling was released in 1971 on Live-Evil providing evidence that more of this sound existed. The possibility that more from this lineup was in the vault gave hope to at least many of the baby boomers I keep in touch with. With the ...

Miles Davis: The Cellar Door Sessions 1970

by Jim Santella
December 18, 2005

This six-CD set features trumpeter Miles Davis with his early fusion band, marking the significant change that he was to bring about in jazz. Recorded from December 16-19, 1970, Davis' music retained the comfortable swing and fiery emotion that he had espoused in earlier years, but added a dynamic force that signaled progress in the entertainment industry.

Taking advantage of the technological developments available to him, he experimented with the sonic powers of electric piano, electric bass, and ...

Miles in Paris

by John Kelman
November 16, 2005

Miles Davis Miles in Paris Warner Music Vision 71550-2 2005 (1990)

While there's considerable controversy about the validity of the late trumpeter Miles Davis' musical choices during the last decade of his life, anyone who had the opportunity to experience him in concert during that time knew that, while he wasn't charting new territory as he had during previous decades, he was still a vital force with which to be reckoned. His studio releases ...

Miles Davis

by Tim Kirker
October 6, 2005

1926 - 1991The musical legacy of Miles Davis seems too huge for one man. Especially since he was a vital part of nearly every important development of innovation and style in jazz after the Second World War. His protean approach put him at the forefront of bebop, cool, modal, hard bop, and fusion. From there his sound went on to influence many other forms of music including pop, soul, R&B, funk, and rap. Davis was the last of ...

Miles Davis: Miles in Tokyo

by Germein Linares
September 11, 2005

Recorded in '64, Miles in Tokyo finds the iconic Miles Davis performing with his almost-second great quintet. Tenor saxophonist Sam Rivers, a more accomplished and daring experimentalist than his predecessor, George Coleman, joined the group after a fellow Bostonian, drummer Tony Williams, recommended him to Davis. There are times on this recording when one might understand why Davis and Rivers never meshed, and times when the partnership is quite wonderful, though brief.

On “If I Were a Bell," ...

Miles Davis: Seven Steps to Heaven

by George Harris
September 4, 2005

It's easy to pigeonhole this '63 Miles Davis recording as a “transition" period between his classic quintets, but one thing is quite clear: Miles was always in transition. Each Davis band was going through a musical or personnel metamorphosis, so we might as well simply take the music on its own terms and forget about the historical context. On that standard alone, Seven Steps to Heaven is an absolute gem.

Recorded in two locations, Miles, Ron Carter, and ...