Jazz Articles about Miles Davis

Miles Davis: The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions

by Germein Linares
January 20, 2004

Columbia Records' reissue arm, Legacy Recordings, issues The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions, a comprehensive five CD set documenting the output of Miles Davis and his band between February 2 and June 4, 1970. These sessions would yield the full material for A Tribute To Jack Johnson (1970) and also contribute to Live Evil (1970), Get Up With It (1972), Big Fun (1974), and Directions (1980).

In their flamboyant lifestyle and mutual distrust of white America, Davis and Johnson ...

Miles Davis: The Miles Davis Story

by Jim Santella
December 1, 2003

Sony’s film biography of Miles Davis approaches its subject with a warmth of spirit that’s not always found in the narrative adventures of an artist or in the documentary of a genre such as jazz. Director Mike Dibb combines essential aural and visual elements to bring his production to life. Many of the film segments and mini-interviews come from contemporary sources. Davis’ paintings bring their vivid colors to the screen, while close friends of the artist provide candid comments. The ...

Miles Davis Boxes: Jack Johnson and At The Blackhawk

by Doug Collette
November 23, 2003

If Legacy's ongoing Miles Davis reissue program has proved anything, it’s that there’s never too much of the man’s music. And that goes for scholars as well as fans, because the insight offered into the man with the horn’s creative process is an invaluable tool for understanding not just how Miles worked with musicians and producers, but also how jazz in general functions as a living breathing entity unto itself. The box set packages are of course infinitely interesting because ...

Miles Davis: Complete In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk

by C. Andrew Hovan
November 16, 2003

In terms of remote recording, jazz more than any other type of music is most naturally found in its creative element. Musicians are most apt to improvise freely without thought to time limits when on the bandstand, and the nonverbal communication with the audience can certainly boost adrenaline levels, which in turn increases the intensity of the performance. Of the many jazz legends who have recorded in the modern era, Miles Davis was documented in more live settings than probably ...

Miles Davis: The Complete In A Silent Way Sessions

by John Ballon
October 27, 2003

I never waited as impatiently for a boxed set to be released as I did for this one. I assumed that the only thing that could possibly be better than In A Silent Way was The Complete In A Silent Way Sessions , because there would be so much more of it. Now that I have it all to enjoy (!), I'm finally able to appreciate the full magnitude of the original release of In A Silent Way. After withstanding ...

So What: Reconciling Miles the Man and his Music

by Matthew Wuethrich
October 16, 2003

So What John Szwed Simon & Schuster 2002

After reading Miles’ autobiography, writer Pearl Cleage related in a 1990 essay how and why she decided to stop listening to Miles Davis’ music. Entitled “Mad at Miles,” the essay challenges the reader with this image: “Can we make love to the rhythms of “a little early Miles” when he may have spent the morning of the day he recorded the music slapping one of our ...

Miles Davis: The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions

by Andrey Henkin
October 8, 2003

The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions completes the trifecta Columbia began with similar treatments to In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew. Five discs, recorded from February 1969 to June 1970, comprising material available on 5 albums and including 34 previously unissued tracks, paints a rich portrait of the time period.

The set does beg the question: If Miles were alive, would he have approved the release of this imperfect material? Since his answer is not forthcoming, it ...