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Now's the Time: Miles Davis 1945-1989

By Jeff Dayton-Johnson
May 27, 2011
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Franck Bergerot's Miles Davis: Introduction à l'écoute du jazz moderne (Seuil, 1996) suggests that you can hear a lot of Davis' musical world in his 45-second solo on Charlie Parker's "Now's the Time," beginning at 1:45. This is one among many dimensions of Davis' musicianship—nocturnal, blues-tinged, largely without the mute, alternating between a tenderness and a kind of aggression, as on the desultory attitude toward the composition on "Stella by Starlight." The spacious, ethereal nature of the 1945 solo is echoed in Gil Evans' 1950 arrangement of "Moon Dreams," but also in Davis' 1989 playing on "Mr. Pastorius."

In a thrilling moment of recognition, pianist Red Garland transcribes Davis' 1945 solo, beginning at 7:34, during a vigorous reading of Monk's "Straight No Chaser" (1958). Monk himself is present for an audacious solo on the first take of "The Man I Love" (1954). There are other connections among this all-too-brief selection of tunes. Miles' "Moon Dreams"-like solo on "When Lights Are Low" (1953) is credited, by trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg, as inspiring him to become a musician; Davis would later be the star soloist on Mikkelborg's Aura (Columbia, 1985), represented here by "Violet."

Track	Name	Time	Artist	Album
1	Now's The Time	3:17	Charlie Parker	Complete Savoy & Dial Sessions
2	Moon Dreams	3:20	Miles Davis	Birth Of The Cool
3	When Lights Are Low	3:29	Miles Davis	Blue Haze
4	The Man I Love (Take 1)	8:28	Miles Davis	And The Modern Jazz Giants
5	Straight, No Chaser	10:40	Miles Davis	Milestones
6	Stella By Starlight	13:1	Miles Davis	My Funny Valentine
7	Pinocchio (Alernate Take)	5:8	Miles Davis	Nefertiti
8	Spanish Key	8:33	Miles Davis	Live At The Fillmore East (March 7, 1970)—It's About That Time 2
9	Violet	9:3	Miles Davis	Aura (Complete Columbia version)
10	Mr. Pastorius	3:32	Miles Davis	Live Around The World

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