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Now's the Time: Miles Davis 1945-1989
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' musicianshipnocturnal, 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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