VOTE FOR MILES - ILM artist poll #32, Miles Davis - Results Thread

My uncle, a jazz pianist, posted this little rant on Facebook today. I understand just enough of it to find it fascinating. Was not at all aware of people playing the melody line on "All Blues" the way he's complaining about, but it makes sense. As does his argument about why it's so wrong...

/Ok. Virtually every jazz musician knows tunes from Kind of Blue. Miles wrote those tunes and recorded them at a time of experimentation into modes and that was part of the reason he used Bill Evans, because Evans had some of the same interests as Miles in modes and modal harmony. So, Kind of Blue is legendary for a lot of reasons, but "All Blues," in particular, is one of those reasons. And of all of Miles' tunes from that album, probably even more than So What, All Blues is played the most performed by jazz musicians. And Miles' melody is a perfect example of what he was trying to do at that time. Now, I don't want to sound picky, but why is it that so many horn players, or for that matter anyone given the responsibility of playing the melody that Miles wrote and played, do not play it right. True, there are parts of the head that Miles phrases differently, but there is one place that he specifically always plays the same...the tenth bar (or, since you might call the tune in 3/4, instead of 6/4, the 20th bar) is the heart of that tune.

It is amazing to me how many do not play that simple part of that beautiful lead trumpet melody correctly. It could be in part because the various fake books that are out there have the melody written wrong, but that's not an excuse. Just listen to the damn song. It is that bar that is the heart of the song and his minimalist concept. As is true in many blues, the melody over the V chord is where the tension builds in order to resolve back to the I and then turn around. But almost every player I play with, if he or she is given the lead melody to play, plays an A over the V chord (D aug. 9), a Bb, as does Miles, at the Eb aug. 9, but then descends back to an A when the chord returns to D aug. 9. Miles doesn't do that. He doesn't do that the first time through the melody; he doesn't do that the second time; and he doesn't do that on the out chorus. The two saxes playing backgrounds do mirror the two chords, but not Miles. He hits the Bb and holds it out over the changes as they return to Daug. 9.

Ok. I know. This all seems so anal on my part. But I don't think it is. In fact, that held out Bb is the essence of what Miles was trying to do. A simple note takes on a completely different meaning held over changes moving underneath and that too is the essence of his modal approach. To him, one note could be a whole story in itself. And there is no doubt that is the way he wanted the melody stated. He never plays the head without that held out Bb, even if he uses other phrasing on other parts of the melody. Ok. Enough. I'm one to talk about playing someone's melody correctly...I know. But damn, this is possibly the most famous tune in modern jazz./

Watching this, extremely '80s, and what a cruel exercise to make a bunch of high school trumpet players perform in front of Miles Davis on television:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XnLblYNfIg

But there's a 16 year old Joey DeFrancesco on keys, and Miles ignores questions to ask "what's your organ player's name?"

Why, hello, Miles Davis' Dark Magus It's been a few years. Relax, plug in those wah-wah pedals, have a drink.

What's the best book about Miles' transition from the second quintet to the electric period. Preferably this would go to 71 or 72 at least, if not 74.

I recommend Running the Voodoo Down: The Electric Music of Miles Davis, but of course I would.

That's the one.

I should have known.