[Review] MILES DAVIS - "The Bootleg Series Vol. 6"

Alright, I'm about to mix it up a little for this post as Sony/Columbia is honoring perhaps the greatest artist of any field of music with a new posthumous release today. I'm talking about Miles Davis, the man with the horn, the man who saw jazz as a dirty word and came to embrace funk, soul, rock and Hip Hop while releasing classics upon classics with some of the best players of any era (people like Herbie Hancock, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Keith Jarrett, Easy Mo Bee, Mike Henderson, Prince, Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin, Gil Evans, and the list goes on and on). The man really needs no introduction but since this is a Hip Hop site I don't blame you if you only really know him by his name and through his sampled loops on classics by Gang Starr, J Dilla, Mobb Deep, Biggie, The Crooklyn Dodgers, Prodigy, OutKast, DJ Shadow  and so many more. Also check out that recent remix album Robert Glasper put together building on Miles legacy a while back, its called "Everything's Beautiful" and it is indeed beautiful.

The release we're discussing today however is the latest entry in Columbia/Legacy's Miles' "Bootleg Series", so named because they have sorted out all the necessary red tape and restored and remastered many of the legendary concerts that was previously only available as half-assed bootlegs. This is a good thing as it's not only gives us the music as it was supposed to be heard (Ok, it was obviously meant to be heard LIVE but as far as technology goes this is the best experience of this msusic imaginable), but also because it helps the Miles Davis Foundation set up by his son, sister and nephew which will insure more future projects. And what's crazy about Miles music, at least for me, it's that no matter what era, or what year, every concert recording was a brand new "album" when you heard it in your headphones. So despite often featuring the same tracklist they came off as something totally new and fresh as innovationan and improvisation was the name of the game. Something I always compare to Hip Hop's show and prove freestyle movement. And no I'm not talking about blowns like Omelly though perhaps he's more of a comedy artist? For "Bootleg Series Vol. 6: The Final Tour" they have finally gone back to the European broadcast vaults to freshen up three full concerts defining a watershed moment not in just in the career of Miles Davis but also in the equally important John Coltrane's musical direction (and if you haven't seen the recent Coltrane documentary "Chasing Trane", cop the Blu Ray or head over to Netflix).

Spread out over four discs these three concerts represents about twenty European concerts in the spring of 1960, which was originally to have featured vibist Buddy Montgomery, making the group a sextet - unfortunately his fear of flying got the better of him. And while it would have been interesting to have an additional voice in there I feer that it would take away some of the magic of this being  the last time Miles Davis and John Coltrane shared a stage together after a fruitful 7 year partnership. About 6 more of these tour concerts can be found on bootlegs with varied quality buy I would venture out to say that both from a sonic perspective and a playing perspective Columbia/Legacy made a wise choice in keeping especially the legendary Paris and Stockholm concerts and added the Copenhagen show as a bonus).

What's so striking here is that Coltrane, the everlasting musical seaker, was clearly ready to break off and start his own group and go full-on solo. Miles D. had to make some bending to even get Coltrane to hit the plane with the quintet, and lets thank our lucky stars he did. He had in fact already recorded and just released his firstt solo masterpiece "Giant Steps" in the US but the European "high society people" had at its very hight heard "Kind Of Blue" (19599 but more likely "Round About Midnight" or "Milestones" (1957/1958) so they sure as hell wasn't expecting what they got those night and especially on the first night, The Paris concert spread over CD1 and CD2, minds were certainly blown that night with some of the jazz press calling the sound of the future wile others demanding their money back. Coltrane, always the searcher would find a similiar situation when hooking up with Impulse! Records and Eric Dolphy for The Village Vanguard sets a year or so later. The thing is that 'Trane's music was becoming quite different from Miles' blueprint here, which was highly evolved Be Bop with the musicians playing beautifully but with force and commitment but it was also evolving and creating Modal Jazz, which did away with chord changes and relied on scales and setting a mood that let the player go for almost as long a he likes.

So a tune like the standard "Bye Bye Blackbird" will start familarily enough with the classic piano introduction by Kelly, before Miles introduces the theme and builds a modal solo of about 4 minutes over Kelly's accompaning and Jimmy Cobbs and Paul Chambers tandem rhythmicl excellence. Then as Miles' is lowering his horn 'Trane takes the stand and blasts away into the stratosphere with an absolutely astounding 8 minute solo that mixes pure melodic beauty, with atonal shrieks, sheets of sound and by and large true  experimenting and what some would even call rehearsing on the bandstand by the most ardent naysayers. But isn't this a part of what daring live jazz should be? Fuck playing it safe. And this discrepancy between Miles smoother, beautiful, non agressive sound, with an saxophonist that's doing the exact opposite is not a discrepancy - it's pure balance, it's Yin & Yang. This is the  way he worked with all of his best long-time saxophonists from Wayne Shorter to Dave Liebman to Kenny Garrett and before that he picked it up from Charlie Parker, The Byrd, himself. 

The three concerts in question in this beautiful package might actually be as good an introduction to the music of Miles Davis to latecomers as any although I suspect for us Hip Hop heads something like "On The Coner", In A Silent Way" or "Live-Evil" might  probably a better bet. But it's 5/5 music no question, everyone involved play as through telepathy. The rhythm section was so good that they broke off within a year and became a highly sought-out piano trio called The Wynton Kelly trio, releasing classic albums with Wes Montomety in '65. It's also a very important historical moment for black music. 

The nights are presented in chronological order and the first two discs are dedicated to the infamous May 22 concerts in Paris' Olympia Theatre. It's amazing now to think that about half of the audience is cheering and applauding Coltrane and the other half is catcalling and strongly disapprove - metaphorically telling the band to "turn off that racket!". Man I bet those guys felt like suckers some years down the line, but I can't really blame them. Change in a beloved musician, or even n hero, can be a tough thing to swallow and something that takes patience and repeated listens to try to understand. And Miles Davis himself would be in a similiar shitstorm (just like Bob Dylan) when he started incorporating funk rhythms, loosing the black suits,  embracing electronic instruments like multiple keyboards and the use of both electric and stand-up bass on what we now consider classics like "Bitches Brew" and "On The Corner"´. I hope I am not too out of line in posting this review, as I know I haven't been posting much, but this is my site after all and this is without a doubt have been one of my most anticipated records of the year. Add to that that "The Bootleg Series" in the Miles Davis legacy CD:s always look wonderful and is really well thought out, no expenses spared. And the Paris set is also being released on a 2xLP set while the Tivoli, Copenhagen drops on a limited single EP.- From this original Bootlegs The Copenhagen concert is without he best restoreed and the rarest in the set so is in a way th the gem of the set. As far as straight audacity and sound quality the Paris and Stockolm concerts is the crown jewels they been released in great quality by Parus NPR and Swden's SR broadcast. But two  hours and 40 minutes of the best this music has ever been heard is really something. Don't take my word for it, and even if you see that many of the tracks appear a couple of times throughout he rracklis don't be discoruged, because this is really three excluziv comcerts that not even this quintet could evey replicate.  The albm is available on Amazon for a resonable pirce but if you''re from the AI digital realm just type you head over to iTunes.

[Reviews] "Miles Ahead" (O.S.T.) / ROBERT GLASPER - "Everything's Beautiful"

Part 1: Miles Ahead (Original Soundtrack)
 

A couple years back Don Cheadle finally got the go-ahead to produce, star and direct in his long-time dream project, a surrealistic biopic on the lives of Miles Davis, more fiction than fact and titled "Miles Ahead" after his famous 1957 collaboration with composer extraordinaire Gil Evans. With full cooperation from the Davis estate he was free to use the original music of the portrayed star (something that has hampered biopics badly from the Andre 3000 version of Jimi Hendrix story to the more recent Chet Baker flick, "Born to be Blue", which incidentally includes two key scenes with M.D.). Not only had Cheadle permission to use the music as he saw fit, he was also able to excerpt it and cut it up to better flow with the movie - and let's face it, if he was to include all those amazing 20 minutes tracks in full there wouldn't be much of a soundtrack to talk about. The majority of the released film music is made up of such timeless excerpts from our heroes vast catalouge, including brilliantl, and tastefully shortened, classics like "Sivad", "Nefertiti", "Agharta Prelude", "Go Ahead John", "Black Satin" and "Solea". While the movie avoids following a linear narrative the soundtrack starts with the earliest song included, the title track, and then the music is placed in chronological order with most of the musical action taking place during Miles' fusion years (1968-1975) as that's around the time most of the movies action take place. However if you, like me, already own just about everything Columbia ever released of the man, including bits and pieces, somewhat dodgy live recordings and what not, you might not be too excited. But it has a nice flow to it, is interspersed with appropriate vocal clips from the flick, and as it is placed in chronological order it gives a nice overview of Miles, the ever-changing, daring artist going from place A to place B to place C to Musical Dark Nivana before his total breakdown in 1975. If you're new to Miles and maybe jazz in general I would say that this collection is a better place to start than most other similiar one disc selections. For one it's put together by a true fan of the music rather than some exec trying to pump out some more money by yet antother greatest hits collection, as mentioned above it gives you the chronological oversight which allows you to hear multiple styles (with Miles it's never a given that you're not gonna hate point B even if you love point D - at least not at first), and last but not least it features key cuts from what many would consider to be the epitome of this artists genius years.

The actual score for the film was however provided by Robert Glasper - a brilliant pianist, producer and jazz artist in his own right, and one of the few who keeps the artform alive and exciting by allowing it to change and take risk (unlike someone like Wynton Marsalis, no matter how talented). For this soundtrack Glasper had the right understanding of what was needed and through proper respect for Miles and the filmmakers he was able to channel the spirit of him while gathering up talents as diverse as they are from different generations. Included on the four tracks that are also included on the soundtrack are the young bass wonder Esperanza Spalding, Pharoahe Monch, Herbie Hancock, E.J. Strickland and Wayne Shorter. With one exception the modern Glasper cuts are placed at the end of the album and as ahead Miles was back in the days, you won't even notice a very modern/old transition thing going. The soundtrack come highly recommended both for established fans of the trumpeter, but even more so for those more unfamiliar and curious as well as Glasper's loyal fanbase. Shit either camp need to hear this for the beautiful album closer "Gone 2015" where Robert Glasper's soulful production and keyboard grooves creates a sharp feeling of triumph, strongly underlined by young trumpeter Keyon Harold's channeling of Miles' sound and the excellent verses by Pharoahe Monch. You can buy the album at iTunes or Amazon here.

Part 2: Robert Glasper - "Everything's Beautiful"

 
Robert Glasper's experience with Cheadle in "Miles Ahead" and especially the estate had a huge impact on him as a life long fan of Miles Davis. Like Madlib when he produced his classic Blue Note remix album "Shades Of Blue" the producer/pianist got full access to the Columbia vaults for whom Miles recorded under exclusive contract bween 1956 and 1986. Although most of those tracks that were once rare have since seen official releases on expensive box sets, it sets the album apart from your average remix scavenger assemly as Glasper could manipulate the actual channels and so forth. An interesting point is that he uses a lot of Miles' voice, that famous raspy whisper, taken from various studio sessions and in-studio jams - allowing fans the relatively quiet musician to hear more of his voice than on any other previous M.D. project. But perhaps the most important aspect to know about "Everything is Beautiful" is that this is a Robert Glasper album in all but name, despite Miles' top billing. The LP's theme is of course Glasper's theme of the music and spirit of Miles, something that I think he sometimes manages to capture and sometimes not, as it's built around samples of the man and his music. But that does not mean that you will hear Miles' beautiful trumpet sound on every song, in fact it's really only on "So Long (Maiysha)" and ONE MORE that we get that and though it's unique it kind of feels like being shortshifted. But it's not only Miles and the trumpet that takes a back seat, Glasper's role as a firs rate jazz pianist is minimized as well as he really only gets to stretch out on a couple of pieces. Instead he is fully attacking this project as a producer, picking the samples, making sure the guests does what they are supposed to do and gets the right track to work on, makin sure the vibe of Miles Davis is to be found all throughout the LP's 50 minutes, and so on.

For me Glasper is a unique artist that is hugely talented but we doesn't always see eye to eye on what a dope album from start to finish is. I liked "Black Radio" and "Black Radio II" quite a lot, but there were definitely tracks that I felt brought down the intensity of the overall product. The best thing in the "Black Radio" series for me is without a doubt the six song EP "Black Radio Remixed" which is just pure excellence from start to finish. And I kind of feel that the same thing is happening with "Everything is Beautiful" - some tracks really gets the jonez in my bones; the wonderful light bossa nova Miles on wah wah / Erykah Badu duet that is "So Long" (a new rendition of 1975's "Maiysha"), the gorgeous Phonte collaboration and first single "Violets" where Glasper makes a beautiful hip-hop vibe soul joint based around Bill Evan's timeless chords from "Blue in Green" that works as a tremendous musical canvas for the ever innovating Phonte. The opener "Talking Shit" is beautiful because it is three minutes of studio outtakes from false starts that features Miles getting on drummer Joe Chambers' case about coming up with a beat more aking to what we today know as Hip Hop. It's definitely fascinating, and naturally leads into Glasper's hip-hop tinged version of that track Chambers and Davis was working on in '69 - "The Ghetto Walk" (originally titled "Ghetto Walkin'") and with the smooth vocals of Bilal riding on top of the fat groove I feel that Miles would be proud. of what the producer has come up with here.

However as a tribute to Miles Davis I think aside from the songs mentioned above it generally fall shorts. Oh wait, there's one mighty groove featuring Miles' spitting adlibs under singer Ledisi's hook ("wait a minute, wait a minute") while a pulsating funk headnodder is highlighted by the excellent electric guitar work of former Miles' sideman John Scofield who does his best to bring back the mid-'80s period where he worked with the man on stages and studios around the world. And this to my mind is where the project goes somewhat misguided. Miles' sideman, which features the absolute elite in jazz, pretty much all had the highest respect for their former boss and bandleader and while Glasper's songs on the "Miles Ahead" soundtrack featured Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock, Scofield is the lone sideman featured here. Hence using artists like Laura Mvula, Hiatus Kaiyote, KiNG and Georgia Anne Muldrow (who's rendition of "Milestones" is decent) instead of fusing the old with the new by inviting Dave Liebman, Sonny Fortune, Jimmy Cobb, Chick Corea, Wallace Rooney, Jack DeJohnette, John McLaughlin, Lonnie Liston Smith, and so on, really feels like a missed opportunity. It's not a bad record per se, but it's not a great one either - though it has it's share of great moments. I won't be purchasing it, but give it a listen it might be more up your alley as many critics seems to love it at the moment. "Everything's Beautiful" is available on vinyl, CD and in digital formats via Amazon among other sites.

ROBERT GLASPER Ft. E. BADU & MILES - "So Long (Maiysha)"

As you should know by now I'm a huge fan of the real jazz music which takes so many forms, and with artists like Kendirck Lamar, Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Roland Bruner Jr., Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin, Ravi Coltrane, to name a few to my ears jazz is in a better, more comfortable, forward thinking position than it has been in years. Miles Davis is one of my top 1-3 top artists all categories, he was just beyond the category of musical genius and at this time I have a collection of about 60 CD:s and albums (counting my many boxsets as one album despite them having between 20 and 4 CD:s each) and though we will never get to hear brand new Miles music, there's still ocassional remix type projects being sanctioned by the estate, giving them a seal of approval. Some of them are strictly wack and should be avoided at any costs but some like Bill Laswell's "Panthalassa" and now Robert Glasper's "Everything is Beautiful" are both things of beatuies (hence the latters name).

Robert Glasper worked with Miles newphew Vince Wilburn Jr, the estate and Columbia Legacy and was given complete acess to original mastertapes that had been collecting dust for years. Glasper, being the experimental artist that he is, took a very different approach in remixing and updating these old original reels than say Madlib did for his (excellent) "Shades Of Blue"). As he has explained in interviews he wasn't interested in producing a regualr Miles remix albums, with Miles trumpet flowing over his production and piano workouts. Instead he dug out samples of Miles' voice, some trumpet playing, some keyboard playing, reworked famous riffs from classics like "Milestones" and made a very succesfull album if you ask me. Just yesterday, the first official video from the project was released (although the excellent Phonté assisted "Violets are Blue" were released as an audio single only; same goes for the John Scofield assisted "I'm Leaving You"). The music clip in question is a funny as hell take on the Erykah Badu assisted "Maiysha (So Long)" which is one of the few, if not only song on the LP, where Badu excusitely solos with the long decased artists. Mies is smiling down on this hilarious video which also shows Eyrkah's acting chops a bit... Enjoy haha. And don't forget to support Robert Glasper and the Miles Davis foundation by buying the album @ iTunes, Amazon or any store of your choice.

MILES DAVIS / EASY MO BEE - "Blow" [New Orleans Hip Hop Remix]

Hell let's continue on this jazz trip here at The Lost Tapes with a very rare official Easy Mo Bee remix of "Blow" from Miles' final '91 album "Doo Bop". Throughout his entire career Miles never stood still, he always wanted to get involved with the stuff the young black kids listened to. Just listen to "On The Corner", "Big Fun''s "Ife" and tracks like "Calypso Frelimo" . But in early 1991 when Hip Hop was what all the hip urban radio stations was blazing Miles had a feeling he could do an excellent take on that by himself if he just had the right collaborators. He asked his friend Russel Simmons to gather up some contenders, one which was Easy Mo Bee whose work with The Genius and Big Daddy Kane really impressed him, one was Sid Reynolds, one was Public Enemy/The Bomb Squad. 

Mo Bee's audition in Miles' Manhattan apartment was filled with producers, and in his own word he beat the competition through his perfectionism - "I'm a guy with an SP-1200 sampling drum machine and an Akai 950 rack sampler. What I do is I call it creative samping, not just plain looping like a lot of the guys do. I get really, really intense with my sampling. It has a lot to do with harmonics and everything has to be in tune". In other words Mo Bee came at it from a musician's point of view rather than the regular joe with a sampler and a bunch of records. "Blow" was originally a joint created for The Genius (he was also a huge fan of GZA's "True Fresh MC"), but whose gonna turn down one of the most prolific musican of the last five decades?

"Doo Bop" received mixed criticism when it was first released, the jazz purist saw it another case of selling out (which it certainly wasn't), while some hip-hop purist was dissapointed that Mo Bee had given him rather too smooth and soulful hip-hop beats instead of the hardhitting neckbreakers. I can't find the interview new, but Mo Bee's answer was firm in that that was the type of sound Miles wanted for his album - the type of beat his horn would mesh best with, and he was most certainly right. "Doo Bop" is in fact a very underrated album - the main thing that marrs it is the two or three songs featuring horrrendous rapping by Mo Bee and his group R.I.F. Why the hell wouldn't he ask Kane or GZA do the honors? Anyway the long out of print 12" single of "Blow" features a much rougher and harder version of the song which might give you an idea how Miles would have sounded if Easy had given him his hardcore beats. It's definitely a nice piece, so check it out up top and also peep the DJ Vlad interview where the legendary producer reveals that "Doo Bop" is the greatest feat of his career!

[Review] ROBERT GLASPER / MILES DAVIS - "Everything''s Beautiful"

I've been a huge fan of Miles Davis for about 10 years now but for the last year or so I've been on a trip like crazy; almost exclusivey listenig to him (or at least jazz, but more Miles than any other jazz artist), which is why The Lost Tapes has been sort of lacking lately. I've been buying rare box sets, buying his regular albums and pretty much listening to everything he recorded between 1945 and 1991 until my collection now contains about 120 CD:s. Without a doubt Miles was the king of Jazz, but that word was also something he absoutely despised meaning that it was a white-man's word trying to box in black people and their music into. Sure at one time he played BeBop with Charlie Parker, Hardbop with Coltrane and his first great quintet before basically throwing out the rule book and abandoning chord changes in favor of modal transitions with his so called second great quintet (with Hancock, Tony Williams, Ron Carter and Wayne Shorter). But it was from 1968 to 1975 that he discouraged his old school fans by leaving what people had come to expect from jazz artist when he started incorporating electronic instruments, playing top-notch jazz solos over heavy bass vamp more influencced by Sly Stone, George Clinton and Hendrix than by Dexter Gordon. The music from this period STILL sounds ahead of his time. Don't believe me? Pop in "Agharta" or "Pangaea" in your disc player, or "On the Corner" and "Get Up With It" and marvel how ahead of time this cat was already back then. This period (1968-1975) is mostly the era that Glasper has focused his sampling techniques on in building a new album from so it doesn't hurt to be aware of the original LP:s, although it does stand on its own legs as a legit album as well.

But first a word on jazz in the 2000s - is it dead, or does it just smell funny to quote Frank Zappa? As a hardcore jazz fanatic, Robert Glasper is one of the few artists I feel actually has something new to conribute to the genre and keeps it alive. From his accoustic trio piano recordngs on Blue Note to his fusion records with his Experiment band there has always been powerful and original music there (can't forget his excellent contributions to records by Q-Tip and Yasiin Bey amongst others either). There's a few others as well; I was extremely fond and proud of Kamasi Washington's "The Epic", an ablum that I feel can match the great explorative classics of the late '60s and early '70s. Of course both Glasper, Kamasi Washington, as well as bassist Thundercat, alternative producer Flying Lotus, saxophonist Terrence Martin, trumpet player Josef Leimberg,  played a large part in the creation of 2015's best album, Kendrick Lamar's "To Pimp A Butterfly". And also read this great article about the album and it's heavy jazz and hip-hop fusion and why it works so well. Again, huge props to Kendrick for daring to make a modern jazz/funk album in 2015.

So not with that out of the way, let's get back to "Everything's Beautiful", a phrase spoken by Miles during a previously unhead session chatter. Glasper was given access to Columbia's original unedited tapes from Miles' 50's, '60's and '70's session, but unlike the similiar deal Madlib received from Blue Note for his brilliant LP "Shades Of Blue" this is not a remix album per se at all. Instead Glasper has created an original album heavily built around Miles samples that might work best as an homage to one of his musical heroes. And as such it mostly does it's job really well. To be honest, I was slightly intimitated to listen to this project at firstconsidrering my enormous respect for Miles and his legacy, and though I'm a big fan of Glasper I must admit I was a bit worried how it all was going to work out. After all there's been a few shitty Davis remix EP:s over the years (and I'm not talking about Bill Laswell's joint). Luckily, I needed not to worry at all - for the most part this is an excellent homage that I think Miles, who was always with the new black/"hip" involvements in music, would truly like. 

The project came to fruition as director/producer of the "Miles Ahead" movie, Don Cheadle, asked for Glasper's services in laying down the score for the film which was soon to be released. The jazz pianist and producer, being a fan of the man for years, didn't hesitate but once the score was finished he felt unfulfilled - hence the concept for "Everything's Beautiful" was born. It's billed as a collaboration between Glasper and Miles, which is certainly is not. As I said before it's more of an homage; in an interview Glasper talked about his vision for the proejct was to sample various parts of Miles and build tracks around that - and we're not talking about his unmistakable trumpet sound, in fact there's only one or two songs that actually make use of that beautiful trumpet sound. Many tracks are simply jazzy hip-hop that might sample Miles voice from unreleased studio rehearsals, others might be built around a sample from one of his sidemen's performance on a classic Miles record as is the case of the beautiful "Violets" (featuring an amazing performance by Phonte) who makes use of a Bill Evan's piano sample from "Blue in Green" (1958). Still this is not a put down, because the album is actually very good although with it's multiple guest and little Miles it feels more like another "Black Radio" LP, which is not a bad thing as it's just as good as it's two predecessors. If not even slightly better - the spirit of Miles has that power. 

To me, this is an album that you can play from front to back but my favorite joints is the introduction "Talking Shit" which goes into "Ghetto Walking". They are connected as the intro features the Miles part of the rehearsal of the excellent "Ghetto Walking" (recorded for "In A Silent Way"; considered for "On The Corner"; but ultimately not released until 2001 on "The Complete In A Silent Way Sessions"). One of the most revealing lines here is how Miles tell his drummer (Joe Chambers) to play “some kind of pulse that goes on all the time, that doesn’t sound like ‘ting-ta-ting’” — a disparaging nod to a swinging ride cymbal pattern — in favor of a loop that “doesn’t break, and it doesn’t sound corny.” Already back then he was looking for a hip-hop type of beat, something he woul continue exploring on "On The Coner" (1972) and to full effect on "Doo Bop" with Easy Mo Bee right before his death. Therefore it sounds great when Glasper, who's acting much more like a producer than as a pianist on this LP, adds a banging hip-hop drum pattern to the original "Ghetto Walkin'" music and it sounds blazing hot - especially with an excellent performance by Bilal over the music. Speaking of singers, Miles always made instrumental music for 99% of his career but "Everything's Beautiful" features a wide array of singers and rappers like Illa J, Erykah Badu, Phonte (who I once again must give props for his amazing performance here), Georgia Anne Muldrow and even Stevie Wonder turns up to give his respect on the beautiful album closer "Right On Brotha". The only one who actually played in one of Miles' bands on both stage and is guitarist John Scofield thouh he is left with one of the weaker tracks which feels like a missed opportunity.

Without a doubt the best song on the album is "Mayisha", one of Miles' last songs before his semi-retirement in 1975. Glasper's production and sample library of the original master tapes captures the essence of the track without making a carbon-copy of the track in question. Add to that the beautiful vocals of Erykah Badu and most importantly she actually gets a chance to duet with Miles wah-wah infused trumpet, and it sounds like they were in the studio together laying it down together. I'm sure Miles would've loved Erykah and would be proud of this joint. Even Glasper comes out from his proudcer chair to lay down a little solo. This is terrific music and would work as a great introduction to any of the three artists for the uninitated. The Georgia Anne Muldrow / Glasper rendition of "Milestones" is pretty damn fly too to say the least.

It's not a perfect album by any means, but when you got the name Miles Davis in the title and marketing promotion you have uneccessary pressure on you. I might have loved it had been released a simply a Robert Glasper album because I have really liked his output so far and this is no exception. So buy it, but don't expect a Miles Davis album, but as a Robert Glasper it's probably a 4/5 album. But with the presentation as a joint collaboration I can't give it much more than 3/5; 3.5/5 absolute tops. But it's the music that counts, right, so I'd still recommend it but I stand by that it was a bad marketing move. You can stream the album via Spotify below to make up your own mind. If you dig it as much as I do - purchase a copy on iTunes or Amazon.

ROBERT GLASPER Revisits MILES DAVIS For "Everything's Beautiful"

I have been meaning to pust this for quite some time but never got around to it but this is a record that I for one will not sleep on. Just like Branford Marsalis and GURU was the ambassadors for jazz and hip-hop fusion in the '90s, the incredibly talented producer Robert Glasper has taken over that role in this day and age. And just like Marsalis he is an incredibly talented jazz producer and pianist with a very deep understanding for grat hip hop. For his upcomng project "Everything's Beautiful" he was invited into the Miles Davis' (the greatest artist of all time) vast collection of original studio tapes by the good people over at the Miles Davis Foundation (which includes son Erin Davis and newphew Vilbert Vincent, Jr. who both played with Miles on stage during the last part of his career). 

The idea for the project is a noble one, rather than an album of covers of the classic Miles tunes, which are never as good as the originals either way, Glasper and co. has dug deep into the archives to find the best samples and found interesting ways to put Miles' voice into a 21th century setting. Considering that the legendary trumpeter, who was always on the move, was going full hip-hop with his last release "Doo Bop" in collaboration with Easy Mo Bee there's no question in my mind that he would be proud of a project like this which makes it a lot more tasteful than several cash-in EP:s and the likes that have been released over the years. "Everyting's Beautiful" sees Glasper play and build on tracks he has reconstructed in the production chair from both Miles' classic that anyone knows such as "All Blues" as some of the more rare material that only true afficionandos as myself are aware of. To top it off he has invited a host of amazing producers and singers to round out the project, including Erykah Badu, 9th Wonder, Phonte, Rashad "Ringo" Smith, Bilal.

Check out the mini documentary on MilesDavisVevo up top and peep the first single "Ghetto Walkin'" featuring Bilal over this paragraph. And turn that volume up while you're at it! And in case you have missed out be sure as hell to check out the trailer for the highly anticipated Don Cheadle vehicle "Miles Ahead" where he has really gone into the acing method of performance to tell a highly fictionalized account of Miles' later years. It's been getting rave reviews at film festivals and should be on one of the best of the year. Peep the trailer here 

[Jazz of the Week] MILES DAVIS SEXTET - "Call It Anything" (1970)

Last week I posted the rare "jazz" album "Kawaida" by Albert Toudie Heath, Mtume and their excellent group. That post got really good response and since I for the last month has been listenin at least equally as much to "jzz" as Hip Hop I intend to intodce y'all to more gems that might make a skeptic a believer. For me the connection between Jazz and Hip Hop is a very strong one, and though I can see how the 1940s, 1950s and early-to-mid 60's might turn some people off if they dive right into it, but like with any other musical style there's plenty of different jazz styles out there. Especially the late '60s and up to about 1974 was an incredible time in the history of this music as musicias were constantly experimenting with new sounds, combining the Hard Bop they grew up on, with african rhythms, bass vamps and electronic instruments from the burgeoning rock scene and so on. This type of music is sometimes called "fusion" (or Jazz fusion) or "Jazz rock", neither which I think really does the music justice. Instead of trying to force them into a label, let the music speak for itself.

No man changed the course of music as many times as Miles Davis - sure there were "jazz rock" records before but not many of them were all success. It was with Davis' "In A Silent Way" and even more so "Bitches Brew" that literally blew the doors open for jazz artists, who had previously been limited to playing half empty clubs, now were filling large stadiums. Bill Graham, the concert promoter and owner of The Fillmore clubs, played a large role in that but anyone who heard Davis and his band knew that tis was really something else. There's a great story by one of the members of celebrated psychedelic rock band Grateful Dead who headlined an event at Fillmore East while sharing the bill with Davis and his sextet. Even the Grateful Dead, with their massive live show brilliance, was in awe what just happened and actually quite scared to go up on stage and try to follow up on what they just heard.

Miles Davis is my favorite artitst, I own most of his records (there's at least 40in my collection), andhe put out so many classics it is ridiciolous. However I promise that this new section of The Lost Tapes will focus on more rare material, but for this week I am presenting you with one of the greatest performances of all time - all captured on video in great soumd/video quality. In August of 1970 Miles and his band took the stage in front of 60,000 people and played a short 35 minutes set that is both as powerful, technically brilliant and straight up cool to look at. The ensemble consists of Gary Bartz on alto sax, Keith Jarrett on electric organ and piano, Chick Corea on electric piano, Dave Holland on bass and Airto Moreira on all kinds of percussion. 

The venue was the Isle Of Wight festival and the aduio portion of the concert can be found of Columbia Records "Bitches Brew" live which you can purchase from Amazon. The concert video first appeared in full form on the excellent documentry "Electric Miles: A Different Kind Of Blue" which is strongly recommended. The medley consists of "Directions", "Bitches Brew", "It's About That Time", "Sanctuary", "Spanish Key" and the regular set closer "The Theme" before leaving the stage as it hadn't even been invaded by some of the most mind blowing music many of that cro

[Trailer] DON CHEADLE's "MILES AHEAD"

Anyone who knows me well know that for the past six months or so I've listened way more to jazz related music than hip-hop, but when I say jazz I am also including real heavy shit like this and this (the latter is one of the greatest performances of all time, up there with Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock, Wu-Tang Clan at Hultsfred '97 or Aftermath's '99 Up in Smoke Tour if you want some hip hop parallels). Saying that Miles Davis has become the true musical god in my household for the last months, I've listened to his music for many years but I totally snowed in on his work lately and I'm willing to take up anyone willing to debate against my statement that Miles is the best artist who ever worked in music, any and all categories/genres.

Now Don Cheadle ("Boogie Nights", "Ocean's Eleven", "Hotel Rwanda", "Bullworth", "Colors", etc.) have been preparing what he has called his grand film statement for many years - an exagerrated biopic on the life and times of the great Miles Davis which he has both directed and plays the lead in. He has worked closely with the Davis estate and looking at the trailer it seems he is definitely getting Miles' mannerisms and even trumpet playing on point, so who cares if he doesn't look just like him. I've been waiting eagerly for this project for about a year and a half or whenever it was first announced but it has already gone up on a few film festivals where it mostly has received rave reviews, and as you can see by the trailer it looks pretty amazing. It's not one of those cheap ass biopics (like Andre 3000's Hendrix movie) where they couldn't clear ANY of the artists music - this one is full of lovely background drops from a large chunk of Miles' many classic sessions. I for one can't wait!


Check out the trailer up top, and peep the the banging "U-Turnaround" joint recorded in 1973 right above to see how close Miles was to reaching the full-on hip-hop aestheatic even back in the early '70s. The film is set to hit theaters on April 1, 2016.

[Coming Soon] MILES DAVIS - "The Bootleg Series 4"

Yes I am aware that this is a site focusing on true school hip-hop at it's finest, but next to hip-hop my two favorite artists are without a doubt jazz legends Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Columbia Legacy has been milking the shit out of Miles' legacy, reissuing and remastering pretty much everything he recorded for the label and putting it out again and again. However, in 2007 they begun a genius series when they released the first installment in "The Bootleg Series", a series of beautiful box sets for the first time featuring previously unreleased Miles' concert sets spread out over 4 discs (two of the three sets so far have included a beautiful and clean DVD of a Davis Quintet performance). These are always a definite purchase for me and a great addition to the collection, even if I'm low on cash.

The first volume was a great document of 5 sets of Miles playing with his so called Second Great Quintet (Miles, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, Ron Carter, Wayne Shorter) at George Wein's Newport Jazz Festival in 1967. Volume 2 was the first official Sony release of the so called "Lost Quintet" (Miles, Wayne Shorter, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, Chick Corea) recorded in 1969 and spread over three CD:s and one DVD where the music was getting more and more free with only Miles reigning in the band for his very tight trumpet solos and themes. Volume 3 was a personal favorite of mine as it featured four CD:s of Miles after his transition into the "rock-jazz fusion"  and was recorded at Bill Graham's rock club The Fillmore East over four nights in June 1969. A heavily edited verison of these four nights had been released as "Miles @ The Fillmore" in 1970 with about 20 minutes kept from each night - and Teo Macero editing out a lot of good stuff that for the first time was heard for full here. These four discs was filled to the damn limit with agressiveness and rawness that at the time probably left a lot of jazz listeners scratching thier heads at the time Miles now had two keyboards in his band, which added a lot of coloring to the music - Keith Jarret (Organ) and Chick Corea (Rhodes), plus Steve Grossman on Soprano Sax (to be honest I have no clue how he got to tour with Miles, I never cared the least for him),

Since each  Volume has followed the chronological order I was expecting the 4th installment to be a collection of Miles concerts from his Japanese tour in 1975 with Miles, Mtume, Pete Cosey, Reggie Lucas, Sonny Fortune and Al Foster that produced the axcellent international live albums "Agharta"and "Pangaea" and countless bootleg recordings. This is my favorite Miles band, the sheer intensity and agressivity is just something most so called hard rock musicians couldn't handle. But now "The Bootleg Series Volume 4" has been anounced via Miles Davis official website at Legacy Recordings and instead of following the chronological order, this one takes it back right to the beginning for Miles and Columbia. "Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975" is a four disc CD that follows Miles Davis and his various qunitets through the years 1955 to 1975 during 8 concert sets. I guess that since Volume One did include all five sets from 1967 from Newport that year will not be featured. Some cool trivia is that Miles Davis was kind of down and out of the jazz scene by the early '50s due to heavy heroin addiction, showing up late or not at all to gigs, etc. By 1955 he had kicked the habit at his father's cabin, cold turkey, and when he was invited up as part of an all star set that also featured Thelonious Monk (piano), Zoot Sims (tenor sax), Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax), Percy Heath (bass) and Connie Kay (drums) he performed the lead on the Monk composition "Round 'Bout Midnight" to standing ovations, definitely signing off that Miles was back with a venegance. Columbia producer George Avakian who was in the crowd that night immediatly rushed backstage and signed the trumpeter on the spot for a rather, for the time being, large sum, Miles first LP for Columbia would singal this performances importance as the album lead off with "Round About Midnight" and was even titled as such and immediatly became a bestseller. This box set will be another must buy for any serious Miles Davis collector like myself, as it follows the musical legends importance and transformation as an artist over a 20 year period. Rolling Stone got the honor to stream a preview of a 1966 performance of "Stella By Starlight" performed with the Second Great Quintet (mentioned above), which is an incredible take on the slow moving love ballad that Victor Young originally wrote. Two minutes in the band transforms it almost into unrecognizability, as Ashley Kahn tells Rolling Stone how the Quintet transforms the slow jam into a "high speed chase discarding any notion of mainting emotional consistency and reverence...". Take a listen below and pre-order the box at Amazon or iTunes which hits stores on July 17.

MILES DAVIS - "Live @ The Fillmore 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3"

As much as I love hip-hop, real good jazz music is always a close second and few artists have meant as much to me as John Coltrane and Miles Davis. A couple of years ago Columbia Legacy kicked off an amazing Miles campaign called "The Bootleg Series", which so far has been made available in two separate volumes. The first featured five full sets from a '67 European tour placed on three CD:s and one DVD, featuring the legendary Davis/Hancock/Shorter/Williams/Carter quintet. The second volume focused on the 1969 years and the "lost quintet" which included Holland/Corea/Shorter/DeJohnette. Both installments came in stunningly beautiful packaging, with well written essays and filled to the limits with great, previously unreleased music (at least in any official capacity) cleanly remastered in both sound and video. Of course these are must owns for any serious Miles fan.

Now Columbia Legacy is releasing the third volume in this brilliant series that lets fanatics continue to discover new music from the master long after his return to the essence. Although this is a hip-hop site first and foremost, it's also my site - and being the jazzhead I am, you can count on seing the occassional jazz post on here. In 1970 Miles Davis was the first artist to really fully embrace the rock / jazz fusion aspects full throttle by gaining a given place on many of the larger rock arenas around the world (a blazing performance at Isle Of Wright included). One of the things that set all this off was the invitiation to Bill Graham's (remember the promoter at the Playboy show in "Apocalypse Now") cult club The Fillmore. In early summer 1970, Miles and his newly assembled band hit the stage there for a four night event. This somewhat crazy ensemble freely blended jazz, fusion, hardbop and free-jazz and featured a line-up of Keith Jarret (organ), Chick Corea (Fender Rhodes), Dave Holland (electric bass), Steve Grossman (soprano sax), Airto (percussion) and of course Miles on trumpet.

Parts of these four consecutive nights were actually officially released by Colubmia in 1971, but only heavily editing down each set from around 40-45 minutes to 20 minutes in order fit each side of a double LP. Although there have been bootlegs of most of these full sets, they have never been officially released and remastered, so this is the first time that fans can actually appreciate these wild sessions in their full glory. Unfortunately I must say that although I really dig parts of these recordings, I feel that they don't represent Miles and his band at their best as the rhythm section is much more drawn to the avant-garde jazz that had started bubling at the time (despite Miles publicly stating his dislike for the genre), pretty much only tightening up for Miles' parts. There's of course gems on here, like hearing Corea and Jarrett go at it simultuonaesly on their respective keyboards. So yeah, I'm gonna buy this, not only because I'm a collector but also because I know it will be beautifully packed with its four discs which also includes a few bonus tracks recorded a month later at The Fillmore West. What's most dissapointing is the lack of a DVD included which has been one of the most terrific parts of the two previous volumes in this series... But it also shows that Columbia very likely are intending to issue more of these "Bootleg Series" albums - and if they reach Miles final concerts (before the semi-retirement) in Japan in 1975 then it's OVER for this writer as I hold those sessions as some of the best music ever recorded (check "Agharta" and "Pangaea")! 

To read more about what's included here head over to MilesDavis.com, and as a 10 minute excerpt of one of the jams have just been made available through Rolling Stones check that one out below while we wait for March 25.

"SPANISH KEY: ENCORE" @ ROLLING STONES

Miles Davis - "Bootleg Series V.2: Live in Europe"

Ok, this is not your typical The Lost Tapes post, but those who know me (alternatively have followed the blog for some time) know that I'm a huge jazz fan; and there's no more interesting and innovative "jazz artist" than Miles Davis. With albums like "On the Corner", "Get Up With It", and "Doo Bop", Davis was probably the earliest jazz/hip-hop fusion artists which is why there's nothing strange about mentioning Miles and his working band on any serious hip-hop site. As for me, his music is also a great bridge for hip-hop heads to find jazz they can relate to.

 In 2011 Columbia Records released an almost impeccable box set of five discs showcasing Davis' so called "second great quintet" in various concerts from their European 1967 tour. Most of these fantastic sets have previosuly been bootlegged, but is here released for the first time presented straight from the original masters and presented in the highest possible quality; also including two amazing live concerts on a bonus DVD. Titled "The Bootleg Series Volume 1: Live in Europe 1967": it seems that more volumes will soon be available in a near future. And that's just what's happening in January as the label has dug up three remastered live sets from 1969, along with a 45-minutes long DVD of the quintet's full set at Berlin Phillharmonie on November 7, 1969. This is a definite collector's item, and any fan of classic Miles need to do themeselves a favor and pick this up when it drops on January 29; I know I will.

Unlike the previous installment in the series, the focus this time is not on the much praised "second great quintet" with Ron Carter, Tony Williams, and Herbie Hancock. Davis, always a musician on the move and his ear to the street, and kept his ear to the street. The only instrumentalist to stay with "the lost quintet" was Davis himself  and his righth-hand man, saxophonist Wayne Shorter. Another major change was the instrumentation; the quintet (which also featured Chic Corea, bassist Dave Holland, annd drummer jack DeJohnette) who often payed a type of fusion often bordering on the free jazz movemennt. Despite this, they played a more ecleftic set-list either before or after; as themes from Davis' harcbop era like "Round Midnight", the blues ballads from the early '60's ("I Fall in Love to Easily", "No Blues"), the Herbie Hancock compositions from the mid-'60s like "Nefertiti"... And, of course a gang of the more recentt fusion-masterpieces ("In A Silent Way", "Bitches Brew" and "Spanish Key").

The majority of the quintet heard here was first assembled in 1968 when Corea and Holland filled the places of Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter, respectively, forr their parts of the "Filles de Kilimanjaro" album of thet year. Once Tony Williams left the quintet, he recommended Jack DeJohnette to join the band and, what is often refered to as, "the lost quintet" was born. This group was in the center of such landmark albums as "Bitches Brew" and "In a Silent Way", but as a quintet they actually never recorded together, and Columbia missed out the opportunity to record and release anything from this great live band. Until now...  The four discs that make up "The Bootleg Series Vol. 2: Live in Europe" consists of two full sets (1 hour each) from the Antibes Festival in Paris July 1969; a full set in Stockholm as part of George Wein's "Newport Jazz Festival"; and last but not least, a never before released DVD of the full 46 minutes concert at Berlin November 7 @ the Phillharmonie 1969.

Sounds like a pretty amazing package to say the least; especially as its one of my favorite Davis periods, complete with an absolutely terrific backing band and the always incredible Wayne Shorter bringing the heat. The box is released on January 29, so you still have some time to pick up Volume 1 if you are still missing out.

Read more, order and check the tracklist @ MD's official site.

[Review] MILES DAVIS - "Pangaea"

The Lost Tapes is, and will always be a hip-hop blog; one that's "mashed with a passion by claaa7" (that's me). My friends and those who have followed the site for a longer time are well aware that I'm a jazz fanatic as well, and my favorite artists is Miles Davis who, before his passig in 1991, often spoke on his love for hip-hop as the new sound of the streets. He was a true pioneer, and his impact on hip.hop reaches far beyond just being a sample source for atists like Tribe and Black Moon. '91s "Doo Bop" album with Eays Mo Bee showcased the hornman and innovator fully embracing the hip-hop movement but already back in the 1970's he laid the foudation for an early type of hip-hop; just check the album "On The Corner" if you don't believe me, not to mention his life performances at the time which were strictlt mind-blowing to listen to in their own right. One of my favorite albums of all time is "Pangaea"; a 90 minute long excursion into dark funk with jazzy undertones and the collective improvisation of no less than eight loud electrified musicians.Producer Phil Collins invented the "wall of sound", and Chuck D once likened Hank Schocklee's work method as "the wall of noise". The latter epitome coul easily. just as well describe Miles Davis 1970s  jazz-rock sound. When I took my bachelor degree in Musicology at the University, I wrote a thesis on Miles Davis fusion music and how it was met by the jazz press. In one of the moments they also wanted a review of his music written by yours truly, and the review for "Pangaea" was the result. But don't worry, The Lost Tapes will stay just as it is - a blog focusing on true school hip-hop at its finest. Buit I honestly believe that this live set has a lot of similarities with the hip-hop music, and if I can get one person to hear this for the first time then I'm a happy man as, to me, this is easily one of the best LP:s ever released so here goes....

By 1975, Miles Davis had reached the tipping point. By the middle of that year, the physical and mental wear out of thirty years of professional playing and hard drug abuse took out its right on him. But listening to “Pangaea” and “Agharta”, two double LPs both recorded in Osaka, Japan on the first of February in ’75, it’s easy to say that a musical exhaustion were another probable reason for Davis’ “pre-retirement” that would last six years. To reinvent his musical idiom once is more than most artists ever do, but Davis had done it time and time again. But now the music couldn’t be pushed any further down this dark direction it was taking without breaking it up; the concerts represent Miles at the end of the road, but still in full control of the groove.

Out of the two concerts, the late evening set issued as “Pangaea” are the stronger one and possibly the greatest live album you’ll ever hear. Here, all the stuff Miles had been playing on his many ‘70s releases comes together into one large electrified musical melting pot with ingredients of blues, African rhythms, hard bop, free jazz and heavy metal. Most of all it is raw, pure and uncut music that refuses labeling and is best enjoyed when played LOUD. Throughout the set, Davis is heard in fine form and although I like a lot of Teo Macero’s studio wizardry that altered much of the trumpeter’s output during the ‘70s, it’s nice to catch it just as it was played.

Having given up on the multiple keyboards so evident on his earlier fusion albums, Miles’ music are here instead centered on the heavy grooves created by Mtume (congas), Al Foster (drums) and Michael Henderson (bass). The blazing and often Hendrix-like guitar work of Reggie Lucas and Pete Cosey are an integral part of the sound as well. With seven players sharing the stage, this group showcases a brutal energy and loudness that would make the Zeppelin’s of the day nervous. Often using either instrument as a percussive one rather than a way to add harmonic colors, the sound of “Pangaea” is massive.

But there’s a lot of lyrical stuff to be enjoyed here too, especially up front in Miles’ and saxophonist Sonny Fortune’s many brilliant solos. Fortune constantly brings something interesting to the music and is, with his evident feel for harmony, a suiting replacement for the gritty free jazz style of Dave Liebman (heard on the similar live set “Dark Magus”, recorded in 1974). The absolute highlight, however, comes from the leader himself. Close to the end of the concert, during the bands rundown of “Ife”, the tempo is slowed down several notches in order for Miles to solo at length (beginning around the 28 minute mark on disc two). As Davis projects all his emotions into a hauntingly beautiful solo, the leap from “Kind of Blue” to this stage in Osaka doesn’t come across as very odd anymore.

The entire performance is spread out over only two tracks, one on each disc, although it does feature several different tunes that were staples in Davis live performances at the time such as “Tunaroundphrase”, “Tune in 5” and the aforementioned “Ife”. But as was also usual practice, everything is so tightly sewn together that the casual listener will find it hard to tell where one song ends and the next begin. But herein lies also one of the music’s great powers; every single tone, harmonic color, percussive splash and solo are equally important parts that together forms each 45 minutes set into one cohesive, unique composition. It is music without an end and a beginning if you will. Most importantly, it’s one of Davis’ best works and one that was, and continues to be, many years ahead of its time.