Miles Davis' "Aura"-where do you rate it?

[Dmitry]

At the risk of incurring the wrath of Ron...how is Dingo the movie? Worth looking for?

I agree, the soundtrack album wasn't too bad. Nothing revolutionary, just some nice recurring themes.

[Rooster_Ties]

I saw "Dingo" at a film-festival here in Kansas City a few years ago. It was "OK", but nothing to take great pains to find. Interesting to see that much Miles, if you are or were ever a Miles nut, but no where near a "great" movie by any standard.

the "All Movie Guide" gives it 2.5 stars, which is probably about right. I'd have given it that, or perhaps only 2 stars - though I do remember some of the scenery in Australia as being quite beautiful.

"All Movie Guide" review

Edited August 18, 2003 by Rooster_Ties

[Dmitry]

I thought as much. Thanks!

[Rooster_Ties]

It's not that bad either. If you see it for rent sometime, it's worth $3 to see it.

[Ron Thorne]

With some mo' due respect, threads go off the rails around here quite often, Ron.

IMHO, discussing "Dingo" is more "on topic" than some twist and turns have taken plenty of other good threads in the past.

That said, I'd welcome some more discussion of "Aura" as well, or "Dingo", or any of the more "outside the norm" recordings Miles did in the 80's and 90's.

Thanks, RT. I'm hip to that, though certain types of "detours" can be a real source of frustration for me.

By the way, I sure wish I knew how to quote two sources within the same response. Hint, hint.

[Ron Thorne]

At the risk of incurring the wrath of Ron...how is Dingo the movie? Worth looking for?

I'm assuming that was a tongue-in-cheek response, Dmitry. You'd likely need to say something a great deal more provocative or aggressive than that to "incur my wrath".

While I'm well aware that thread topics (here and elsewhere) wander, I'm often more perplexed when someone posts something which relates to a portion of a topic but not necessarily the specific one, such as in this instance.

For the record, I have neither heard nor seen Dingo.

I'm still interested in Jad's opinion.

The topic at hand:

[Jad]

Haven't listened to 'Aura' in quite awhile, but it didn't make that great an impression on me at the time. Heard 'Dingo' around the same time, and preferred it. (There, topic reinstated )

Edited August 18, 2003 by Jad

[king ubu]

Chiming in a little late...

I like Aura, and I think the comparison with the Music for Brass recordings are useful. The writing of Mikkelborg is quite special (I don't have anything else by him, cannot compare), and the soloing is fine, too. The whole album, in my opinion, stands as one of the high points of late Miles.

Then, to add a little more spice to the discussion: the Evans link was not revived by Aura, but rather by Tutu. With this, I mean to say that Miller, with all his electronics and programming was somehow able to provide very similar backgrounds for Miles' still beautiful sound and improvations - of course these backgrounds (as was always Miles' want) were of a contemporary form (the Quincy Jones Evans re-creation is a rather drab affair, if you ask me - not the kind of nostalgia to fit Miles' image), and the musical connection was achieved by totally different means.

But Miller somehow read Miles' mind - as in the late fifties did Gil Evans.

Does this make sense to anyone else, here?

ubu

[Dmitry]

At the risk of incurring the wrath of Ron...how is Dingo the movie? Worth looking for?

I'm assuming that was a tongue-in-cheek response, Dmitry.

Of course.

[jazzbo]

Monsieur Ubu, that makes a lot of sense to me!

In fact since Evans apparently was involved in small group arranging as well for Miles from Round About Midnight to the integration of electronic instruments in the electric era (Filles de Kilamanjaro at the very least) the Miller analogy is even weightier. . . !

[brownie]

how is Dingo the movie? Worth looking for?

Saw 'Dingo' when this film was released. Thought it was embarassing to see Miles

involved in this.

'Dingo' is in my ten-worst ever film list (and it's crowded there).

[Ron Thorne]

Thanks jad. I'd be interested to learn if your impression(s) of Aura change after another spin.

Thanks for the confirmantion, Dmitry.

Both king ubu and jazzbo make sense to me, and brownie's comments are dutifully noted, though I haven't seen this film.

As with many recordings which feature rather complex compositions, listening to Aura on high-quality headphones can prove beneficial.

Cheers~

[king ubu]

then, I might have to add that I am a fan of at least some of the late Miles - Tutu, Amandla and also Siesta (besides the pre-Miller stuff, or the albums Miller was on as a sideman, as opposed to arranger/composer/mastermind).

The track "Portia" from Tutu is, in my opinion, one of the highlights of Miles' comeback years.

ubu