Miles Davis - Very Best of Warner Bros (1985-91)

[Aggie87]

Anybody notice this just recently came out at the end of January? Is this the first Warners era comp?

Track listing:

Tutu 5.15

Splatch 4.45

Catémbe 5.35

Mr. Pastorius 5.42

Amandla 5.21

Mystery 3.55

Chocolate Chip 4.38

The Doo-Bop Song 5.00

Trumpet Cleaning (with Michel LeGrand) 3.56

Siesta/Kitt's Kiss/Lost In Madrid Part II (with Marcus Miller) 7.00

The Pan Piper (with Quincy Jones) 1.40

Summertime (with Quincy Jones) 2.54

In A Silent Way 1.49

Time After Time 9.58

Hannibal 7.22

Edited March 6, 2007 by Aggie87

[Aggie87]

Found this in a Half Price Book Store today, not a bad comp for this era of Miles. It is a UK release only (I think?). Liner notes by Wallace Roney.

[BFrank]

Doesn't seem to be a lot of interest in this era of Miles, Aggggg.

[kh1958]

I like this period of Miles--this looks like a pretty good compilation, with several favorite tracks from this era--Amandla, Mr. Pastorius, Hannibal, Tutu, the Siesta medley.

[marcello]

God know I've tried, but there is very little that I like of this Miles Davis period.

I've listened to "Aura" several times and am bored to death, and that's a recording the supposed to be a pinnacle of latter Miles.

"Tutu" is almost elevator music, slightly better that "Jacuzzi jazz".

[JSngry]

I like the WB period stuff well enough, but the live shows usually make for a more engaging "jazz" experience, although "jazz" is not really the point of any of this stuff in the first place, so I can see how if that's what you're looking for, you're not gonna be well-pleased, because it ain't really there, nor is it supposed to be.

What is there, I think (and this thought only strengthens as the distance grows larger) is Miles deciding that he's going to take on "pop" and win - on his own terms, with his own esthetic, wigh his own representations. Now, some might call that "selling out", but I think you can make at least just as strong a case that it's an act of defiance. After all, the notion is that "pop" = stupid, shallow, and simplistic, and none of the WB-era music (especially in concert) is ever all that, especially texturally. Wasn't Miles always a texturalist? For that matter, wasn't Miles always about not "settling" for being ghetto-ized or pigeonholed, musically or personally?

I'm not saying that anybody who doesn't like it is wrong, because that would mean that you have no right to look for what you like/want/need in music, and there's no way I'd even begin to suggest that. I'm just saying that the music has worth on the terrain that it sets out to conquer.

[jazzbo]

The live stuff is what does it for me. . . . I've been listening to the Montreux box a bit lately after a long time away from it and some of these shows were excellent.

[marcello]

Hey, I understand that Miles was absolutely looking for a more commercial expression and I'm not looking for specific "jazz" content. Just good music. Hell, my Delfonics collection has a lot more music than this period of Miles Davis.

That music just has so much fluff to it it doesn't get me at all. My problem.

Aura and Amadela were intended to be a more artistic/improviser statements I would think, that fall flat, and to me, The Quincy Jones / Gil Evans music date is REALLY hard to listen to.

But maybe this cherry picked collection has some good music on it, so enjoy it.

[JSngry]

Hell, my Delfonics collection has a lot more music than this period of Miles Davis.

But the Delfonics were never knighted...

[bertrand]

But the best track from this period, 'Portia', is missing from this collection.

I saw Miles a few times during this period. The September '86 gig in Paris was incredible.

Bertrand.

[dave9199]

I remember seeing a full page ad for the complete box set called The Last Word that was supposed to come out back in 2002 or so. That set got pulled because Prince wouldn't allow his songs he & Davis did together on it. I still don't think that's enough of a reason to pull the whole thing. I've never heard any of his post-75 stuff & have no interest. I listened to clips on Amazon & had a hard time getting through those.

[kh1958]

The live stuff is what does it for me. . . . I've been listening to the Montreux box a bit lately after a long time away from it and some of these shows were excellent.

He played at the Arcadia Theater in Dallas (now burned down but a relatively small old movie theater venue), I think around 1987 or 1988--and a few years later at an outdoor festival in 1990 or '91--both were quite enjoyable concerts. The latter featured the band with Foley--Miles' stripped down trumpet style of this period sounded exceptionally beautiful. The earlier concert was very different, very dense music which seemed like a throwback to the '70s era electric sound.

Edited June 6, 2009 by kh1958

[jazzbo]

I remember seeing a full page ad for the complete box set called The Last Word that was supposed to come out back in 2002 or so. That set got pulled because Prince wouldn't allow his songs he & Davis did together on it. I still don't think that's enough of a reason to pull the whole thing. I've never heard any of his post-75 stuff & have no interest. I listened to clips on Amazon & had a hard time getting through those.

Promo copies of this set actually were sent out. . . and they're out there.

It's not a bad way to get the Warner Bros. stuff but ultimately we didn't miss much.

[dave9199]

This sheds more light on The Last Word box. No surprises here.

http://www.miles-beyond.com/lastwordintro.htm