Jazz Versions of Michael Jackson Tunes

[DMP]

Pretty sparse I'd imagine. Harold Mabern, Johnny Hammond (Smith) and Ramsey Lewis are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head...

[Van Basten II]

They were plenty at the Montreal Jazz fest, pianist Juli Lamontagne offered a re-arrangement of Billie Jean, during Ornette Coleman's gig, his electric bassist played the main riff of beat it and last night Greg Osby and his sextet played their version of Ben.

[Teasing the Korean]

Didn't Miles cover one of the Thriller tunes during a career lowpoint? Or was it another piece of dated 80s pop?

[JSngry]

"Human Nature" was a staple of Miles' latter-day repertoire, as was "Time After Time" (not a Jackson tune, obviously).

I got no problems with what he did with either of them. They're both at least as solid in "song" terms as, say, "Bye Bye Blackbird".

[Teasing the Korean]

"Human Nature" was a staple of Miles' latter-day repertoire, as was "Time After Time" (not a Jackson tune, obviously).

I got no problems with what he did with either of them. They're both at least as solid in "song" terms as, say, "Bye Bye Blackbird".

Funny, I was tempted to name both of those tunes in my previous post, even though I haven't listened to any Miles recorded after, say, 1973. It's amazing how I can't remember to pay bills, but I can remember which 80s pop tunes Miles covered. A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

It's always so embarrassing when jazz guys - in the post-rock era, at least - incorporate pop/rock tunes into their repertoire. They invariably grab for things that make a big commercial splash, but they fail to find the good things lurking beneath the surface. All the jazz Radiohead jazz covers are a prime example. It tends to expose the practice for what it is: a blatant attempt to appear relevant, even though it reveals that the jazz guys are not really aware of (or interested in) the more creative things going on under the surface of pop music.

[Dan Gould]

Kevin Mahogany's CD of Motown tunes, Pride and Joy, includes a fine rendition of "She's Out of My Life".

[JSngry]

"Human Nature" was a staple of Miles' latter-day repertoire, as was "Time After Time" (not a Jackson tune, obviously).

I got no problems with what he did with either of them. They're both at least as solid in "song" terms as, say, "Bye Bye Blackbird".

Funny, I was tempted to name both of those tunes in my previous post, even though I haven't listened to any Miles recorded after, say, 1973. It's amazing how I can't remember to pay bills, but I can remember which 80s pop tunes Miles covered. A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

It's always so embarrassing when jazz guys - in the post-rock era, at least - incorporate pop/rock tunes into their repertoire. They invariably grab for things that make a big commercial splash, but they fail to find the good things lurking beneath the surface. All the jazz Radiohead jazz covers are a prime example. It tends to expose the practice for what it is: a blatant attempt to appear relevant, even though it reveals that the jazz guys are not really aware of (or interested in) the more creative things going on under the surface of pop music.

Again, I have no problems with how Miles handled those tunes, especially how he evolved them over time in live performance. If anything, he brought out the music in them, not the "pop", their substance, not their splash.

Miles was the exception to the rule, no doubt, but still...

[JohnS]

Thriller by Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy (on Twilight Dreams).

[A Lark Ascending]

'Human Nature' was a great live vehicle for the later Miles bands. Listen to Kenny Garrett on the version on 'Live Around the World'.

I really like the shorter version (along with 'Time After Time') on 'You're Under Arrest'.

[Claude]

Mal Waldron played "Beat it" on his 1983 album "Breaking new ground"

Edited July 12, 2009 by Claude

[marcello]

Joe Locke did "I'll Be There" on his State Of Soul cd.

[jeffcrom]

Without getting into the late-Miles pop cover controversy too much, I'll throw in $.02. As much as I love Miles' playing during that or any other era, the settings of his late pop covers always bothered me. "All of You" or "Blackbird" by the 1950's band is in a jazz context, with the rhythm section interacting with the soloists and each other; with "Human Nature" or "Time After Time" Miles has the band sound copy the original record as closely as possible while he blows over the top. His playing, of course, was beautiful over that cover-band type setting. And in concert the band would take more liberties as they got into the tune. But I think that there is a basic difference in the way Miles approached pop tunes in the last decade of his life, and in my opinion the change was not for the better.

That being said, Jimmy Ponder did a version of "Billie Jean" on Down Here on the Ground that I remember as being pretty cool, although I haven't heard it for years - lost that album in the divorce.

[Ken Dryden]

I really don't have much use for most of the songs Michael Jackson wrote or covered, though I have a few of the CDs mentioned in this thread. Perhaps I'll have to revisit them.

I remember a Morganna King version of "Human Nature" that was laughable. I played it on the answering machine of a local jazz musician and he called back to say, "What was that? It was horrible!"

[Ken Dryden]

In a slightly different non-Michael Jackson area, I was surprised by One For All's version of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," a piece I have never liked. I always found Gaye's record monotonous and a bit insipid, One For All proved there was a good melody hidden within it.

[JSngry]

I find Morganna King in general to be laughable, never could see the attraction there, but that's just me.

[JSngry]

"All of You" or "Blackbird" by the 1950's band is in a jazz context, with the rhythm section interacting with the soloists and each other; with "Human Nature" or "Time After Time" Miles has the band sound copy the original record as closely as possible while he blows over the top.

Just wondering...if Miles had wanted to copy the "original record" of "All Of You" or "Blackbird"....what would he have used?

[JSngry]

Rahsaan - "Never Can Say Goodbye"

[DMP]

Right, on "Blacknuss," and it was a staple of his live shows there for awhile.

I was out of town and missed all the television Jackson tributes (which, apparently, were non-stop), but I did catch a minute of an interview with Al Sharpton, who said that if you'd go to Jackson's house you were likely to hear classical and jazz, 2 of his favorites. Never heard THAT before.

[7/4]

I'd think the one to do is Ben.

...

[Rosco]

"All of You" or "Blackbird" by the 1950's band is in a jazz context, with the rhythm section interacting with the soloists and each other; with "Human Nature" or "Time After Time" Miles has the band sound copy the original record as closely as possible while he blows over the top.

Just wondering...if Miles had wanted to copy the "original record" of "All Of You" or "Blackbird"....what would he have used?

Ahmad Jamal

[Drew Peacock]

This clip of Cab Calloway has had to have had an influence on MJ. It's from The Big Broadcast (1932), in which Cab sings about the recreational pleasures of illicit drugs. At 2:20, he begins a dance break that is similar to Michael Jackson —a quarter century before MJ was born. In particular, note Cab's proto-moonwalk.

Perhaps we jazz lovers can take solace that, even though Michael Jackson's music was not part of the jazz tradition, his showmanship was. Popular dance was not always foreign to jazz.

[Niko]

This clip of Cab Calloway has had to have had an influence on MJ. It's from The Big Broadcast (1932), in which Cab sings about the recreational pleasures of illicit drugs. At 2:20, he begins a dance break that is similar to Michael Jackson —a quarter century before MJ was born. In particular, note Cab's proto-moonwalk.

cool, thanks!

[JSngry]

"All of You" or "Blackbird" by the 1950's band is in a jazz context, with the rhythm section interacting with the soloists and each other; with "Human Nature" or "Time After Time" Miles has the band sound copy the original record as closely as possible while he blows over the top.

Just wondering...if Miles had wanted to copy the "original record" of "All Of You" or "Blackbird"....what would he have used?

Ahmad Jamal

Nicely put!

[JSngry]

Perhaps we jazz lovers can take solace that, even though Michael Jackson's music was not part of the jazz tradition, his showmanship was. Popular dance was not always foreign to jazz.

Are we saying, then, that the "jazz tradition" of which Michael Jackson's music was not a part, is not a part of the African-American popular music tradition, of which Michael Jackson's music surely was a part, or that the "jazz tradition" & the African-American popular music tradition only sometimes intersect?

I guess how you look at that issue (and I take no strong stance either way, since there are no easy answers, perhaps not even any answers, at least not final ones...), might factor into how one looks at the issue of, say, Miles covering something like "Human Nature" in the way that he did it - which to me speaks to Miles positioning himself, in this instance, in the continuum of the "jazz tradition" & the African-American popular music tradition intersecting, or more to the point, not necessarily being all that much different.

[Rooster_Ties]

I'd sorta half count this one as jazz-ish, the one from the funeral...

John Mayer -- Human Nature -- Michael Jackson Memorial Tribute

Tastefully done, I thought.

( And this sounds very much like Miles' arrangement, no? Hadn't really ever heard http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BlKDXmdiUQ, but just did, and it sounds very close to both the tribue, and Miles' version. )

Edited July 13, 2009 by Rooster_Ties