Live Evil by Miles Davis

[JSngry]

5 hours ago, danasgoodstuff said:

On the Corner was the biggest WTF for me in that period.  I wouldn't say I disliked it, just couldn't even begin to process it to form an opinion. 

I daresay you're in the majority on that one, at least from people who heard it in real time. It took me a good 5-6 years for the cloud to even begin to lift, and that was only because I walked into a party where it was being played really loud on a really good hi-fi (or "system" as we used to call them back in those gentler, higher times). Hearing all the percussion clearly and starting to here the studio constructions (namely the loops), that was like OHHHHHHH....and then it was a matter of listening to the middle of the music instead of the top and/or bottom.

Of course, my source before actually getting the LP was a truck-stop bootleg 8-Track, so maybe I was starting at a natural disadvantage.

Anyway, once the cloud lifted, the thing came into focus, and still continues to reveal it's delights. Especially those sleigh bells. EVERYTHING sounds better with sleigh bells.

 

Sleigh bells and handclaps, of which this one also has plenty!

[Late]

I'm contemplating a Miles Davis 1968-1975 close-listening marathon. All the official studio and live albums plus the "complete" box sets (In A Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson, On The Corner) PLUS the sanctioned bootleg series sets (minus Newport and "Freedom Jazz Dance"). I would like to add the real bootlegs, but that might be too much, plus I don't have that many. It's going to take some time. I started yesterday with Miles In The Sky. What a brilliant record. I wonder how George Benson felt to be playing on (part of) it. The opener ("Stuff," minus Benson) is fantastic, despite Miles and Wayne not always playing the melody together. For some reason I've always played this album more than the next, Filles de Kilimanjaro, which is a heavy record. Gonna spend some time with that one. But first, the stuff with Jeff Beck ...

Oh, didn't mean to leave out the Cellar Door set—that's how this post fits into this thread! 

[jazzbo]

Damn autocorrect. I bet you meant Joe Beck.

[Late]

9 hours ago, jazzbo said:

Damn autocorrect. I bet you meant Joe Beck.

Ha! I did indeed. I wish Miles (or Teo) had focused on the "Circle In The Round" work just a little more and edited it into a 33 1/3 record back in the day. Regardless, a great tune. Herbie plays celeste (if I'm not mistaken), and I often confuse it for vibes at first ("Hey, Miles got Bobby Hutcherson on the session. What a great idea!") I profess to not reading up on Joe Beck.

Edited April 6, 2022 by Late
not enough coffee

[felser]

Joe Beck had a ton of talent and never seemed to know quite what to do with it.  Akin to Larry Coryell in many ways.

[JSngry]

He knew enough to produce a hit record for Esther Phillips!

And his playing on Richard Davis's Song For Wounded Knee is something else. And something altogether different.

 

[felser]

On 4/6/2022 at 11:17 AM, JSngry said:

He knew enough to produce a hit record for Esther Phillips!

And his playing on Richard Davis's Song For Wounded Knee is something else. And something altogether different.

 

Dude could play, for sure.  His studio sideman work ranged from James Brown to Gato Barbieri.

[Eric]

On 4/6/2022 at 11:19 PM, Late said:

I'm contemplating a Miles Davis 1968-1975 close-listening marathon. All the official studio and live albums plus the "complete" box sets (In A Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson, On The Corner) PLUS the sanctioned bootleg series sets (minus Newport and "Freedom Jazz Dance"). I would like to add the real bootlegs, but that might be too much, plus I don't have that many. It's going to take some time. I started yesterday with Miles In The Sky. What a brilliant record. I wonder how George Benson felt to be playing on (part of) it. The opener ("Stuff," minus Benson) is fantastic, despite Miles and Wayne not always playing the melody together. For some reason I've always played this album more than the next, Filles de Kilimanjaro, which is a heavy record. Gonna spend some time with that one. But first, the stuff with Jeff Beck ...

Oh, didn't mean to leave out the Cellar Door set—that's how this post fits into this thread! 

I found this to be a priceless guide to working through this period:

https://www.amazon.com/Miles-Beyond-Electric-Explorations-1967-1991/dp/0823083462/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36D2EOP8JKOUV&keywords=miles+beyond+paul+tingen&qid=1649454265&sprefix=paul+tingen%2Caps%2C70&sr=8-1

[JSngry]

That Tingen book is on the money far more often that not, imo.

[felser]

I have the Tingen book, glad to own it.

[Guy Berger]

On 4/2/2022 at 0:25 PM, danasgoodstuff said:

On the Corner was the biggest WTF for me in that period.  I wouldn't say I disliked it, just couldn't even begin to process it to form an opinion.  Big Fun was a relief after that.  Get Up With It has some great moments and a lot of variety.

On the Corner is for me the most successful of the 3 post-Jack Johnson studio albums - it feels like less of a mishmash than Big Fun or Get Up With It - a unified, intense musical vision.

On 4/6/2022 at 7:06 AM, Late said:

Ha! I did indeed. I wish Miles (or Teo) had focused on the "Circle In The Round" work just a little more and edited it into a 33 1/3 record back in the day. Regardless, a great tune. Herbie plays celeste (if I'm not mistaken), and I often confuse it for vibes at first ("Hey, Miles got Bobby Hutcherson on the session. What a great idea!") I profess to not reading up on Joe Beck.

I agree it's a great tune (and there are great solos too), too bad it runs way too long.

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

That Tingen book is on the money far more often that not, imo.

It's a worthwhile book to read.  I have some quibbles with what he considers to be a successful recordings (he's way too negative on "Pharaoh's Dance" and "Mademoiselle Mabry" which IMHO on masterpieces) and the focus on zen stuff is distracting and unnecessary, but it's better than Carr or Chambers for sure.  (I haven't read Szwed.)

[JSngry]

Enrico Merlin is the guy who really got inside the real-time systems of that music. I thought that his name was a pseudonym for Bob Belden, but when I asked Bob about that, he assured me that Enrico Merlin was a real person named Enrico Merlin, and it turns out that he was/is  And Bob totally vouched for the veracity of his insights.

As far as I'm concerned, he must have some deep inside knowledge of how that band worked, because it's very inside shit, but it stands up under scrutiny, if you ask me 

 

[Guy Berger]

18 hours ago, JSngry said:

Enrico Merlin is the guy who really got inside the real-time systems of that music. I thought that his name was a pseudonym for Bob Belden, but when I asked Bob about that, he assured me that Enrico Merlin was a real person named Enrico Merlin, and it turns out that he was/is  And Bob totally vouched for the veracity of his insights.

As far as I'm concerned, he must have some deep inside knowledge of how that band worked, because it's very inside shit, but it stands up under scrutiny, if you ask me 

 

100%

[Late]

I often come back to the Tanglewood performance.

[Gheorghe]

I still have the old cover with that pop art like on Bitches Brew and might spin it again. There were also some short studio pieces on it, and one of the surprises was that he used Ron Carter again for a kind of ballad I think that it was titled "Little Church". 

And the strong Keith Jarrett on it. This was the first time I had heard the name Keith Jarrett and when he came to Viena in 1975 I had thought that might be some funky stuff. 

I think Steve Grossman was on sax on the tour band 1971. 

I think on the last piece there was a man´s voice who made some statements.......

Anyway you know how that went. We all bought the next Miles album. Bitches Brews, then Live Evil, then On the Corner and the live thing "In Concert 1972", then the "Get Up with it" and "Big Fun" (of lesser interest with the exception of Ife") , and "Jack Johnson" was lesser known, but really strong and fine...

So I wouldn´t say I am a collector, but I was there when those albums came out and were bought, listened to and discussed .....

[jazzbo]

Those short studio pieces were where I first encountered Hermeto Pascoal and eventually I followed his music and became a fan of Brazilian music, both as wild as his and the Bossa Nova that preceded it.

[Clunky]

I've been listening to a lot early-late Miles (i.e. 68-75) and I find it uniformly interesting. I'd agree that Big Fun and GIWI are bit random in their programming and coherence but I like them fine just as they are. OTC is astonishingly different and sounds advanced even for 2022. The only thing I'm less convinced by is the use of sitar on In Concert. I've not had that  disc too long so it may gel yet. I'd be all over any Sony Bootleg edition from any of this period. 

[Late]

5 hours ago, jazzbo said:

Those short studio pieces were where I first encountered Hermeto Pascoal ...

Same. My way in to Brazilian music came through Jorge Ben's early records.

(Really looking forward to the upcoming reissue of Pascoal's Hermeto, originally on Cobblestone.)

[Late]

Stockholm, 1973

[Rooster_Ties]

5 hours ago, Late said:

Stockholm, 1973

Beautiful footage!! Sharp color, multi-camera, with slower fades between cuts. Very nice!!

(Same thing, just trying to post it as an embedded video, for easier viewing.)

[Late]

Liebman really shines on that gig. Miles looks like he's looking for something that the band isn't quite giving him. Regardless, that 1973 unit was pretty tight. I do kinda wish that there was a keyboard in the mix, but I understand that Miles was moving away from that instrument during this period.

After Liebman left, the emphasis moved solidly to the guitars. Not a bad thing, just what it was.

[Gheorghe]

On 1.7.2022 at 9:37 PM, Late said:

Liebman really shines on that gig. Miles looks like he's looking for something that the band isn't quite giving him. Regardless, that 1973 unit was pretty tight. I do kinda wish that there was a keyboard in the mix, but I understand that Miles was moving away from that instrument during this period.

After Liebman left, the emphasis moved solidly to the guitars. Not a bad thing, just what it was.

Liebman was fantastic and one of the first great saxophonists I saw live and bought his DrumOder and Lookout-Farm, by the way the only ECM albums I purchased in my live. 

I think that was the tour of autumn 1973, when they did also Stadthalle Vienna . Keyboard........well Miles played just fine chords on Organ, it can be witnessed on "Dark Magus". In general I´m not a keyboard (synthi) freak, for example I liked the comeback band in 1981 when they still had no keyboard, well I saw Miles doin some chords on organ all the time. 
The only keyboard player I finally liked was Japanese Kei Akagi, since he seemed to be a pianist and think as a pianist even on those 80´s keyboards. He played fantastic solos in that last band or so.