Miles Davis: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7

[Face of the Bass]

Miles's 1980s music is bad. Every time I give it a try it disappoints me. They really, really, really need to release a set around the Cosey band. It's criminal that they haven't done so. Don't tell me that it's too uncompromising. A lot of people love that music. 

[AllenLowe]

there are some interesting moments in those Miles years, but truthfully I felt a lot of the music was lazily constructed. It's really quite easy to assemble those kind of sounds.

[jazzbo]

I honestly begin to think that the estate is holding that up and favoring 80s music.  And because there's some family in the 80s music may be why. Not too sure how many more volumes we can expect, but I hope if there is one more it will have the 1975 Japanese concerts.

Edited June 13, 2022 by jazzbo

[JSngry]

20 minutes ago, AllenLowe said:

there are some interesting moments in those Miles years, but truthfully I felt a lot of the music was lazily constructed. It's really quite easy to assemble those kind of sounds.

"those kind of sounds"....what does that mean exactly?

Those later Miles bands were expertly constructed, actually. Arcs, textural developments, rhythmic finesse and colors, you name it, they knew exactly what they were doing and although Miles probably didn't give them the specifics, you can bet - and the players will speak to it to this day - he was guiding the whole thing.

 

[AllenLowe]

47 minutes ago, JSngry said:

"those kind of sounds"....what does that mean exactly?

Those later Miles bands were expertly constructed, actually. Arcs, textural developments, rhythmic finesse and colors, you name it, they knew exactly what they were doing and although Miles probably didn't give them the specifics, you can bet - and the players will speak to it to this day - he was guiding the whole thing.

 

well, I don't want to get into a protracted back and forth, but to my ears it's mostly electronic textures and sonic layering; I hear the whole as being less than the sum of its parts. But I find that electronics create their own atmosphere, and I've put together some musical collages with wave forms, and it was shockingly easy to sound deep and complex.

Edited June 13, 2022 by AllenLowe

[JSngry]

Ok... that's not at all what was going on in that music, but as you describe it, yes, that's really easy to do 

[Gheorghe]

From the 80´s stuff I like "We Want Miles" most since you hear a band workin at Miles played a lot of open horn on those, I think most from Kix and Kool. But later that year he played to much muted solos and it´s hard to hear him. 
The Band of the first part of 1983 still was great , when Mike Stern still was there. Scofield as much as many like him more than Stern, he had a tendence to play more laid back and I liked  more the wild rough thing Mike Stern did. 
When Miles played some keyboard I like it more than Robert IrvingIII, since Miles had that specific Milesian chords. 
After that, it started to bore me. For some years always the same things, that "New Blues", that "Time after Time" and "Human Nature". 
I think the last time I saw him live there was a bit more music you can improvise on, and Kei Akagi was a hell of a keyboard player since he was not only a background role, he could really "blow" on solos, a very good choice. 
When I heard Miles for the first time after his 5 years hiatus it was very exiting, but then it started to become a parody. And I don´t know who made Miles outfit, but it somehow became a parody of himself. Those wide trousers make him look even shorter than he is, and that artificial "afro" where he looks like a king-poodle also looks funny......
When he came back in 1981 they told he was quite sick, but he looked more handsome and played more than later in the 80´s ......

[Harbour]

This got posted to YouTube yesterday by Columbia, I assume it’s a taster from the new series? Not doing that much for me, not sure a fairly anaemic cover of the Tina classic is gonna get anyone too excited!

 

Edited June 17, 2022 by Harbour
Info

[jazzbo]

https://www.jazzwise.com/news/article/new-miles-davis-bootleg-series-triple-album-to-be-released#.Yqx8wZiNuz0.twitter 

https://milesdavis.lnk.to/Bootleg7PR

[barnaba.siegel]

On 10.06.2022 at 8:40 AM, Gheorghe said:

On the other hand, I like the 1972 concert, it´s a live version of the stuff he did on "On the Corner" and is that different style he had then, more with some indian instruments as there was Badal Roy I think, and some Harakrischna or Balakrischna on an electric sitar I think. 

The year 1973 was just the beginning of how about the band with Dave Liebman, Al Foster, M´tume, Pete Cosey and Mike Henderson sounded until his semiretirement in late 1975. Fast funk tune at the beginning, a slower passage with Lieb on Flute "Ife", and some other that you also hear on Dark Magus, Agharta and Pangheea.  
It was the band that was in Viena at Stadthalle in November 1973. Miles was my idol then, the music of course, but as is the case with a 14 year old boy, you want to do everything your idol does: When I spotted that he drank a certain brand of beer on stage (Brau AG) I had to have also that beer instead of the usual "Schwechater" or "Gösser" here in Austria. I also wanted to have such big sunglasses and be "cool" or even "nasty"...., and I let my anyway kinky hair grove so it might look a bit like an "afro"....

I heard an unofficial tape of Miles the same year 1973 in Berlin, also a few days after Viena and it sounds very similar to Viena, same tunes..... 

Dark Magus from 1974 is the best presentation of the band with another idol of mine "Dave Liebman". 

I heard something about that 1978 session, but since Miles is not on tp I´m not really interested. I only saw some session photos and was shocket to see how fat Miles was on it. Maybe it was wrong medication for the hip and wrist ailments he had, and too much beer......when he got back in 1981 he again looked smart on stage....ds

Too bad Miles didn´t tour exactly during the time I would have "needed" it most, I mean from 1976-1980, when I was at hi school or early student with more leasure time to travel to spots....

You were so lucky to see those cats in a gig! I could only imagine the tension and great loudness.

About "In Philharmonics" - I could never listen to this album at whole. I guess it's not the playing, but more the audio quality. I always wanted to hear this electric sitar, but all music blends together too much... (i've got a classic Columbia CD and the japan Mastersound). But maybe it was also a transitional sound between the Jarrett-Bartz band and a funky 1973 unit.

 

On 13.06.2022 at 10:36 PM, jazzbo said:

I honestly begin to think that the estate is holding that up and favoring 80s music.  And because there's some family in the 80s music may be why. Not too sure how many more volumes we can expect, but I hope if there is one more it will have the 1975 Japanese concerts.

Yeah, I do think so. The majority players from 80's band are still alive and kickin, Miles become a celebrity apart from the music world during that decade - not to mention this music is less demanding if we're speaking about it's promotion (or a cover bands).

Edited June 17, 2022 by barnaba.siegel

[JSngry]

7 hours ago, Harbour said:

This got posted to YouTube yesterday by Columbia, I assume it’s a taster from the new series? Not doing that much for me, not sure a fairly anaemic cover of the Tina classic is gonna get anyone too excited!

 

Yeah...a track like this belongs in a This Is Why You Need Marcus Miller  boxset. 

[Rooster_Ties]

30 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Yeah...a track like this belongs in a This Is Why You Need Marcus Miller  boxset. 

 Too true!!!

[JSngry]

Hey... 

[Rooster_Ties]

I wouldn’t go so far as to call it half-baked — but I’m not sure it’s more than about 60% baked.

But as a ‘sketch’ of what could have been, it’s not entirely atrocious or anything.

[JSngry]

It's weak. And it should have stayed in the can, period. That it's being used as the lead cut for this release lends credence to Lon's suspicions, imo. If that's the best they got .. 

And I am totally serious about Marcus Miller, as both bassist and producer. Whatever one thinks of his work, one dismisses his very real (and pretty broad/deep) skill set at the risk of a fool being made. 

[Rooster_Ties]

Sketches of Tina?

[Eric]

Picked this up at Record Store Day.  I am lukewarm on 80s Miles, more so in the later years.  But this is pretty decent, enjoyable to listen to.  You definitely get the sense the band is stronger live than in studio.  Miles sounds pretty good, open horn on the sides I have listened to.  John Scofield is also here, so if you like him (I do) that is a nice bonus.  Well recorded, fun to play loud, has some punch.  There are the synth florishes, but I can ignore.

 

Edited June 18, 2022 by Eric

[sidewinder]

Yes, I’m spinning it too. This is a good live performance by this band - and in decent sound too. Must have been good to witness it. I’ve been in that Montreal theatre and it is a lovely concert venue.

Some good playing by Bill Evans - that flute feature on side D is almost Sonny Fortune-ish, in a sort of Agharta throwback as the tempo is dropped towards the end of the performance. Otherwise though, the influences of the time, the MTV era, dominate.

Miles’ (very good) open horn solo on the second track on side B reminds me of the blues solo he did on the ‘Big Fun’ album. More ‘70s continuity than expected !

Edited June 18, 2022 by sidewinder

[BFrank]

The only time I saw Miles was in 81 & 82, but I never bought any of the 80s albums. I might get this one. If for no other reason than I have all the other 'Bootleg' series sets.

This is a photo I took at the 82 show at Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley

[felser]

15 hours ago, BFrank said:

I never bought any of the 80s albums. I might get this one. If for no other reason than I have all the other 'Bootleg' series sets.

The curse of the collector.  I feel a pull toward the set for the same reason, even though I have virtually no interest in the music.   And it has caused me to buy some 50's/60's/70's Blue Notes, etc., I can't imagine ever actually playing again.

Edited June 19, 2022 by felser

[kh1958]

When I went in the late afternoon, Josey records still had about ten copies or so. They sold me one.

[T.D.]

8 hours ago, Eric said:

Picked this up at Record Store Day.  I am lukewarm on 80s Miles, more so in the later years.  But this is pretty decent, enjoyable to listen to.  You definitely get the sense the band is stronger live than in studio.  Miles sounds pretty good, open horn on the sides I have listened to.  John Scofield is also here, so if you like him (I do) that is a nice bonus.  Well recorded, fun to play loud, has some punch.  There are the synth florishes, but I can ignore.

 

OMG, that cover looks kinda Sun Ra Arkestra-ish...

[BFrank]

2 hours ago, felser said:

The curse of the collector.  I feel a pull toward the set for the same reason, even though I have virtually on interest in the music.   And it has caused me to buy some 50's/60's/70's Blue Notes, etc., I can't imagine ever actually playing again.

Well, there's THAT too! 

[ghost of miles]

Sony press release:

The latest chapter in Columbia/Legacy's acclaimed Miles Davis Bootleg Series shines a fresh light on an underrated period of the musician's restless career-spanning quest for sublime and transcendent sounds.  The 3CD set includes two discs of previously unreleased studio material - from the Star People, Decoy and You're Under Arrest sessions - and a third disc showcasing Miles Davis Live in Montreal on July 7, 1983.  The collection comes in a slipcase with individual album mini-jackets and a booklet featuring liner notes by Marcus J. Moore and revelatory new interviews with Miles' 80's players including Vince Wilburn, Jr. (drummer and bandmate), John Scofield (electric guitarist), Darryl Jones (bassist), Marcus Miller (bassist) and Mike Stern (guitarist). 

 

Eight of the ten tracks on CD 1 of Miles Davis - That's What Happened 1982-1985: The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 are unreleased studio tracks from the sessions that resulted in 1983's Star People. The second studio album released after Miles' six-year hiatus from recordings and performing, Star People was the artist's last to feature the studio wizardry of Miles' longtime producer Teo Macero. Musicians include J.J. Johnson (trombone), Bill Evans (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone), Mike Stern (guitar), John Scofield (guitar), Marcus Miller (electric bass), Al Foster (drums) and Mino Cinélu (percussion) with Miles doubling on trumpet and keyboards (without overdubs). CD1's other two tracks - "Freaky Deaky, Part 1" and "Freaky Deaky, Part 2" - were produced by Miles Davis (trumpet and keyboards) and feature John Scofield (guitar), Darryl Jones (electric bass), Robert Irving III (Linn Drum programming) and Mino Cinélu (percussion). Recorded June 30, 1983 at A&R Studios in New York during the Decoy sessions, this previously unreleased cassette recording comes from the collection of John Scofield. 

 

The second CD of Miles Davis - That's What Happened 1982-1985: The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 contains unreleased studio recordings from the sessions that gave us 1985's You're Under Arrest. Produced by Miles Davis and Robert Irving III, You're Under Arrest reflected Miles' polarity of passions, from politics to pop music; among its achievements, the album transformed then-contemporary hits like Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" and Michael Jackson's "Human Nature" into abiding jazz standards. Musicians include Miles (trumpet), Bob Berg (soprano saxophone), John Scofield (guitar), Robert Irving III (keyboards), Darryl Jones (electric bass), Al Foster (drums), Vince Wilburn, Jr. (drums, drum programming, percussion), Steve Thornton (percussion) and John McLaughlin (guitar on "Katia [full session]"). The previously unreleased recordings in this set were mixed by Steve Berkowitz and Dave Darlington in 2022 at Bass Hit Recording, NYC.

 

Disc 3 of Miles Davis - That's What Happened 1982-1985: The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 features Miles Davis Live at the Theatre St. Denis in Montreal, Canada on July 7, 1983. The set is being released for the first time as a 2LP 12" vinyl title, Miles Davis - What It Is: Montreal 7/7/83, for Record Store Day 2022. The recording showcases one of Miles Davis' final great bands including John Scofield on guitar, Bill "The Other Bill Evans" Evans on saxophones, flute and electric piano, Darryl Jones on bass, Al Foster on drums and percussionist Mino Cinélu. What It Is: Montreal 7/7/83 features liner notes penned by the incomparable music journalist Greg Tate, who passed away on December 7, 2021. One of Tate's final pieces, the essay provides insight into Davis' process and psyche: "Asked in the 1980s why he changed his music so many times, Miles replied 'You don't change music, music changes you.' He also stridently stated: 'You don't play what the critics tell you to play, you play what your body tells you to play.'"

 

Miles Davis - That's What Happened 1982-1985: The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 was produced by the multi-Grammy winning team of producers Steve Berkowitz, Michael Cuscuna and Richard Seidel and mastered by multi-Grammy winning Sony Music engineer Mark Wilder. The set is authorized for official release by the Miles Davis Estate and Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings.

[GA Russell]

 

Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings Set to Release Miles Davis - That's What Happened 1982-1985: The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 on Friday, September 16 3CD Box Set Collection includes Two Discs of Previously Unreleased Studio Sessions plus 'Miles Davis - Live in Montreal July 7, 1983'   "What's Love Got To Do With It" - Available For Airplay Now!     Find Miles Davis Online: www.milesdavis.com www.legacyrecordings.com

Edited June 20, 2022 by GA Russell