If you really want to understand what made Miles unique I would skip the rest and jump straight to the Fusion period. Notably missing in the write-up are two incredible live performances: Dark Magus and Live Evil.
A personal favorite of mine is 'What I Say (Live)' off of 'Live Evil. That bass line is the foundation for a lot of my own playing and Keith Jarrett is on FIRE in this performance. It's a shame that his Miles performances are the only ones where we got to hear him in this idiom.
I'm also a huge fan of 'In a Silent Way' and 'On the Corner'. I suppose my fav Mile's records are the ones where he was really pushing the boundaries of music. It reminds me of the tag that started appearing on his record around the era of 'In a Silent Way': "Directions in music by Miles Davis."
Edit: Wow. The reviewer really just skipped right over these two records. I guess they're probably niche for most people. That's too bad, cause they're the most bombastic records in his catalog and really highlight his range and the depths of his innovations. Oh well.
You might like Richard Bona and Linley Marthe, both of whom played with Joe Zawinul's Syndicate project. They both have that similar kind of solid tone.
- https://youtu.be/c4zNb01nA_A - https://youtu.be/ppNFJbMrOHw
I forget who, but one of the 'Dark Magus' era players is on record describing how Miles would just throw in some wildcard players to keep everyone fresh and on their toes. I believe 'Dark Magus' itself features two players who had not played with Miles prior that gig and didn't know each other. Imagine that! Your first time (ever) playing with Miles is on stage at Carnegie Hall with a band who's never played with you. Talk about trial by fire.
Man, I love that live, and all the music from that period of Miles' career.
On The Corner is one of my favorite albums of all time.
That’s the art of arranging music. You can write a good song and you can perform it well, but an arranger who knows how to blend the colors of sound will make you feel it in a tactile way. It’s probably the aspect of music that feels most like cooking to me: It’s like having a savory base with an acidic note that cuts across everything. Control of musical texture is so broad and rewarding when you stumble on something exciting and “right”.
Miles’ fusion period is by far his most interesting work.
His 50's-60's work was genius, but is still an easily accessible language, even to non-jazz folks. His later output, by contrast, is a language that was never quite-this or quite-that. It never popularized, and will seem rather bizarre to most people even today.
By contrast, any of his quintet performances is easily recognized as "jazz", even to people who don't listen to jazz.
BB will be more like "what am I listening to??"
Do you disagree?
I love hearing John McLaughlin tell Miles stories - he has so much respect and gratitude for him.
BB, In a Silent Way and Kind of Blue are probably my favourite Miles records, he really managed to reinvent the art form more times than many other people I can think of
Zawinul got his start with Cannonball Alderly, and one of his early compositions (Mercy Mercy Mercy) has big fusion vibes to it.
Hancock is just a Miles level genius. My piano teacher told me something like "I can play at Herbie's standard for a 5 minute stretch, but watching him keep at it for 90 minutes solid ..."
McLachlin is a hippie who cut his teeth on the late 60s modal/fusion scene.
In a Silent Way is my favourite jazz album ever. I think the history was they did Bitches Brew, then after that straightened that approach out a bit to make something more accessible.
Timeline on those albums - I think it happened the other way around actually - In A Silent Way was Miles’ first foray into electric jazz in 1969 - Bitches Brew came soon after in 1970 and was pushing the boundaries further. Both great albums, every single player on those albums is great. Miles sure could pick the best for his bands and make it gel together.
Herbie is without a doubt one of the giants. Listened to the Headhunters era albums probably more than any other records in my life. Killer. Love his earlier jazz stuff too, and the acoustic albums he put out later (Joni covers etc)