Miles Davis
Somebody who I admire considerably more than somebody whose music I really like. I have about 30 albums but very few really do it for me. For me the great albums of his are:
Birth of the Cool
Kind of Blue (obviously)
Porgy and Bess (but this is more of a Gil Evans album with Davis as an invited soloist)
In a Silent Way
There are a similar number that I quite like (eg l'Ascenseur and Sketches) but nothing that grabs me by the balls.
I find his second Quintet rather unappealing, and the Live at the Plugged Nickel set absolutely baffling. I don't know what's going on.
I don't really get Bitches Brew, his other fusion stuff. His electronic stuff doesn't set me alight.
But he was there, man. He was a leading figure and key influencer. If it happened, it followed him and/or he was in the middle of it. He was extraordinarily prolific and some of his music is phenomenal. He was amazing, even if only a small amount of his work hits me.
His autobiography paints a picture of a man with views on women that are definitely from the past.
What are your thoughts on the cat? Which albums do you like or not?
At least there's one person on Fab who's likely to post here. Sorry if I've bored everybody else. |
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I love jazz and admire his music greatly. I get that Bitches Brew is difficult to listen to but it pushed boundaries. Milestones is probably my second favourite album after A Kind of Blue.
As a man, he had a great chip on his shoulder. He wasn't the black, working class man he wanted to be. His father was a dentist with land! When he went cold turkey, his father locked him up in a cottage on his estate. Hardly the man from the ghetto that he wished he was.
Apologies again for boring anyone!
Mr |
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By *ensualMan
over a year ago
Sutton |
I think he was genius with a phenemonal eye for talent. But in some ways not a nice man.
It always amuses me when people talk about black people having a chip on their shoulder when white people and society put it there. Particularly in his time if you did not accept the colour bar society hammered you. Since he came from a affluent family he knew his worth as a human being and openly did not kow tow.
If you read any history of jazz or music in America, you cannot escape that it was brutally racist and segregated at the time.
But back to his music, I probably only have 10 of his albums and like them all. The first time I heard Bitches Brew I hated it. But I have come to love it.
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"I think he was genius with a phenemonal eye for talent. But in some ways not a nice man.
It always amuses me when people talk about black people having a chip on their shoulder when white people and society put it there. Particularly in his time if you did not accept the colour bar society hammered you. Since he came from a affluent family he knew his worth as a human being and openly did not kow tow.
If you read any history of jazz or music in America, you cannot escape that it was brutally racist and segregated at the time.
But back to his music, I probably only have 10 of his albums and like them all. The first time I heard Bitches Brew I hated it. But I have come to love it.
"
I see what you're saying but Duke Ellington didn't have a chip on his shoulder. Neither did Charlie Parker and he was poor... An addict aged 15.
Anyway probably not the best Fab discussion! |
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"I see what you're saying but Duke Ellington didn't have a chip on his shoulder. Neither did Charlie Parker and he was poor... An addict aged 15.
Anyway probably not the best Fab discussion! "
I don't think they are saying that all black people did have a chip on their shoulder, more that they had good reason to. Davis might have been comfortable financially growing up, but he did suffer discrimination. |
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