NorioDS
Can anyone recommend his best album? I'm very into best-of albums and then I work my way deeper into a muso if I like what I hear.
I've been disappointed with the Miles Davis tracks I've heard because of the recording quality so anything in his later years or that was re-mastered would be great ?
AlanRatcliffe
Bitches Brew is the seminal Miles album. Some very tasty guitaring by a very young John McLaughlin. Newer stuff or a "best of" - I don't know...
Matt-White
I agree on Bitches Brew. It had a great influence on a lot of musos and is a landmark crossover album between jazz and rock. That, and his work with Coltrane, just blows me away! Like on Kind of Blue, for example. Reckoned as one of the greatest jazz albums of all time. Voted Nr. 12 by Rolling Stone on their list of 100 greatest albums of all time.
Davis went, like a painter, through many different periods. So, you sort of have to know what you're looking for. Therefore some compilations are better that others.
I've got a great Best of... which includes a DVD with a documentary on the man. A double bill, if you like. Really worth it. Will check out at home what its called, if you like, and send you its details.
Also, check out the man's impressive biog and discography on: www.milesdavis.com
This, for example comes from the site, from the liner notes of the anniversary edition of Kind of Blue:
“Beyond jazz, Kind of Blue’s long-term influence has been enormous: Beginning with the Byrds, the Doors, Carlos Santana, and the Allman Brothers, most rock improvisation has been modal. What Davis did in 1959 (and what Coltrane did subsequently, by introducing non-Western scales) helped set the stage for minimalist composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass. And if a certain horn riff on recent hits by Amy Winehouse and Christina Aguilera strikes you as familiar, that’s because their producer Mark Ronson borrowed it from James Brown’s 1967 hit ‘Cold Sweat’ – a riff that the tune’s composer, Pee Wee Ellis, freely admits to lifting from ‘So What’.”
NorioDS
Matt, I'd love to get the details of that DVD from you!
Renesongs
Miles was a man of many faces out of his earlier works the album "Kind of Blue" is outstanding, every track is a masterpiece.
Of his more contemporary albums "Amandla" and "Doo Bop" are both excellent
Edit I hadn't seen Matt's post - so there you have it "Kind of Blue" x 2
Matt-White
Here you are:
http://www.kalahari.net/music/Miles-Davis-Story/19738/26222233.aspx
Thats the DVD/Documentary: [b]The Miles Davis Story[/b]. It's a great audiovisual introduction into his life and different periods.
I bought it as a box set with the CD ''The Essential Miles Davis'' - the double set has the same cover as this DVD. Was a local product, so not too expensive, if I remember correctly.
Matt-White
Renesongs wrote:
Miles was a man of many faces out of his earlier works the album "Kind of Blue" is outstanding, every track is a masterpiece.
Got the vinyl in a second hand store the other day to put next to the CD!
NorioDS
Nice! Thanks guys ?
arjunmenon
+1 with Alan. Bitches brew is fantastic.
NorioDS
OK, so I'm listening to Bitches Brew and I like it but I think it'll take me some to come to full appreciate it.
What kind of Jazz is this? Does it have it's own name?
I also have an album (from eMusic.com) called "The Very Best of Smooth Jazz Guitar" and I LOVE that. Is that it's own genre of Jazz? "Smooth Jazz"?
If so, who can I check out? I'd be interested in Guitar & Saxophone mianly.
Guy-Onraet
smooth jazz? ? Larry Carlton is probably a good place to start.
Squonk
Norio
Lee Ritenour - most probably the easiest to listen to, I would start with him,
I picked up DVD called Overtime, it's in the studio concert that he did with all the musicians that have worked with him.
Dave Grusin, Patrice Rushen, Harvey Mason, Alex Acuna, Chris Botti, Anthony Jackson, Melvin Lee Davis, and Ernie Watts, The musicianship is outstanding and he plays very smoothly, also does acoustic and nylon.
Another good Album is "Alive in LA"
Easy to start with Lee because it is that dinner in the resturant kind of music.
Larry Carlton also very good.
NorioDS
Funny! Both of those guys are on this best-of album! Methinks I'm gonna make a mission and get at least one album from each player on this thing and I should be set. Thanks guys ?
I hope one day to open a Jazzy place where people can come to sit and enjoy some good ole smooth jazz and blues.
Renesongs
Bitches Brew is a masterpiece in the Jazz-Rock Fusion Genre and it is a little on the esoteric side and not easily accessable to the uninitiated. I would start off with Larry Carlton's Album "Last night" and for sax Wayne Shorter's "Schizophrenia" another good transition between rock and Jazz is Carlos Santana's "Caravanserai"
NorioDS
Thanks Rene ? I found that I could enjoy Bitches Brew with the volume soft but if it's loud, it's too much for my brain to cope with ?
Same thing happened with Joe Satriani in the beginning, so I'm sure my mind will expand and I'll manage ?
