Further to the last couple of posts on Miles Davis, here's "It Could Happen to You" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIDVoXfgA1g) from his 1956 album, Relaxin', one of a series of five masterpieces named for gerunds (Walkin', Cookin', Workin', Steamin' being the others) recorded for Prestige Records between 1954 and 1961. These were made with what has become known as his first great quintet (the second great one came about eight years later): John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones, and they've become central as models for small group jazz among educators and musicians. (By the way, Davis made many other albums for Prestige as well, but with the exception of Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet from 1956, not with this particular group.) The track linked above is quite representative of their work, and for Miles' as a soloist in particular. His improvisation starts with many references to the melody, but then it slowly moves into the pure, oblique and spacious originality for which he's famous.

Having mentioned Miles Davis' Kind of Blue yesterday, I started thinking about the great blues tune that it contains called, "Freddie Freeloader", and its unusual, but beautiful chord progression that ends on a bVII7 chord. It also features great solos from all three horn players (Davis, Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly), over a brilliantly swinging groove from Jimmy Cobb and Paul Chambers, and above all a subtle but powerful performance from the pianist Wynton Kelly. It's the only track on the album on which he appears (it's Bill Evans on the rest), but I would guess that more people have heard his performance on this one than on all of his other recordings combined. Which is too bad, because he's made many excellent albums both as a leader and sideman. In fact, it was his abilities as a sideman, his comping skills, for which he was particularly renowned, and you can hear his expertise and taste on this track. Listen to the way he gradually joins in with Davis' solo at 2:15, for an example. And his own solo is perfect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPfFhfSuUZ4

"Miles Davis was never wrong about music." - Keith Jarrett

The Man with the Horn (1981) was Miles Davis' first album in six years, and it's a great one. The opening track, "Fat Time", has a title that I've always found thought-provoking. My interpretation is that it refers to all the possibilities that are available within a jazz groove, including rhythms that are only felt or implied rather than played. Ergo, the time is fat. Hear for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxDq65Wjua8&feature=fvsr

The latter part of Miles career contains many gems like this one, but they require a lot of background work to appreciate. Step one: listening to the recordings made in the early part of his career. Step two: realizing that an artist of his caliber is never going to be content to repeat himself. If we want to listen to Kind of Blue, there's nothing stopping us, but we shouldn't have expected him to record it more than once. Luckily for us, because so much interesting listening resulted (which will take us many years to appreciate and understand), he didn't.

One interesting theory regarding jazz history has it that instrumentalists and composers have alternated in moving the music forward. It goes something like this: In the twenties, it was an instrumentalist (Louis Armstrong); in the thirties, a composer (Duke Ellington); in the forties, another instrumentalist (Charlie Parker); in the fifties, a composer (Thelonius Monk and/or Miles Davis - take your pick); in the sixties, an instrumentalist (John Coltrane); in the seventies, a composer (Charles Mingus, although he started much earlier). It's an oversimplification obviously, but it is an interesting one. In rock and roll's formative decade, the most important composer (songwriter, if you prefer) was also the most important instrumentalist: Chuck Berry. Yesterday, I wrote a little about his lyrics, today his contributions to the guitar.
Chuck Berry is rock and roll guitar. Every rock guitarist must come to an understanding of the way he plays to have any authenticity in their sound. The deeper they go into his work, the more successful they become. (Yesterday, I mentioned that neither the Beatles or Stones would have existed without him - I forgot to mention The Beach Boys.) It is fascinating to listen to early Berry recordings because he is so far ahead of his band rhythmically. You can often hear them learning as the song goes along. (Part of the reason for this is how each player interprets the three vs. two of blues, jazz or rock - more on that to come - but essentially Berry was a few years ahead of his band at this point.) His rhythm playing is the quintessential sound of rock and roll. His introductions were (and are) amazing in their power and originality. His solos had all the wit, excitement and intelligence of his performing. But perhaps most importantly, he also showed, definitively, that the way forward for rock was to be found in studying and extrapolating from the blues. As a matter of fact, with retrospect, it's probably appropriate that his work be considered alongside (I mean equal to) the blues in its importance to and influence on rock and roll.