Miles Davis got his first record deal in 1950, soon after he and Art Blakey got picked up at LAX airport for heroin possession charges. … Read More “Miles Davis Quintet: The Legendary Prestige Quintet Recordings (Craft)”
Jazz is a music of ensembles working toward a shared common goal through improvisatory avenues, but it is most special when focused on partnerships. Bird … Read More “Miles Davis & John Coltrane: The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6 (Columbia/Legacy)”
Miles Davis’ haunting rasp “Teo … play that … Teo … Teo … Teo … Teo … play that,” closing “Gingerbread Boy” on your worn-out … Read More “Miles Davis Quintet: Freedom Jazz Dance: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 5”
Extras include insight-filled featurettes
Enjoyable as it is, the soundtrack album for Don Cheadle’s quasi-biopic Miles Ahead prompts a query common to such releases: For whom, other than completists, … Read More “Miles Davis/Various Artists: Miles Ahead: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack”
A bizarre action-movie narrative derails Don Cheadle’s long-anticipated jazz flick
Even the most special, consistent performers can have venues where they grab a kind of inspired toehold and secure that next level. For an athlete … Read More “Miles Davis: Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4”
When discussing jazz’s great pianists, Red Garland usually gets mentioned late in the conversation, if at all. Despite his centrality to the first great Miles … Read More “Red Garland Trio: Swingin’ on the Korner: Live at Keystone Korner”
With Eclectic, Mike Stern and Eric Johnson, two guitar giants famed for their prodigious, often fiery technique, deliver a duet album that exhibits such a … Read More “Eric Johnson/Mike Stern: Eclectic”
Miles Davis’ late 1960s and early 1970s live electric music always had a physicality to it, a heft that could make it feel as though … Read More “Miles Davis: Miles at the Fillmore–Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3”
