Greatness attract Greatness.
Miles Davis is one of the most influential musicians of modern time and quite possibly of all time too. Being great on himself, few musicians that played, collaborated, jam and recorded with him became great musicians and legends themselves.
Miles while artistic throughout, kept reinventing himself too. Bebop, Cool Jazz, Modal Jazz and Jazz Fusion were tried, tested and performed fearlessly. He is a risk taker, he must be, as he kept trying something new and different, his vision for music was one of a kind, by doing so, he inspired many musicians beyond jazz.
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (1959)
Recorded at Columbia 30th Street Studio ("The Church"), this was known for its warm and natural reverb. it was Armenian Church converted for Studio Recordings in New York City.
This album used very minimal of artificial EQ and Reverb. Fred Plaut the Engineer known used 8 mics carefully placed to ensure clarity while maintaining live feel in a natural acoustics space.
Miles provided only basic sketches, simple modal scales and general instructions for the musicians to be creative, fresh and spontaneous during recordings. The tracks on the album were first or second takes, it preserved the rawness and organic feel of performances. No post production editing, No overdubbing and finally the album recorded live in studio for just two sessions.
That combination was revolutionary at the time and it does give way to many of great jazz album in 1960s.
Whenever i listened to Kind of Blue, i felt it's super coolness, it's the freedom of expression and finally it's depth. I listened to it at least once every month to remind me of musical piece's and performance's greatness.
The Test
So What - Paul Chambers's Bass and Bill Evans's Piano opening set the mood of the track, while Jimmy Cobb riding on the Cymbals effortlessly setting it for Miles to comes in with his signature cool and minimalistic style with Bill Evans's Piano in the background.
The way Miles explored the track with uses of space and phrasing, with each note placed deliberately drawing the listeners in. John Coltrane's aggresive, complex and exploratory with his long cascading lines intensely. Cannonball Adderley's warmth, bluesy an soulful with swings and rhythmitic phrases in joyful and expressiveness. Bill Evans's melodic subtle while impressionistic touch of Piano with solo offers a deep introspective harmony. Jimmy Cobb's laid back swing and cool cymbals with Paul Chambers's grounding the track with his cool Bass to complete a floating, hypnotic feel of the solos. In a great audio system, So What has to feel dynamic, raw, in sync, high contrast and ultimately flows effortlessly in the room to present the essence of the ultimate jazz coolness.
Flamenco Sketches - an example of total freedom for expressions, where Miles let each player explore the track freely and choose how long to linger in each one. It is the most free flowing tracks on the Album. Miles first solo, set the mindfulness tone, using his signature use of space and silence gives every note it's weight. Paul Chambers's provide the subtle foundation to this track, guiding the harmony with his resonant upright bass while Jimmy Cobb's Drum brushes giving a soft, flowing rhythm that never overpowers. John Coltrane's played with much deep of intensity signature followed by Cannonball Adderley's solo in fluid, expressive and again bluesy phrasing. Bill Evans's delicate, impressionistic chords and expression shape the atmospheric mood, and his final closing passage softly resolving the piece. This track is all about emotion, patience, space and it's own constructed conversation with their thoughts explored within the framework. This track proven to be timeless with it's free flowing, a vivid illustration, a masterpiece of mood and space that ultimately created something deeply moving with minimalistic approach. Flamenco Sketches is one of my all time favourite, in a great audio system, it has to feel atmospheric, brassy brush, continuum, spacious, intenese, high contrast between musicians solo, deep and ultimately flows effortlessly to feel the musician expressions (a great expressions that is).
Experience the Music
I can write thousands of words to explain So What (1959) album by Miles Davis, ultimately every masterpiece like So What has to be experienced. Many ways to get a great system to listen to the music. One of Alexandria Audio's main goals is to truly enjoying the music and by that we can truly appreciate the music and the musicians that created and performed it.
-for a heartflet musical experience-
Comments