While lots of musicians, often of questionable calibre, have major tomes written about them, few have books dedicated to just one album.
But that’s precisely what happened with Illinois-born Miles Davis’ Kind Of Blue, regarded by many as the quintessential jazz record of all time and voted into position 57 in the recent Hot Press poll of Irish musicians asked to choose their favourite all-time albums.
But Miles Davis is more than just a one-trick pony. Much like Bob Dylan, and often in the face of the same kind of prejudiced opposition bordering on ridicule, he repeatedly reinvented himself and his music in search of his musical holy grail. Never unwilling to upset the jazz police, he defied and despised all attempts to categorise or restrict his music. Under the influence of Jimi Hendrix he pioneered the development of jazz-rock, while the developments of such sub-genres as cool jazz, hard-bop and fusion, among other musical movements, were all influenced, if not directly fuelled, by Davis’ adventurous explorations.
Apart from the modalisms of 1959’s Kind of Blue, the other Miles album with most appeal to rock fans is likely to be the double-CD Bitches Brew. It was comprised primarily of non-directed improvised interactions between some of the best musicians in either the rock or jazz worlds at the time, including Davis, John McLaughlin, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea and Joe Zawinul, all serious contenders in their own right, never mind their ability to brew up the magic when together in the same room. That album opened up the rock market for Miles and his mates, resulting in sell-out tours of the USA, Europe and Japan.
Many of those who played with the master in those days went on to set up their own key fusion units, the afore-mentioned McLaughlin forming the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Zawinul and Shorter linking up for Weather Report, and sidemen like Airto Moreira, Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock and Billy Cobham cropping up on an endless series of stunning albums recorded under a variety of names, but all bearing the unmistakeable influence of Miles Davis.
Of course a considerable number of mainstream jazz fans look with disdain at much of the latter half of Davis’ multi-facetted output. Some instead turn back to his collaborations with saxist John Coltrane for their personal jazz fixes, with vintage '50s albums such as Green Haze and Workin’ and Steamin’, or his Gil Evans collaborations Sketches Of Spain and Porgy And Bess, or the seminal hard bop of Birth Of The Cool, or the quietist masterpiece In A Silent Wayoften cited as evidence of Davis at his most authentic.
Miles Davis possibly enjoyed more musical peaks that any other musician in history. Determining which was the most essential of his recordings will depend on each person’s own musical leanings and creates endless possibilities for argument and re-evaluation. There’s more than enough for everybody in his long and prolific career, as listeners to the forthcoming Davis tribute weekend The Picasso of Jazz on Lyric FM will appreciate. Listen and learn.
Lyric FM’s Miles Davis Weekend – Picasso of Jazz runs from Friday 26th May until Sunday 28th May:
Jazz on RTÉ lyric fm celebrates the 80th anniversary of Miles Davis birth with an entire weekend of music dedicated to Miles Davis - ‘Picasso of Jazz'.
"I know what I've done for music, but don't call me a legend. Just call me Miles Davis..."
In March of this year, Miles Dewey Davis III, (1926-1991), was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This weekend on RTÉ lyric fm, we celebrate 80 years of Miles, and focus over three days on his greatest periods of creativity. Beginning on Friday night with Eamonn Lenihan in The Third Wave, (10:30pm-01:00am), with some early Miles in Cool Is Forever; from his early days with Charlie Parker to Birth Of The Cool, plus a live set from 1948. Continuing on where Eamonn leaves off, Saturday night's Jazz Alley (7pm-8pm) with Donald Helme will take us from Kind Of Blue to Bitches Brew… and probably his most creative period, producing landmark albums like Kind Of Blue, Porgy & Bess and Sketches Of Spain up to and including Bitches Brew. Finally, on Sunday's Jazz Alley (7pm-8pm), Eamonn Lenihan will conclude the weekend with Electric Miles In a Silent Way & Beyond…
We're all very excited about our upcoming celebration of Miles Davis 80th here at Jazz Alley. It gives us a great opportunity to cut loose from the norm and play some less often heard works from Davis, plus, I think for the first time ever on Irish radio, it gives the audience the opportunity to experience a jazz artist from his earliest days right through his career as he went on to become one of the great heavyweights that changed the jazz world forever. I think our biggest task, of course, is what not to include because there such a wealth of material!
- Donald Helme (Presenter of Jazz Alley on Saturday nights, 7pm-8pm)
FRIDAY 26th May, 10.30pm-01.00am The Third Wave
Miles Davis Weekend - Picasso of Jazz Part 1: 'Cool Is Forever'
Miles Davis was the ‘Picasso of Jazz', reinventing himself and his sound endlessly in his musical quest. He was an artist that defied and despised categorisation, yet he was the forerunner and innovator of many distinct and important musical movements. Miles Davis was born on this day, 80 years ago. This weekend we dedicate three programmes to him featuring his music and work. Tonight, Eamonn Lenihan presents the early years from Birth Of The Cool to Somethin' Else, plus a live set by the trumpeter from 1948.
SATURDAY 27th May, 7.00pm-8.00pm Jazz Alley (Saturday), presented by Donald Helme Miles Davis Weekend - Picasso of Jazz Part 2: 'From Kind Of Blue to Bitches Brew'
In our second programme celebrating the 80th anniversary of Miles Davis' birth, Donald Helme focuses on what was probably Davis' most creative period. Beginning with the first great quintet that defined Hard Bop and the landmark modal album Kind of Blue, which was described by drummer Jimmy Cobb as "a recording that was made in heaven", Donald continues to explore his collaborations with saxophonist John Coltrane, his Sketches Of Spain period with arranger Gil Evans and the second great quintet with Wayne Shorter upto his quest for a new sound with rock, fusion and funk with Bitches Brew.
SUNDAY 28th May, 7.00pm-8.00pm Jazz Alley (Sunday), presented by Eamonn Lenihan
Miles Davis Weekend - Picasso of Jazz? Part 3: 'In a Silent Way & Beyond'
In our final programme celebrating the 80th anniversary of Miles Davis' birth, Eamonn Lenihan concludes the weekend with a journey that changed the jazz world forever. Filles De Kilimanjaro was a ground breaking album that defined Miles' move into the world of rock & roll. In a Silent Way was an influential recording in that it showed that the rock influence in Miles' music still had a lyrical side. Into the 1980's, Davis still experimented with fusion, rock and funk, hiring younger musicians to draw contemporary performances from himself.