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Miles Davis - A Tribute to Jack Johnson Audio CD

A fair review of the Miles Davis "A Tribute to Jack Johnson" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Miles Davis reviews here, or go back to the Miles Davis tabs.

Miles Davis Band: Miles Davis
Title: A Tribute to Jack Johnson
Rating:
Release Date: 2005-01-11
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Right Off 2: Yesternow

Minor masterwork
. Another slow cooked fusion dazzler which doesn't quite reach the dizzying heights of his best mesh, but a one-and-especially-two punch knockout of extended interplay still sits well as one of his finer minors.


One of my personal favorites
I label this album not as much as a jazz-fusion album, not a jazz-rock album, not a rock-jazz album, none of that. Miles Davis might have lost several fans begging for him to live his life doing nothing but albums like Kind of Blue, but Miles Davis did what came from his heart, and this time, it was more of a rock/funk influenced style. I think of this album mainly as an instrumental funk album, or an R&B album. I would say that jazz-fusion is a good label however.

The music is much grittier and much more aggressive than anything from his early years on Kind of Blue. He has John McLaughlin on electric guitar, and Herbie Hancock on electric keyboards although some people have said that some of the keyboard playing was actually from Chick Corea. The album only has two tracks that both are primarily improvisation over vamping. However, the tracks have such nice grooves in them that I wouldn't want this album any other way.

It's hard to believe that this album was done by the same person who did Kind of Blue, but this album is a wonderful album.


A Tribute to Jack Johnson brings you there.
A Tribute to Jack Johnson sums up new directions Miles had been migrating towards. Miles has always been an artistic master of sound and space. These 2 tracks are emotional, creative and powerful. The Album/CD is forever fresh in sound.


An entertaining release of the early fusion era, with a new clarity
"Right Off", the first track of this collection of two ~25 minutes jams written for a film on the old-time boxer, immediately provides an electric basis. If with the previous album Bitches Brew Miles Davis established gritty fusion as his new sound, 1970's JACK JOHNSON marked a refinement of this style. One hears John McLaughlin's furious guitar licks against a rhythm section of Michael Henderson on bass and Billy Cobham on drums, and only over two minutes in does Davis appear on trumpet. From there on, however, Davis does dominate the show. Initially he's just straightforwardly smoking, playing off against McLaughlin especially. Eventually, however, producer Ted Macero contributes some studio wizardry that makes Davis' horn more ambient. It's important to note that everything on this album is heavily edited, but such stitching is generally invisible and much less intrusive than BITCHES BREW. Finally, McLaughlin and Henderson solo again, and we finally hear a decent amount of electric organ from Herbie Hancock.

If "Right Off" ranges all over the place, the second track, "Yesternow", can risk monotony with the endlessly repeating bass line dominating its first part. The solos over it, however, are quality. Davis' initial appearance is of a lush and mellow kind more reminiscent of his mid-1960s bop than recent efforts. About halfway through, we hear a snippet of Davis' earlier album In a Silent Way which Macero inserted as a bridging segment. The second half of the track features a completely new ensemble, many from BITCHES BREW, with Sonny Sharrock providing a second guitar and Bennie Maupin playing bass clarinet. Here Davis' trumpet approaches a rhythm instrument, briefly giving a very wide space for the other instrumentalists. The last six minutes or so of the track are almost pure funk, with one guitar playing wah-wah and the other straight.

I've decided to give this album four stars because it does seem somewhat less substantial and varied than the releases preceding and following. However, this is a very entertaining effort, and may provide a path into Davis' fusion period for those who think BITCHES BREW is too noisy and convoluted (though IN A SILENT WAY works even better).


FUN WITH FUSION
BUT THIS ALBUM STAND OUT BECAUSE IT IS THE PROBABLY THE FINEST EXAMPLE OF THE BLENDING OF JAZZ, ROCK, FUNK, BLUES, AND ESOTERIC SOUNDS THAT MILES EVER RECORDED. IT WOULD BE VERY HARD FOR ME TO SAY THAT THIS IS MY FAVORITE MILES DAVIS ALBUM, BECAUSE THE MAN HAD SO MANY DIFFERENT FACETS IN HIS CAREER, WAS A TRUE TRAILBLAZER IN THE MUSIC WORLD AND MADE A TON OF GREAT RECORDINGS. IT DOESN'T HURT THAT HE HAS FANTASTIC BACKUP WITH HERBIE HANCOCK, BILLY COBHAM, AND JOHN MCLAUGHLIN. I HAVE NEVER GOTTERN TIRED OF HEARING THIS 1970 RELEASE, IT STILL SOUNDS AS FRESH TODAY AS THE DAY IT WAS RECORDED. BITCHES BREW, ON THE CORNER, BIG FUN AND OTHERS ARE GREAT, BUT THIS ONE IS JUST A WEE BIT BETTER ALL AROUND.


You can see a complete list of all Miles Davis discography, or go back to the Miles Davis tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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