Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool - Documentary (2019)

[Joseph K]

I think that these recordings were cobbled together from a number of studio sessions and not released until well after they were recorded.

Ummm, no.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_in_the_Sky

[Stunsworth]

For anyone who missed it, according to iPlayer it will be available for six months.

[Serial_Apologist]

Ummm, no.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_in_the_Sky

The "Water Babies" sides were recorded over a period of about a year - 1967-68 - The album's "B" side employing Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea together on both numbers in an anticipation of "Silent Way" - this being released quite a few years later - so - to Ian - half right there then. The title of the first of the intervening studio albums - "Miles in the Sky", is thought to have been a response to the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky".

One of the more unsettling things about the doc (for me) was the inclusion of a number of interviewees now long gone, such as Gil Evans, lending something of a de-historicised aspect to the thing that sent mixed messages which put its relevance - and by inference Miles's music likewise - in question. But wasn't it great to see Juliette Gréco in interview - and looking great at 93, assuming those clips to be recent.

[Joseph K]

The "Water Babies" sides were recorded over a period of about a year - 1967-68 - The album's "B" side employing Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea together on both numbers in an anticipation of "Silent Way" - this being released quite a few years later - so - to Ian - half right there then. The title of the first of the intervening studio albums - "Miles in the Sky", is thought to have been a response to the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky".

One of the more unsettling things about the doc (for me) was the inclusion of a number of interviewees now long gone, such as Gil Evans, lending something of a de-historicised aspect to the thing that sent mixed messages which put its relevance - and by inference Miles's music likewise - in question. But wasn't it great to see Juliette Gréco in interview - and looking great at 93, assuming those clips to be recent.

Ian was trying to make out there was a large gap between the recording and release of Miles in the Sky - I was pointing out that this was not true.

[Ian Thumwood]

The documentary seemed to gloss over the second quintet. I felt that the same thig happened in the Miles' autobiography. Given that this was probably the greatest small group in the history of jazz, it is a shame that they did not record more. The consensus on "Mile in the sky" was that George Benson was brought in to experiment but it was not entirely a success. I haven't heard "In a silent way" for ages but I can recall being really disappointed in it's short length and the material did not strike me as being particularly strong at the time. I was underwhelmed by it when I heard it the first time. A mate of mine was exploring this more ambient stuff at that time having discovered a lot of the early ECM stuff and he loaned me a copy. It is distinctly a "Miles" record yet it seemed very smooth and easy to listen to, lacking the grit that I had always associated with Miles Davis' music. It is probably something that I need to revisit.

The strange thing with the second quintet was that the records did not originally sell as well as his earlier stuff. If you consider the bridge between Jazz and Rock, the most successful of his albums in my opinion was "Filles de Kilimanjaro" which tends to be under appreciated. It is quite interesting to return to some of these records and see how you perception of them changes. "Miles Smiles" remains his studio masterpiece with a smaller band in my opinion although the Bootleg 1967 set is terrific. "Seven steps" is a favourite and another underrated disc in my opinion - far better than "Some day my prince will come" which I find to be patchy and maybe Miles' attempt to produce a Blue Note style record. I keep thinking that the later stuff falls down when you consider the improvisatory process. There is not a lot happening from a musical point of view with a lot of the stuff from mid 70s onwards and the 1980s stuff is at it's most rewarding musically when performing Palle Mikkelborg's "Aura" - another disc that was delayed for a number of years before being issued.

However, the opening up of another debate about his music due to this documentary does seem overkill. I totally concur with Bluesnik that there are accounts of other musicians who are overlooked and need to be considered afresh. It is quite interesting if you get down to the business end of improvisation and consider those musicians who really thought about the processes involved, whether you are considering Lennie Tristano, Cecil Taylor, Paul Bley or look at organisations like AACM, and then contrast it with Miles' later work. Personally, I don't feel that there was a lot going on in Miles' music after about 1970. I am not saying it is bad but as "improvised music " I just feel that Miles was no longer seriously at the forefront. You could argue that he was seriously behind the curve in his last decade - something the documentary alluded to last night with only "Tutu" being name-checked amongst his post 1980's releases. Being controversial, I would argue that there have been plenty of musicians broadly contemporary with Miles Davis or a little younger who stayed relevant far longer and showed greater fidelity towards the improvisation process. Players like Cecil Taylor, Lee Konitz, Wayne Shorter, Muhal Richard Abrams, Roscoe Mitchell, Paul Bley etc, etc, spring to mind. Don't see people rushing to make documentaries about any of these although I think Lee Konitz would make a fantastic subject.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

There's a very good Jackie Mclean documentary/feature, "Jackie McLean on Mars", and although Jackie never had the profile or wider influence (or media glamour) of Miles, there's a wonderful body of committed & evolving work there, at least up until the time (early 70s) he began to teach, and then again with some of his latter groups. I increasingly think Jackie was more significant than we realised.

[muzzer]

But wasn't it great to see Juliette Gréco in interview - and looking great at 93, assuming those clips to be recent.

Yes! So great to see her interviewed, and to hear so much about his time in Paris.

[Jazzrook]

Yes! So great to see her interviewed, and to hear so much about his time in Paris.

Here's Juliette Greco on Norwegian TV in 1970:

https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=hdtZxbVrp84

JR

[ardcarp]

Here's Juliette Greco on Norwegian TV in 1970:

https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=hdtZxbVrp84

OMG I'd forgotten how low that sexy voice was! Also never knew that Miles Davis studied at the Juilliard. It was a great programme, I thought. I'm a jazz-interested person and not a fanatic, but I enjoyed it greatly.

[teamsaint]

Watched this last night. Long on gorgeous footage ( not always with the context one might want) , startlingly short on narrative detail I thought. That said, well worth watching, even though the two hour extent could have been much better used.

[Joseph K]

The Copenhagen concert from 1969 has found its way onto youtube. Heady stuff, for sure. Here's Bitches Brew:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE_D6Kve1SM