I mean ANGRY. For the most part of his career, which spanned six decades, he played with his back to the audience. He was most definitely no fond of his white followers. Not one bit.
Miles came from an upper middle class background given that his father was a dentist but he was still an angry man. He played jazz and was an apprentice of Charlie Parker, the father of BeBop, Yeah, THAT Charlie Parker. And Miles learned well and can be heard playing on some of the old Savoy sides that Charlie worked through…. But Miles never stayed put musically, he keep searching. Enter Ahmad Jamal the opposite of bebop, instead of playing as many notes as possible as fast as you can, play only the notes you need. Using silence and extended notes to convey the music, Cool Jazz. Miles the leader and innovator had found his sound was ready to step out of the shadow and wreckage of Bebop.
I bring up the sketchy beginning of this immortal artist because its essential to understanding him. You can start with his Prestige, Blue Note, Columbia recordings. Like every artist some are better than others but by God the great ones are great. His music changed the landscape of Jazz and Rock. Beginning with Birth of the Cool nonet and going from there, Cookin, Relax’, Working, Milestones, ‘Round Midnight, Kind of Blue(modal jazz), Sketches of Spain, Porgy and Bess, Live at Plugged Nickel etc. His Quartet period or the Quintet period or…
He influenced rock acts like Santana ,The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix. He brought John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Ron Carter, Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, John McLaughin just to name a very few to the musical fore front. And then these guys brought you and me; Weather Report, Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra again just to name a few, and don’t get me started on the people he influenced jazz wise.
My favorite is In a Silent Way, a sacrilegious record. Electric music mixed with acoustic jazz instruments. And so started his trip, my trip and the world’s trip into Jazz fusion. Enter Electric Miles. Rock and Jazz would never be the same… Bitches Brew, Dark Magus, Black Beauty, Live Evil, Panagea. These last few are for only the brave of heart… Brutal and challenging but alive with possibilities which requires the listener to work. This ain’t Kenny G.
His catalog of music both live and studio is staggering. Some of it sounds soft today but the music must viewed of its time because in its time it was revolutionary so much so that now it has been imitated ad infinitum. For simple juxtaposition listen to Kind of Blue and then follow it up with Dark Magus. I dare you to say you can see it’s from the same guy.
I miss Miles. He never stood still. He continued to push that envelope that we hear about. At the end he clearly sold out but even with some of the last recordings there was new and fresh stuff to admire. Wynton has been harsh with Miles legacy but at least he has one. Other than Louis Armstrong who else compares? Duke?