Guy Berger

Maybe I need to re-evaluate - my assessment was that he was a solid, competent, versatile guy you'd use in the studio if you didn't have access to a 1st-tier pianist - wouldn't knock your socks off, wouldn't mess things up. Guy

I have a crazy question - is the Gayle Palmore who contributes vocals, piano and percussion to this recording the same as Gayle Moran who married Chick Corea and played on some 70s fusion recordings?

The more I think about it, the more I conclude that (aside from supporting indie labels), it's much more ethical to spend $100 on music and download another $100-worth for free than to spent $10 and not download anything at all.

Finally got around to watching this. As far as the performance, it is great, without a doubt. This is not my favorite Miles electric ensemble - I prefer the ones with ONLY Keith or ONLY Chick - but it's MUCH better than the June Fillmore sets, at least partially because Gary Bartz replaces Steve Grossman. Miles's performance is excellent, he was in peak form during this period. As far as the interviews, I generally enjoyed them. I really detest Carlos Santana's vapid musings and wish they'd gotten a more thoughtful naysayer than Stanley Crouch (though on the opposite tack, this was about these peoples' experiences of Miles and how they came to terms with his electric music, so maybe it is appropriate). But the comments by the musicians that played with Miles are generally very insightful - particularly Dave Liebman and Keith Jarrett. I enjoyed Liebman's comments because they come from a guy who has great appreciation for the music, but for whom it didn't come easy. Guy

Amen, I hope he recovers... plenty of other great music to play. Guy

When I first got this it disappointed me - as is typical for ECM these days, tempos tend to be divided between slow and very slow, with one or two token up-tempo tunes. But it's grown on me a lot after about a week. Very nice playing by Rava, Mark Turner, Stefano Bollani, and Larry Grenadier. Paul Motian is a little too restrained but that's typical for ECM recordings. I'm not sure I'd endorse all the 60s Miles comparisons but... the comparison is not way off. If you like that group's ballad work you'll like this too. Guy Guy

word!

Yeah - just to clarify, Mingus's music is not WAY OUT THERE (except in terms of genius), but at times some of his work (esp with Eric Dolphy) crosses into areas that someone who dislikes a-g jazz might dislike. Guy

I'd say that Blues & Roots is a must, and you'd probably really enjoy Tijuana Moods (RCA), Jazz Portrait (reissued on Blue Note but discontinued recently) and Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (Impulse). I would normally recommend The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (Impulse) as one of the top tier but I seem to recall you don't like avant-garde jazz. Guy

Have you ever listened to their music from 1965 onward? What specifically about their music do you find so awful that you can't understand why someone would like them? I find the "novelty act" comment by another poster to suggest that he's never heard their post-1963 material. JSngry's distinction between "don't like it" and "it's no good" would certainly apply here.

Phil Collins was considered quite a facile drummer in his time. May not be your cup of tea, but listen to any Genesis album between 1973 and 1981. Or Brand X, or all the studio sessions he participated in. He was a great drummer.

Music's music. As long as we aren't trading or posting links, I don't see why such discussion would be a problem.

She's a journalist/personaltiy on CNBC who acquired the nickname "Money Honey" during the Dot Com Boom - used to be very attractive, hence the nickname. She tends to give softball, watercarrying interviews to CEOs and other prominent individuals. Sort of a business world Larry King. Guy

A few times I've made "Rudy Van Gimmick" references - not specifically to the engineer, but rather to the use of the "brand" by EMI and subsequently Concord. The guy may or may not be a good remasterer, but it's pretty clear that putting his name on a CD moves units, or at least so the record labels believe. Do you find this kind of gimmickry objectionable? If so, where do you draw the line? (For example, Mosaic's big-box-style is also a gimmick, but I think most of us would say it certainly is not objectionable in any way.) While I find the concept and marketing of RVG, Legends of Acid Jazz and Keepnews editions to be annoying (why elevate some dude to primacy over the people who actually CREATED the music?), I guess I am glad if they are creating exposure to music that might not exist otherwise. I'm also less agitated about the Ken Burns documentary (as a marketing campaign - obviously it is seriously problematic as a historical "document") or "for lovers" compilations than I was in the past. I guess I would draw the line at something that I feel fundamentally compromisese the integrity of the music itself.

Yup. I'm too lazy to dig through the list of econ Nobel laureates, but would bet that the "imperfect markets" wing of microeconomics has won a pretty big share of the prizes handed out in recent decades.

Any change you are mixing this up with the June 1970 gig (also recorded at the Fillmore East) released on At Fillmore - with Steve Grossman on sax, Keith and Chick battling on keyboards? The reason I ask is that I could understand your assessment in the context of the June performances, but not the March ones that are the subject of this thread.

FYI - there are actually two dates from the March 1970 Fillmore engagement - the one that was released officially (March 7th) and another that was not (March 6th). The 7th is probably superior, but I doubt anyone who likes it would not enjoy the counterpart set. Guy

Time for some parents to go to jail. Guy

What about Charles Mingus's "Mood Indigo" from the Mingus Dynasty album?

It wouldn't entirely surprise me if Jarrett had said something like this at some point, but surely not about Thelonious Monk. I'm not even sure if the time periods match since Jarrett only hit it big after Monk retired from touring.

while herbie acknowledges evans as an influence - his major influence was oscar peterson. Ironically enough, one of Miles's least favorite pianists! I'm sure we can find plenty of other examples showing the link, but here's an obvious one - "Circle" on Miles Smiles. Most of Herbie's work with Miles pre-dated Miles's experiments with jazz-rock, and that's what most people are talking about.

I don't think it's an accident that Miles's three keyboardists from 1963-1971 were Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett. That may be true, but it was not at all obvious that Miles was going "edgy" after Evans left. If anything the music after Coltrane's departure in early 1960 was more conservative than that made while Bill was in the band.

Yes. There's no excuse to like one and not own the other. The Plaza date is nice, if not my favorite live Miles performance. I remember being knocked out by Trane's solo on "If I Were a Bell", which is pretty much among his best from the sheets of sound period (which would wrap up shortly). Also, I think it's interesting to the follow "My Funny Valentine"s back to back, there's a clear trend: Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet Live at the Plaza Philharmonic Hall 1964 Plugged Nickel 1965 [there's one final version from Portland 1966 and it was never recorded by Miles again]