Pete C

I eagerly await the Chris Albertson response to the above...

I used to sing, and I couldn't imagine a better accompanist than Kenny Barron. I'd add Cecil McBee & Lewis Nash. And Gary Bartz as guest soloist.

John! You don't know "The Hot Spot" soundtrack album? Miles playing the blues with John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal, and Roy Rogers. It's one of my favorite late Miles albums. A brilliant Jack Nitszche concept. Here's Eugene Chadbourne's lengthy AMG kvell (and a good paean to Miles for this thread): A return look and listen to this historical and breathtaking collaboration between two of the great figures of modern music should naturally be prefaced by a few key facts. Although this album presents itself as the soundtrack to the film The Hot Spot, like many such releases it bares little relation to the music that was actually used in the film — not that much of this music was actually used. All one really needs to know about the film itself, other than the fact that it was directed by Dennis Hopper, is that it is awful, even by bad film standards. That it was the impetus for this marvelous music to be made is something listeners should be thankful for, particularly fans of either Miles Davis or John Lee Hooker. Anyone who grew up with the former artist during his electric transfusions of the '60s and '70s probably wondered why he wasn't playing with John Lee Hooker the whole time, since they both seemed headed in the same direction. In fact, one wonders why it took this crummy film and the personal appeal of its director to bring these two musical giants together. That they didn't seek to do something like this on their own can be looked at as a character flaw, one that can only be forgiven after listening to how wonderfully they interact here. An important aspect of the magic is their individual genius in the art of playing blues music in such utterly personal ways. There is no mistaking the sound of either Hooker or Davis for anyone else, with layer upon layer of detail backing that up — the actual sound of their instruments is distinctive, their choices of notes and timing completely unusual and impossible to imitate, and they both have a knack for casually making even the most basic sort of band track sound as if it is a style of music that has never been played before. No matter how many times one may have heard a bar band break into what they think is a Hooker boogie, a brief recovery period will still be required after first exposure to the tracks here. Often during his recording career, Hooker was able to get a particularly scintillating rhythm section sound going with whatever pros had been assembled for the occasion. This is one of these sessions, but it indeed makes it seem like a royal visit to have Davis blowing over the top of these grooves. There are other dignitaries as well. Blues guitarist Roy Rogers adds some tasteful slide guitar, and it could be said that it presents another melodic direction for the interaction. But when one has a choice to hear Hooker or Davis instead, most listeners will simply wish Rogers had ridden off into the sunset on his faithful horse instead of coming to this session. Taj Mahal, on the other hand, adds nice textures with his dobro, an instrument that is wonderfully versatile yet so often overlooked in anything other than bluegrass music or straight-ahead country blues. The latter genre, unfortunately, has too much of a sway over this performer's choice of picking patterns. He sounds like what he is: a revivalist who learned how to play blues in college. The rhythm section kicks the whole time, while composer and arranger Jack Nitzsche makes valuable contributions of his own. This includes a minor-key groove — completely unusual for Hooker, who perhaps recorded in a minor key less than a half-dozen times in his entire career. The dabs of typical film score-type music seem like nothing special until there is an entrance by Davis. These sections of him extemporizing over such routine music bring to mind one of the Ralph J. Gleason profiles of Davis, which described the artist hanging out in his music room playing along with various new releases and painfully trying to reharmonize several selections from the score of Dr. Doolittle he was thinking about recording. The image is that of normal music being twisted into something different by a master at such trickery; most of The Hot Spot soundtrack, on the other hand, presents this great jazz soloist playing over blues grooves as pure as only Hooker could make happen, an interesting contrast to some of the weaker, late-period Davis, where his bands are simply straining to be funky in an old-time bluesy way. To say this is the best recording Davis made in his final period might be misunderstood as damning with faint praise. A more solid compliment would be to contrast it with other great moments from the trumpeter's career, such as Bitches Brew or Kind of Blue, and the best parts of this soundtrack contain music that is every bit as interesting and profound. As for a Hooker album, there might be others that have better blues songs on them, but this is just about the only recording the bluesman ever did with a really great jazz soloist on it. — Eugene Chadbourne

I love Rava, and the band was great at the Blue Note recently. I was at the Miles tribute in Montreal, and frankly I find that and the Chet project the least interesting of his work. I was also at the duet show in Montreal, and that was amazing.

The big band is SO good, and they seem to be gigging a bunch in NY, so maybe a recording will come of it.

I saw him 4 or 5 times between around '95 & 2001. His breath control was often weak and his intonation precarious. But the backup band of Lonnie Smith, Idris Muhummad & Peter Bernstein was amazing.

John, are you a fan of "The Hot Spot"?

Assuming the Ray & Lou are at Avery Fisher, just be aware that the acoustics are among the worst in the world. If you've never seen Ray Charles live, I'd say that's the priority (though his show is so slick & planned that there's a certain degree of going through the motions). Lou Donaldson is not very good these days, but he always hires good bands. I saw Jimmy Smith once. He complained about the lighting and insisted on playing in the dark, so for most of the show I heard him but didn't see him. He insulted the tech crew throughout the show and told infantile dirty jokes. No way I'd ever see him again.

I've seen the Tolliver Big Band twice. You won't be disappointed.

Have you heard them?

I believe Hendrix had sessions scheduled with both Gil Evans and Miles (separately) for the week after he died! "Falling Water" on the Miles & Gil box should probably give at least some idea of what that live '68 gig sounded like. I read somewhere (liner notes, I can't remember where) that Herbie brought a quartet to the Left Bank in Baltimore in '64 or '65 with Ron, Tony and Sam Rivers. I hope that one surfaces.

I don't understand the point of this thread. Is it to convince others to hear Miles the way you do? I'm new here, so is it perhaps because your ears are so revered around here that everybody is waiting anxiously to hear why you don't like Miles' sound? I hardly think the onus is on anybody to defend Miles at this point.

Monk & Haynes. "To my knowledge there is no recording where Monk and Mingus play together, but a classic photograph taken by Robert Parents in 1953 shows Charlie Parker, Monk, Mingus and Roy Haynes in action at the "Open Door" in Greenwich Village, New York. In Gene Santoro's book "Myself When I Am Real - The Life and Music of Charlie Mingus" (Oxford University Press, 2000), which contains a detailed summary of Mingus' music and his turbulent career, there is a note that in the same year Mingus played with Monk on the Steve Allen Show." ULF ADÅKER Translation: Dave Castle http://www.touchemusic.se/019-linernotes.html

And I've always read that it was nothing special--and that Wes himself felt he didn't really "get" what Trane was into. Still, one wonders. I'd love to hear what Hendrix & Sam Rivers were up to up in Woodstock.

Indeedy. I saw them together about the time of that recording. Roswell had a club in NY called "St. James Infirmary."

There are some great albums on that list, but otherwise it's ridiculous and useless, and not worthy of "negotiation."

That would have been nice to see. The last several times I've seen her it was with Steve Kuhn. She & Steve have a great rapport.

I'd be surprised to hear they ever played together, as I've never heard even the suggestion in 30 years of paying close attention to the music and its history. They definitely didn't record together. Steve Lacy, on the other hand, recorded with Monk on some of the big band dates and spent about 4 months in Monk's group (1960?), making it a quintet. There is a very poor quality location recording of a couple of tunes from one of those gigs, but it was never released in any form to my knowledge.

Yikes! Too many notes. Monk, Waldron & Basie.

One of the greatest scat singers working today is the Brazilian jazz singer, Leny Andrade. If you can find "Luz Neon" it has a killer verson of "A Night in Tunisia"

The amazing Sheila is still going strong at 75. Actually, I think much of her stuff exceeds Portrait in brilliance. You should go immediately to half.com and buy "From The Heart," a nice selection from her Muse years. It's out of print (32 Jazz), and you can pick it up for $7.99 if you act fast. Her recent (1999) album, "Jazz Child" (High Note) is a great one too. I can assure you Tom Storer will jump in to kvell shortly.

In the sixties?

Trombone players, plural? Would YOU let Clifton Anderson solo a lot if he was in YOUR band?

I'm with you on the standards, and the one ghost trance performance I saw was appalling, but boy am I glad I saw him with Holland & Altschul (a sweltering night at Studio Rivbea).

Anthony Jackson. Wish I'd known it was on. The one time I saw Petrucciani live it was with Peacock & Haynes!!!