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Giant Steps - Kenny Mathieson


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Perhaps it was just my frame of mind, but I enjoyed this book more than Mathieson's other recent effort (Cookin'). Both had wonderful artist selections (though not enough 'talent deserving wider attention' for my taste).

Giant Steps contained more personality and a bit more critical judgment, it seemed to me.

Anyone else read this?

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  • 19 years later...
7 hours ago, GA Russell said:

I read this book last week.

The author says that Miles lost his voice not because of his throat operation, but rather because soon after the operation he screamed at a record company executive.

This is news to me.  Would the exec have been Bob Weinstock?

Anybody know anything about this?

I seem to recall that early use of his voice messed it up but not that it was specifically related to yelling at a record company exec.

I have to say that this has got to be the longest period of time between first post and a response - Bravo.

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8 hours ago, JSngry said:

I have heard that the injury was due to yelling, in an argument. But with whom, I do not recall.

Timeline 1955 | Miles Davis Official Site

OCT 1955 - it was with the manager of Birdland, apparently.

My understanding has always been it was with police who were hassling the woman he was with, that it took place outside of one of the NYC jazz clubs.

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11 minutes ago, Larry Kart said:

I thought it was at the Prestige session with Monk when Miles didn't like the way Monk was comping for him and yelled at Monk to lay out -- all this shortly after Miles had had throat surgery and has been told not to raise his voice for a good while until things  had healed.

This definitely rings a bell for me too — I also remembered it as having to do with some session with Monk.

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I never paid much attention to the story of the Miles-Monk hassle on that recordings sessions . Musically it´s very interesting and anyway, Monk used to lay out when a horn player soloed, it´s just a typical Monkish effekt. 
When his saxophonist, let´s say Charlie Rouse did a long solo on let´s say "'''Bemsha Swing" or "Evidence", Monk would lay out and make his dance steps and as soon as Rouse ended, Monk would literally jump back to the piano and start his solo right there. If you just here it on record, you really can imagine it happens right now. 

And Miles also liked the idea of soloing withouth the piano comping. It started when they made that big tour as "Symphony Sid´s All Stars", where they didn´t have a piano. It´s a shame that nothing from that is on records. And on "Sid´s Ahead" (former "Weirdo") , the tune where Garland had left the studio, it´s the same feeling, And on some tunes from the mid sixties quintet , mostly on "Miles Smiles" it´s the same, not much piano comping.

So I might say, the only "thing" that interested me in context with Monk´s not comping on some of the tunes of the "Bags Groove"/"Miles and the Modern Jazz Giants" stuff is the musical aspect.

About Miles loosing his voice of course it was due to surgery, but many musicians loose their original voice thru playing the music. Some are hollerin´ along the drum solos and that´s what Art Blakey had, just as an example.....

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31 minutes ago, Gheorghe said:

I never paid much attention to the story of the Miles-Monk hassle on that recordings sessions . Musically it´s very interesting and anyway, Monk used to lay out when a horn player soloed, it´s just a typical Monkish effekt. 
When his saxophonist, let´s say Charlie Rouse did a long solo on let´s say "'''Bemsha Swing" or "Evidence", Monk would lay out and make his dance steps and as soon as Rouse ended, Monk would literally jump back to the piano and start his solo right there. If you just here it on record, you really can imagine it happens right now. 

I saw this happen in the Free Trade Hall, Manchester when I saw the Monk quartet in April 1961. Having settled Rouse into his solo, Monk went for a walk (didn't dance) around the stage and lit up a cigarette. As Rouse approached the end of his last chorus, Monk strode quickly back to the piano, pausing only to lean from the stage and pass the cigarette to an astonished young fan on the front row. The youngster was seen to carefully extinguish the cigarette and place it in his wallet! 😆

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1 hour ago, BillF said:

I saw this happen in the Free Trade Hall, Manchester when I saw the Monk quartet in April 1961. Having settled Rouse into his solo, Monk went for a walk (didn't dance) around the stage and lit up a cigarette. As Rouse approached the end of his last chorus, Monk strode quickly back to the piano, pausing only to lean from the stage and pass the cigarette to an astonished young fan on the front row. The youngster was seen to carefully extinguish the cigarette and place it in his wallet! 😆

Yeah, the real dancing came a bit later. 
My wife was delighted with it, I mean with all aspects of seeing and hearing Monk. The dance in special .... she said "look how cute, like a bear dancing..." 

Monk and cigarettes, yeah the passing the cigarette to a fan is new to me. What I saw very often is placing the cigarette between two keys of the piano, with the burning end into the opposite direction. Me myself I don´t like smoking while playing even when it was very common of musicians smoking on stage. I like the cigarette after a set in front of the club, and you relax. 

Even as a smoker for the last 50 years I never really understood how you can enjoy a cigarette if you smoke it while playing (early fotos of Miles, of Fats Navarro).....

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