Jazz Kat Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 What do you think of Miles Davis's real late recordings, such as Time After Time, and Human Nature? I think they sound a lot like late Herb Alpert. That must of been the hot sound for the trumpet in the 80's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregK Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 he was doing popular songs, same as he was doing in the 50s and early 60s. Much less interesting and not for me, but not so surprising Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz Kat Posted March 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 So you like music that's not surprising? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheldonm Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 So you like music that's not surprising? I think Greg is saying the he's not surprised that Miles continued to perform/record popular tunes of the day. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz Kat Posted March 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 Gotcha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 The last few years of Miles' career, it really seemed to me that he was making instrumental Pop records, and bringing his musical esthetic along with it. That's no problem for me, because I've always dug quality Pop, and I've always dug Miles' musical esthetic, so, hey... Why was he doing this is a fair question. To make the bigger bucks? To stay "current" in the eyes of the public? Because it was a new musical challenge for him? All of the above, I think. Not all of the albums were equally successful, and not all hold up from start to finish, but live, those late bands could take the material from the records and do incredibly varied and musical things with them. The Montreux box shows this, as does LIVE AROUND THE WORLD, and as do any number of bootlegs from those late shows. LOTS of attention to details in the overall group sound, and no little emphasis on varied textures. The synths and percussion gave him a very broad pallate with which to work, and work with it he did. The fact that he used it to create instrumental pop instead of jazz is true enough, but only relevant for reasons of personal preference. And his own playing in these contexts showed a very keen understanding of what was required in such a context in terms of drama, pacing, phrasing, etc. Herb Albert wouldn't have a CLUE how to do what Miles did in that music! It's not the Miles a lot of us will go the grave clutching to our collective bosoms, and for a lot of people, it's music with no redeeming value whatsoever, even moreso than the 70s stuff, but hey - I like it. I know what it is, and where it stands in the grand scheme of things, and I know that there was high-calibre musicianship and intellegence on display. No slacking whatsoever, just a different application. No way I'd get into a heated dicussion about the "profundity" of this period, but I like it nevertheless, for what it is, and for how it's done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz Kat Posted March 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 Yeah me too, but cut alpert alittle slack. Time After Time, and Human Nature sound identical to Alpert's late 80's recordings as Blow Your Own Horn, Magic Man, Beyond, etc.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 Sorry, but those are Albert sides I've never heard. After the TLB (I'm an old fart, remember ), "Rise" is all that I know (and I swear - everytime I hear that one on the radio now, it sounds like thay mastered it from an off-center 45!) Do you mean that the production is identical or that the playing is? I could maybe see the former, but I'd have to hear Albert play with as much "knowing" as Miles, even on pop stuff, to believe it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz Kat Posted March 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 Alpert. Herb was a good trumpet player. Very sharp. Nothing he played was wimpy. He had a sound similar to Miles, in the mellow category. The sound as a whole sounds the same. During Rise, Alpert was still play more of a fusion style, some funk influence. In the 80's he was practically completely all pop, just like Davis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 I'll take you at your word on that, but please understand that I'm a little skeptical that Albert's material of the time was exactly like Miles'. Not unless Marcus Miller was producing Albert as well, and not unless Albert was into zouck, go-go, and such. But like I said, I've never heard the stuff, so you could well be right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz Kat Posted March 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 Alpert. It's with a P. I'm not really saying the whole You're Under Arrest Album is like Alpert, mainly Time After Time and Human Nature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz Kat Posted March 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 And Alpert produced everything himself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 Do you have Herb Alpert in a can?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 Yes, Alpert. My bad. On those two tunes, yeah, I can see your point a lot better. The difference, I would suggest, is how those two tunes got stretched out and morphed in live performances over time. They ended up sounding very different than those studio versions. That's where/how Miles ultimately put the "Miles" into the material, and which is where Miles and Alpert ultimately become two different birds. But Alperts always had a good ear for pop sophisitication, the TJB stuff not withstanding. A&M had some really tasty acts back in the day. Are you like me, though? Do you really enjoy hearing a well produced instrumental pop record and picking apart the production? I don't mean some hack "smooth" crap, but something that's obviously had a lot of musical thought and effort put into it. I really dig dissecting that stuff, just to see how it's done, how all the little things fir together, and why they're in there in the first place. I can really get into that sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 And when it comes to pure production chops, yeah, Alpert wins w/o a contest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz Kat Posted March 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 Are you like me, though? Do you really enjoy hearing a well produced instrumental pop record and picking apart the production? Like a Percy Faith or Hank Mancini record? Mellow big Band with strings, as I like to call it. Yeah I like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 Yes, Alpert. My bad. At least you didn't call him Herp!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted March 6, 2005 Report Share Posted March 6, 2005 Yes, Alpert. My bad. At least you didn't call him Herp!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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