The Miles Davis Box Paradox!

[garthsj]

More interesting stuff for your consideration:

Kind of overkill

Miles Davis wouldn't have wanted his out-takes made public, so why all the box sets? By John L Walters

John L Walters

Friday February 10, 2006

Guardian

When they were little, my daughters assumed that I owned the complete works of Miles Davis. After all, my collection - vinyl and CDs - sprawled over large areas of shelf space. In addition to several versions of classics such as Kind of Blue, Aura, In a Silent Way and Sketches of Spain there were live albums and videos, semi-bootlegs on dodgy Italian labels, curiosities such as The Man With the Horn (since given away) and oddities like Directions, a bits-and-pieces compilation released while Davis was out of action in the late 1970s.

The Miles section took up more shelf acreage than the Beatles and Stravinsky put together, yet it wasn't that he was my favourite jazz artist, or that these were my favourite albums. It was just that CBS (aka Columbia or Sony, now Sony BMG, which owns the Miles catalogue from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s) was very good at putting out recordings that I felt I had to have.

Through concerts, albums and investments, Miles has always been one of the biggest earners in jazz. In 1971, he claimed to be earning nearly $400,000 a year. By the 1980s it was $1m a year. Whatever the state of jazz, Miles always sells.

So throughout the 1990s, Sony issued more and more "new" Miles albums. He remains a cash cow: Kind of Blue, his most famous and enduring album sold more than 12m copies worldwide, most of them in the past decade or so. Sales of Bitches Brew and Sketches of Spain exceed the million mark. Despite the fact that jazz's biggest superstar had left the company (and, in 1991, the planet) the company has managed to maintain a steady stream of releases ever since.

This is why the Miles Davis section of my music library continues to expand with a steady flow of exquisitely packaged multi-CD sets with the word "complete" in the title. There was Miles Davis/Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings. The Complete Miles Davis Quintet Sessions. And so on, each bearing an elaborate engraved metal spine that makes the set look like a miniature tome from the British Library.

They're expensive, too, I handed £50 over the counter for a discounted Miles/Gil box (my original copy of Miles Ahead set me back £1.50 in a charity shop).

Miles Ahead is one of those "desert island" discs I've studied and enjoyed and shared with friends dozens, perhaps hundreds of times, yet I've only listened to the Miles/Gil six-CD set a handful of times in full. Somehow, life seems too short to go back for another listen to the seventh overdubbed solo Miles played on Springsville (he nailed it by take 10).

So the imminent release of yet another multi-CD Miles boxed set, The Cellar Door Sessions 1970, provokes a new set of mixed feelings: anxiety about having time to listen; excitement at the thought of uncovering a treasure trove of unreleased gems. But is it really worth it?

"It's more than the music," says Sony BMG's Adam Sieff. "Miles is such an important guy. What we wanted to do was something that had a beauty all its own, an object of desire. People will have the original classic album for the car, while the box sits on the shelf at home." Sieff confirms that the boxes have had significant sales - in the hundreds of thousands. Their best-seller to date has been the 3-CD set The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions.

I remind him of the forthright comments from Miles's producer Teo Macero about these "bullshit" reissues. On many occasions, Macero has asserted that Miles would never have agreed to the unreleased material being heard.

"Well, there are two schools of thought," says Sieff. "But when you're not constrained by vinyl, the box set allows you to include all this extra stuff. It may not all be of the same high standard, but historically, there's a damned good reason for all this to be released, and I get great pleasure from it."

And he admits that Sony BMG is not short of even more repertoire to release. "Every time Miles farted they had the tape machine running."

There's something intimate, even creepy, about listening to the vast quantity of recordings on these boxes; many of the tracks are out-takes - never intended for the market. And they seem to have become more obsessive, more microscopic. While The Complete Miles Davis Quintet covers three years (1965-68), The Complete Jack Johnson spans just 16 weeks. Now we have the Cellar Door recordings, taken from just four consecutive nights, December 16 to 19 1970, at the Washington DC club. Sooner or later, someone's going to find a tape of 24 hours in the life of Miles Davis and put it out as an 18-CD set.

Maybe it's churlish to make fun of record companies for exploiting what they've got. At least the Miles boxes are thoughtfully done, with extensive (though often badly edited) notes and information, and first-hand testimony from the musicians. The comments from Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira and pianist Keith Jarrett on this new box are particularly illuminating. And one advantage that the Cellar Door Sessions has over, say, The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions, is that each CD is a complete live performance you can enjoy in one go.

When Miles played the Cellar Door he drew on a small repertoire of seven tunes: Directions, Yesternow, What I Say, Inamorata, Honky Tonk, It's About That Time and Sanctuary. If you have the 1971 album Live-Evil, this material will seem very familiar, since Miles and his producer Teo Macero chopped up their favourite bits to go on this very powerful and visceral double album. So when I tell trumpeter Byron Wallen about The Cellar Door Sessions, he says: "Oh my god, I'm going to have to buy it! Live-Evil is one of my favourite Miles albums."

He argues that the quality of the music is less important than what the musician represents. "For me Miles is more a conceptualist than a trumpet player, though you hear Miles long before you hear about Lee Morgan or Clifford Brown. He's important for the social way he took the music, demanding respect for the music and for himself as a black man - that's very important."

Adam Holzman, the ex-Miles sideman who co-produced the Cellar Door box, makes some big claims in his liner notes: "With the release of The Cellar Door, history might need to be revised; this music lays the foundation for what would later become the most enduring aspects of electric jazz and contemporary music."

Yet to write history, you have to make choices. And Miles and his team chose the right tracks for Live-Evil.

"When you go into the archives it's always a dangerous thing," says trumpeter Abram Wilson, "because those artists have moved on. Some artists, like Soweto Kinch, are uncomfortable hearing things that are just a few years old for that reason. But when you're hearing these boxed sets, you're not necessarily listening to them to worship the artist, you're listening to understand the process."

Every artist has to make choices - you can't put every take on the DVD, every alternate chapter at the back of the book, every take on the CD. "Completism" is a curse rather than a blessing, whether in rock (all those dreary BBC sessions), classical music (perhaps the worst offenders) or jazz. The Cellar Door package is interesting, because Miles is never dull. Yet its existence - carefully packaged, annotated and over-marketed - in early 2006 says more about the record industry majors than jazz history. They don't have a new Miles, so they keep on selling us the old one.

In Mike Dibb's film biography of Miles Davis, musician after musician tells us how maddening and iconoclastic and creative Miles was to work with. What finely tuned instincts he had. Guitarist John McLaughlin laughs: "Miles would find a way to clear the garbage out of the way and get to the essentials." I can't help thinking that Miles would have viewed most of these alternative takes and jam sessions as "garbage", though he'd probably use the same term as Macero: "Bullshit."

Wilson is right in saying that we listen to these extras to understand the process. Wallen, who bought the Plugged Nickel box, points out that many of the performances on that live set are substandard; Miles was unwell for many of the dates, but was on good form for the album that was released at the time. "The question is," says Wallen, "would Miles be happy with the idea of releasing it in this way? In terms of the way people listen to music, who's got the time?"

Big Lounge vocalist and trombonist Ashley Slater (formerly a Loose Tube and Norman Cook's other half in Freak Power) thinks about it all for a short while. "I know very little about Miles, except that he's my favourite jazz musician," says Slater bluntly. "Because he knew when to stop."

· The Cellar Door Sessions 1970 is released on Sony BMG on February 20.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

[AllenLowe]

"He argues that the quality of the music is less important than what the musician represents. "For me Miles is more a conceptualist than a trumpet player, though you hear Miles long before you hear about Lee Morgan or Clifford Brown. He's important for the social way he took the music, demanding respect for the music and for himself as a black man - that's very important."

now that's REALLY a load of crap - Miles was a trumpeter, and if the music sucks it sucks, no matter how much social rationalization we can give -

I mean, sociologically, Kenny G probably has had more of an impact than anyone - but who cares...

[MartyJazz]

I agree that Miles was indeed a trumpeter, but even great musicians have described Miles' talent in somewhat pejorative terms. I recall an Art Blakey interview I heard on the radio many years ago in which he said that Dizzy and Clifford Brown were great trumpeters, but that Miles was a great "stylist".

[RDK]

I agree that Miles was a trumpeter.

[AllenLowe]

I wouldn't rely upon musicians who, in my experience, are not the best critics. They put down Duke Jordan because he didn't have "technique", and many did the same with Monk at first; I have heard a very well-known drummer describe Bill Frisell as having "no chops;" Bill Evans praised Oscar Peterson -

[GA Russell]

Adam Holzman, the ex-Miles sideman who co-produced the Cellar Door box, ...

Looks like all of Vince's efforts are for naught!!!

[king ubu]

Adam Holzman, the ex-Miles sideman who co-produced the Cellar Door box, ...

Looks like all of Vince's efforts are for naught!!!

I couldn't find any sticker in my French Cellar Door box - but I guess that was the freedom fries effect in play, there

[king ubu]

I agree that Miles was indeed a trumpeter, but even great musicians have described Miles' talent in somewhat pejorative terms. I recall an Art Blakey interview I heard on the radio many years ago in which he said that Dizzy and Clifford Brown were great trumpeters, but that Miles was a great "stylist".

Sure, that may be true, but then listen to Miles at the Fillmore to hear some terrific trumpet playing that goes far beyond being a "stylist", I'd say.

But then, I always thought of Miles being a synthi player, mainly... check "Decoy" for evidence...

[Guest]

the paradox has been apparent to me as well as soon as these boxes started to come out- but nevertheless i enjoy hearing the raw studio jams, even if it isnt how miles & teo envisioned the finished product--

[neveronfriday]

Live and let live.

I only have standard Miles Davis stuff that I thought I should have, and I enjoy it, but I've stayed away from these box sets because I'm not completist. I just don't dig it that much.

But fans there are thousands of, so why not let them have what they want to hear?

And I've never subscribed to the theory that only the artist has the right to decide what the audience should get to hear. But that's a whole 'nother can of worms.

People also often forget that music is a collectable item. Maybe the author above has a collection of some sorts, and I'm sure he wouldn't object to a collector's item which was originally not intended for the market place.

So, don't buy it if you think it's excessive but don't tell fans of Miles Davis' music what they should be allowed to have or hear and what not.

Edited February 13, 2006 by neveronfriday

[CJ Shearn]

very interesting. I have only the Miles Plugged Nickel and Blackhawk boxes, singles for everything else, but I think especially with live material boxes are very important for the differing approaches to tunes. Even so we probably all have our favorite sets from live boxes, that we pull more often than others.

[GA Russell]

Their best-seller to date has been the 3-CD set The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions.

That surprises me a great deal. I would have thought that the Coltrane and 65-68 Quintet boxes would have far outsold the IASW box.

I suppose that the IASW box is the best seller because it is only three CDs, and therefore the most affordable.

Anybody think it's because of the music?

[Guy Berger]

Yet to write history, you have to make choices. And Miles and his team chose the right tracks for Live-Evil.

I think it's fair to say that some of the choices made by "Miles and his team" from 1970 to 1975 (including on Live Evil) were somewhat dubious.

Guy

[mikeweil]

"Miles and his team" - a very nice term.

There are some very interesting comments about Miles wanting to record live in the Cellar Door booklet. Of course, with the length of these performances, and the record industry standards, some editing had to be done, but I tend to think Miles was glad that someone like Teo Macero did the job - Miles never would have had the patience and Macero's esthetics play an important part in the end product - Jack Johnson is the most extreme example, considering the many hours of studio and live material it was assembled from. I had no idea at the time, but now I am grateful for the expanded Cellar Door box- this is some of the most important music in all my life. I once played percussion along with the record, without paying attention to Airto - I was listening to the bassist in the first place, and found my way into the music and suddenly noticed I was playing about the same kind of sound and groove as Airto! This was quite a shock and very revealing - it says a lot about the constituting forces in that music and it gave me the confidence that I was able to understand that music. To have it in unedited form is a real gift for me.

We can only speculate what Miles wanted - he wanted some of it released, that's for sure! Someone like Mingus put up with all the editing himself, but he was much more of a composer than Miles.

Teo Macero's artistic influence should be discussed more intensely, I think.

Edited February 13, 2006 by mikeweil

[David Williams]

Anybody think it's because of the music?

Sort of: IASW, even the box-set, is more likely to be bought by people not into jazz.

[GregK]

Their best-seller to date has been the 3-CD set The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions.

That surprises me a great deal. I would have thought that the Coltrane and 65-68 Quintet boxes would have far outsold the IASW box.

I suppose that the IASW box is the best seller because it is only three CDs, and therefore the most affordable.

Anybody think it's because of the music?

Yep. Big chunks of the rock audience probably bought it

[bertrand]

Some of the unissued material should have remained so, but I'm glad they put out the tracks with Joe Chambers, as well as those with Larry Young.

Bertrand.

[Shawn]

let's face it...there are people out there that buy one or more Miles Davis CD's...just so they can feel "hip" by having it on the CD shelf. Then when a guest comes over, that allows them to show off how much "class" they have.

[John L]

I would imagine that few non-jazz fans would buy any of these box sets, and would be more likely to buy In a Silent Way as a single release.

I think that the In a Silent Way Box, although short, was probably the most revelatory in the series in the sense of filling gaps in the development of Miles' music, bridging the Second Quintet to Bitches Brew.