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Miles - Amandla


JSngry

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Something from the same late come back era: Miles Davis & Kenny Garrett - Strawberry Fields Forever.

:blink::blink::rfr:rfr

Now that's weak...

But Amandla's strong!

And as an aside...how is there a "late" "comeback" "era"? Seems to me that a comeback is there for a quick minute or two and then over...

the comeback era = the 1980s-end.

I guess the late period would be those last couple of years.

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Maybe it's the post-comeback, late era?

Or the, "Am I late for the post-comeback era?"

Or simply ... "Err, ahh, I'm late. I'll come back."

THAT's it: the post-comeback, late era.

I can at least say the tune's nice. The washing machine beat is interesting.

Edited by 7/4
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  • 6 years later...
On 7/26/2009 at 3:12 PM, JSngry said:

Just finished my first serious listen t this one oin a few years and was frankly blown away by the amount of substance there is to be had here. Of course, very little of it has to do with what various forces over the years have been for various reasons been trying to convince people is "really" "jazz", but if that's what you're looking for, then, hey...your buffet table's already been set, so eat until you puke, or whatever you do on those cruise ships where critical thinking and confronting the non-familiar are aggressively removed from the itinerary.

 

Otherwise, check it out - so much rhythmic, tonal, textural, structural (but there's so many vamps, I can hear people whining, well, yeah, but check out what goes on on top and in between, a whole big bunch of variety there, none of it simple-minded). Tutu has sort of become "the" late-period Miles album, but I tell ya', Side 1 of that one earns its keep, But Side 2 gets kinda iffy more than a few times. But Amandla, Amandla is strong from start to finish. Strong, creative, energized, and wholly of, yet not imprisoned by, even transcendent of (like all great Populist Art) its time.

 

If we have a future where the entirety of an artists' catalog will still be evaluated on its own merits (like we have one now, YEAH, RIGHT!), then Amandla will surely rise from its currently status of token appreciation to take its place as one of Miles' crowning achievements and "everybody" will "know" it like they do Kind Of Blue or some such. Then again, so will Filles De Kilimanjaro.

 

I ain't holding my breath, but I'm just saying, do not overlook or casually encounter Amandla. It has so much more to offer, if you want to get to it.

Picked this up used a couple of years ago, just getting around to listening to it tonight, and right on, Jim!  Liking this much more than I'd expected to.  Need to check out Tutu, which I haven't heard yet... if anybody else is interested in late-late Miles, also check out Live Around The World.

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  • 3 months later...

Oh yeah !  Heard Live Around The World is fantastic.  That's when I really noticed Kenny Garrett and became a fan.  I ignored a lot of the late period Miles for the longest but a few years ago I heard Siesta, which did give Marcus Miller co-leader credit, while at a shop getting a new cartridge for the TT and it really sounded good to my ears.  The keyboard sounds used to get me runnng the opposite direction but hearing it on a super system got my attention and I had to go out and find a copy for myself and I did.

I listen to it regularly now.  I haven't checked out Amandla yet.  Baby steps, baby steps....:)

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I was a big Miles Freak and bought each album just when it came out. My favourite from the pre-"Time after Time" period was "We Want Miles" just because it is not perfect.

Amandla was the best thing after "Siesta" , I like Siesta for the sound and the atmosphere, but somehow I had difficulties to get happy with "Tutu", maybe because I´m to much a Jazz listener.

I liked the live versions of all those Amandla Tunes when he played them from 1989 on, I remember how they stretched out on Mr. Pastorius, Kai Akagi the keyboard player was great, at last a virtuoso on keyboard.....,

Edited by Gheorghe
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  • 2 weeks later...

It sounds like I need to get a copy of Amandala.  I dig the atmosphere on Siesta too.  That's where it might make me leave the room for some artists.  Here, it helps create an atmosphere that I like.  Whether it's due to a passage in tme or I'm hearing it from a different perspective than where I was when this was new. Or none of the above.  

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I revisited Amandla lately and found excitement in it again. I was excited by it when it first came out, and then for a long time I think I didn't enjoy it much as I felt "This is Miles playing someone else's music" at a time when I would have really loved "a new direction in music by Miles Davis." But with the passage of more time, it's good music, interesting to hear, the textures draw me in.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've had the same situation a few times.  It's different at the tme an album is released because of the time between the last release and how it was received, expctations, etc.  With the passage of time, what seemed important at that time no longer matters so much and I sometimes hear the music differently.  I find it interesting.

Edited by six string
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