Random thoughts…
· I picked up the new Miles Davis boxed set, The Complete Jack Johnson sessions. Being a big fan of electric Miles, I was looking forward to this set, but also approached it with a bit of caution… the two previous electric Miles boxes (The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions and The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions) have been hit and miss affairs. It’s interesting, you really gain a lot of respect for Teo Macero after listening to the boxes – being able to take the mass of material that the band recorded and working with Miles to distill it into these classic records.
The BB and IASW boxes bring on the sausage and hot dog analogy – the end results taste great, but it’s a little unnerving how they get there!
But this is the case where more is more. I’m up to the third disc (out of 5) and was gratified to hear the jaw-dropping guitar riff that opens the Jack Johnson album and the jam that led from it.
Even the multiple takes of each track have a different feel, which makes for fascinating listening, as long as Michael Henderson’s repetitive bass riffs don’t drive you nuts! John McLaughlin and to a lesser extent Sonny Sharrock are absolutely turned loose on this music, which is very much guitar oriented. Miles also plays some of the most aggressive trumpet of his career.
· I haven’t been paying as close attention to Martin Scorcese’s The Blues series on PBS as I should be, and I’ll probably catch up with most of it when it comes out on DVD. However, I was very happy to see one of my favorite contemporary blues musicians, Willie King, featured in the first presentation. Willie King writes some of the most socially conscious lyrics and puts them to a driving beat.
His 2001 disc “Freedom Creek” made my top 10 for the year and last years “Living in a New World” was an honorable mention – both are highly recommended.
· I’ve been listening to some King Crimson lately, since the Downtown Music Gallery and certain posters on the Jazzcorner Speakeasy rave about them. I haven’t been into prog rock that much except for a brief flirtation with Yes and Rush in college.
This is a different breed though with a lot of jazz and contemporary classical influences. I’ll have to listen to them some more, but so far I haven’t been turned off by what I’ve heard. I’ve picked up Lizard and Starless Bible Black for the used vinyl bins in the area.
Next I’d like to check out the British prog/rock/jazz band Soft Machine, which apparently did their best work in the late 60’s and early 70’s – this is another band the Downtown Music Gallery raves about. I have a couple of things of theirs in my stash at Emusic, so they will be explored in due time.
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