Search - Miles Davis :: Live Around the World (Mlps)

Why You Must Own This Album

David Evans | Miami Beach, FL | 11/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Overall, this is a phenomenal album which all Miles fans ought to have. There are however, two reasons why all jazz fans, all music fans and indeed all living and breathing people who love life and love music, must buy this album. First is Kenny Garrett's mind numbing, jaw-dropping 7 minute tenor solo at the end of the 13 minute "Human Nature". I'm pretty sure there's never in the history of music been a better tenor solo than that. If there is, I can't really think of one and I've heard a lot. Coltrane doing "My Favorite Things" at Birdland, maybe - but I think Garrett wins. The first time I heard it, I had to stop what I was doing and go back and listen because I couldn't believe my ears. That was about 6 years ago and the solo has yet to get old. So awed was Miles, that at the end of the tune, you can hear him providing Garrett with the Milesque sarcastic compliment "Kenny...Kenny...That wadn't nothin' man, that wadn't nothin'...I do that every night". Yeah Miles, over the course of a long career you have many, many outstanding solos, but Garrett matched you that night and you clearly knew it.



Reason number two is the closing track "Hanibal" drawn from Miles' last live performance. In his exchanges with Garrett's sax, you can almost hear Miles' dying breaths, pleading for more life, for more air to fill his horn. It's surreal.



Buy this album. Listen and be amazed!

"

I approached this with some unnecessary trepidation

Talking Wall | Queen Creek, AZ | 03/03/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"God, I go back and forth on this one because I just loathe the sound of 80's synthesizers. Almost all the great music that is timeless is produced on analog instruments, there's way to much synthesizer on Live Around The World, BUT... this is really a great, tight band. Miles may not have the chops he had in the decade of '58 to '68 but this is still an enjoyable treat. I have about 90 Miles Davis discs and this is no where near my favorite but Miles, even at his worst (and this isn't his worst) is still pretty darn good.



A few months ago:



I approached this release with much trepidation. It wasn't because I was afraid to waste my money. I'm a huge Miles enthusiast. I have a farily large collection of his recordings (about 60 discs so far) starting with every master take he recorded with Charlie Parker and ending with The Complete Cellar Door Sessions. I have most of his Columbia work up to 1975 including many of the "Complete Sessions" box sets and all of the important Prestige releases including all of the quintet recordings and the Bags' Groove session. I know Miles' and his music very well. When Miles' returned to the stage in 1981, I found I could suddenly relate to all those legacy fans that were so upset when Miles first went electric. I love Miles' music but I did not want to be disappointed with a release from his post-hiatus years. I remember how giddy I was when I spotted the Lp "The Man With The Horn". It was ok, but something wasn't quite right. Much of what I'd heard of his last decade doesn't seem to move me the way the earlier stuff does. Admittedly, that's MY problem and is in no way a reflection on the validity or quality music Miles chose to play in his last years. So, I approached with much trepidation.



With that said, I was pleasantly surprised by Live Around The World. Miles' playing is actually pretty strong; however his solos are also fairly compact for the most part. This isn't the lava-spewing Miles of The Cellar Door Sessions. His quieter, harmon-muted playing on this CD reminds me a lot of the tune "Circle" from Miles Smiles. It's still beautiful here, heartbreakingly beautiful and I'll never get tired of that sound. All the tracks are very good, but there is something missing... there's something of a sterility here and it's probably the modern (at the time) technology. Miles' band is very hot but it doesn't breath fire like the Cellar Door band. With his previous bands, almost anything could happen when Miles played live. This is much more "organized" I can't put my finger on what it is that bothers me about this release, but it's there no matter how much I don't want it to be there.



What do I like about this release is you can hear that Miles, who was long a tortured artist, is actually having a great time with his young band. I think Amandla is probably my favorite of all the tracks and it seems to hark back to an earlier time, despite those blasted synthesizers. The thing I hate about this release is all the Zawinul-esque synthesizers. If someone told me that Miles asked his close friend Joe Zawinul to serve as a consultant for the synth voicings used here, I would believe it. Then again, one has to remember that like always, Miles was playing in the moment. When this was recorded, synths were all over the place and used with abandon. Serious musicians seem to have wised up in the last 15 years. I think the problem with synths is that technology is always moving forward. What sounded really cool 2 years ago, sounds very dated. A synth will NEVER sound like a music where the timbre and attack is control by human action. They are horrible instruments and I wish they'd all just go away. I am also not particularly fond of that cover shot that makes him look like a funky extraterrestrial space man. They should have used the booklet's interior portrait shot for the cover. Miles just had so much humanity in his face.



4.5 stars on Live Around the World. I honestly can't rate this as high as My Funny Valentine, Four and More, Miles In Berlin, The Cellar Door Sessions, and It's About That Time. Those releases are the way I love to hear Miles. This is a good release but I cannot place it on the same level as his other live work, no matter how skillful and good his band plays.



Anyway, If you can handle all the synthesizers then this is an enjoyable release for those of us Miles enthusiastist who remember and know what Miles was all about from 1945 - 1975. Gosh, I sure do miss Miles. My vote for greatest American musician of the twentieth century, hands down.



Peace.



PS - the review that raves about Kenny Garrett's jaw-dropping, mind-numbing tenor sax solo... that's an alto sax man. It's a very good solo but I didn't find it THAT impressive. Frankly, Sonny Fortune's solos on Agharta and Pangea are far better than Garretts - though Garrett's IS quite good. You want impressive tenor sax? Pick up Coltrane's "Sunship" or "Meditations" Now, THAT's jaw-dropping tenor playing."

Pretty Good after All

Tom | Toronto,, Ontario, Canada | 03/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is an album well worth revisiting. A lot of people hated the music that Davis made at the end of his career, which is too bad. This is a fusion album basically, in a league with the best of Weather Report or Pat Metheny. It is also a lot of fun to listen to. Davis's upper range is diminished, but he remains full of fresh ideas. Unlike his Fillmore albums, this live set is accessible and clearly both the band and the audience at the various venuse have a great time. More significantly, Davis seems to be enjoying himself and his young musicians. As usual, he gives them a lot of space and Garrett with a couple of showy solos and the remarkable Foley, who transforms his bass into a lead instrument, take full advantage of their opportunities. The album is not "Kind of Blue," but it is nonetheless fine music and a worthy memento from the final stages of Davis's magnificent career."