Miles Davis - LIVE in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1

Just when you think all the best stuff has been released, remastered, repackaged a zillion times, every now and then a surprise comes along that really blows the doors off everything. It’s happened a few times recently in the jazz world – a totally unknown Voice Of America radio broadcast of Thelonious Monk’s quartet featuring John Coltrane was issued by Blue Note in 2005. In that same year Verve discovered radio broadcasts of two full sets of the Coltrane Quartet in full flight in NYC from 1965. In 2007, Charles Mingus’ widow discovered and released an outstanding concert recorded in 1964 at Cornell Universtity of Mingus leading his incredible six piece band with Eric Dolphy. Miles Davis was a friend, collaborator and competitor with all of the above and somewhere he’s probably cracking up that this box set of recently discovered recordings from 1967 was even more anticipated than these other landmark discoveries.

In 1967 Miles Davis was leading one of the best, if not THE best, band in the entire world regardless of genre: Miles on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Herbie Hancock on piano, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams. Miles put this band together in late 1964 and by 1967 they had played many concerts together and recorded the classic albums E.S.P., Miles Smiles and Sorcerer. This box set contains an astounding FIVE complete concerts from their 1967 European tour, 3 audio and 2 on DVD. About half of the audio recordings have been floating around as bootlegs and the DVD was only previously available in a ridiculously overpriced 70 CD box set containing the complete Miles Davis discography.

I consider myself to be a pretty major Miles fanatic/collector and I’d never been exposed to any of this material before. Sony has put out a low priced single CD of highlights from the set but even on a tight budget, it was obvious which version I would be picking up. When it comes to the greats taking the cheap way out is never an option. If you go to Peter Luger’s Steakhouse you don’t order a sandwich because it’s cheaper. Gotta go big or don’t bother at all.

So how’s it sound? Just as incredible as you would hope. The audio source for all the concerts are directly from the tapes made at the broadcast centers of each of the cities and are very consistent. The band is completely ferocious and it’s great to hear how they change tempos and arrangements from night to night. The concerts all start off with very fast versions of “Agitation” from E.S.P. before flowing seamlessly into “Footprints” off of Miles Smiles. By 1967, Miles was playing his entire set as one long uninterrupted piece. He stopped making stage announcements at least a decade prior. Listening to these concerts it’s hard to understand what all the fuss was about. Who the hell wants to hear anyone talking when you’ve got these guys tearing up the bandstand? Ballads like “’Round Midnight,” “On Green Dolphin Street” and “I Fall In Love Too Easily” are alternated in the middle of the sets before the pace cranks up for smoking versions of “Gingerbread Boy” and “Riot.” The hard bop chestnut “No Blues” makes a few appearances, too.

The DVD is a total revelation. The two concerts (one from Sweden, the other from Germany) are short, only 30 minutes since they were part of a festival but are no less intense than the audio concerts from Paris, Antwerp and Copenhagen. Getting to actually see this band in the flesh (in black & white) is such a treat. Literally months after these concerts Miles stopped wearing the fancy Italian suits. It’s cool to see him one last time as ultimate dapper jazz player before he became a psychedelic warrior. Back then people described Miles as looking scary or pissed off on stage but it’s obvious he’s concentrating very hard on the music being played. He’s probably pissed off about something, too. It’s also great to see the other guys in the band shoot each other glances from time to time when the jams get a little wild. They’re loving it and it’s obvious none of it was planned ahead of time. Drummers, especially, will be thrilled at being able to study the very young Tony Williams absolutely murder his drum kit.

Miles is one of the few jazz artists that is also listened to by a lot of non-jazz music fans. If you’re new to him, the single disc from these concerts is a pretty good example of why he’s so respected. If you’re a fan of real music don’t hesitate to pick this muther up right away. Best thing I’ve heard this year for sure.

  --Woody

Robben Ford & The Blue Line - Handful Of Blues

He’s one of the 100 greatest guitarists of the 20th Century, now playing in the 21st Century.  Don’t take my word for it.  That statement was made by Musician Magazine.  Don’t take Musician Magazine’s word for it. Listen to Robben Ford on his 1995 release Handful Of Blues.

This is the ultimate blues rocker album. Ford, with his then band “the Blue Line” (bassist Roscoe Beck and drummer Tom Brechtlein) provide a master lesson in rock guitar blues.  Ford blazes through classic Chicago-style ("When I Leave Here"), jump blues ("The Miller's Son"), jazz-blues balladry ("Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"), and Texas shuffle ("Tired of Talkin'") with such mastery that, at the time of release Cleveland Plain Dealer music critic David Sowd thought Ford would rise to replace the deceased Stevie Ray Vaughan as the ”undisputed hero to the white-boy blues-picker throne.”  However, Ford’s musical interests go far beyond the blues.

Ford has jazz chops as well as blues chops.  He played guitar for Jimmy Witherspoon from 1972 to 1974, before joining Tom Scott & the L.A. Express as the band’s guitarist  for Joni Mitchell’s 1974  Court and Spark tour.  At the end of the tour he joined George Harrison for Harrison’s 1974 Dark Horse tour.  In the 1980’s he toured with Michael MacDonald and Miles Davis.  But it was Ford’s childhood roots in the blues that captured his imagination in the late 1980’s through the mid-1990’s that led him to produce some of the greatest blues guitar music of the last decade of the 20th Century once he got his shot to record as a solo artist.

After Handful Of Blues was recorded Ford disbanded “the Blue Line.”  He said on his website, "I felt like I was holding back on the guitar side in order to present a band. I played out my commitment with the Blue Line and then decided to take some time off and find some new inspiration."  Yet, nothing Ford has done since Handful Of Blues is nearly as good, as distinctive or as powerful.  With “the Blue Line” disbanded Ford’s interests meandered toward jazz-infused R&B with a heavy urban influence.  While much of his later work is excellent, such as his 2003 release “Keep On Running” on which he plays with Edgar Winter, Ivan Neville and Mavis Staples, it lacks the raw beauty of his work with the Blue Line.  He only produced three albums with the Blue Line and Handful Of Blues is, by far, the best of the three.

Ford fills out the sound on Handful Of Blues by adding Yellowjackets’ keyboardist Russell Ferrante, pianist Henry Butler, Ford's brother Mark on the harmonica and organist Ricky Peterson.  In addition to producing the album LA studio guitarist Danny Kortchmar (who played on several classic James Taylor and Jackson Browne albums) occasionally plays rhythm guitar.  As a result Ford’s sound is more akin to the 1960’s British blues invasion sound than it is to the jazz and R&B tones that permeate his later work.  Yet, even this album contains a modicum of the jazz and R&B that was to come, mostly on Ford’s originals which are some of his best jazz and R&B to date.

The opening track “Rugged Road”  is a fast-paced Ford blues original that Ford follows with a classic rendition of Taj Mahal’s “Chevrolet” which, in the day, received significant airplay. Ford also provides a smooth version of “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.”  One of the best album tracks is an original called “Top Of The Hill” on which Ford’s musicianship shines, especially in the short guitar solo.  Another wonderful track is Ford’s rendition of Willie Dixon’s “I Just Want To Make Love To You.”  While it may not have the grit of Dixon’s vocals it features some of the best instrumental performances by Ford and his sidemen found on the album.  Ford also amazes in the longest album track “Good Thing” which has a tonality that harkens back to Ford’s L.A. Express days.

Ford is still out there playing and he will usually include a cut or two from Handful Of Blues in his shows. He will play with jazz guitarist extraordinaire John Scofield at the Blue Note in New York City, NY December 1 through 5, 2010. 

Those on the West Coast will get the opportunity to see him with his band, Renegade Creation that consists of Ford, guitarist Michael Landau (who has played with Boz Skaggs, Pink Floyd, Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, B.B. King, James Taylor, Ray Charles and Rod Stewart just to name a few) left-handed bassist Jimmy Haslip (who has played with the Yellowjackets, Bruce Hornsby, Rita Coolidge, Gino Vannelli, KISS, Tommy Bolin, Allan Holdsworth, Marilyn Scott, Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau, Donald Fagen and Anita Baker) and drummer Gary Novak (who has played with Joe Williams, Milt Hinton, Kenny Burrell, Barney Kessel, Louis Bellson, Michael MacDonald, Lee Ritenour, Anita Baker, George Benson and Alanis Morrisette), at Yoshi’s in Oakland, CA  December 16 through 19, 2010. 

Best of all at Yoshi’s they will play a Sunday matinee where adults can get in for $18 if they bring a kid ($5 per kid).  This is a great opportunity to be a hero to the neighborhood’s budding guitarists.

- Old School

Buy here:  Handful of Blues
mp3: Handful Of BluesMik

Miles Davis - Live at the Fillmore East (March 7, 1970): It's About That Time

Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop are usually credited for helping to kill off the peace and love Woodstock hippy rainbow vibe in 1970. Listening to this double live muther of Miles Davis unleashing his electric band on a bunch of hippies at the Fillmore East waiting to see Steve Miller and Neil Young, you could say that Miles did his part, too.

Bill Graham did everyone a favor when he was running the Fillmores in NYC and San Francisco by putting together some inspired bills. King Crimson and The Chambers Brothers one night; The Mothers of Invention with Lenny Bruce another. Black Sabbath opened for The Faces. Albet King shared the stage with his biggest fan Jimi Hendrix, and so on. Charles Lloyd was the fist jazz artist to play the Fillmore, but it’s Miles that must have really flipped some lids.

Captured live on Saturday night March 7, 1970 (but not released until 2001) no one could have been prepared for what Miles was laying down. In A Silent Way came out in 1969 and ruffled many feathers in the jazz world but the moldy figs would get really pissed off when Bitches Brew was released in April 1970. It’s doubtful anyone in the audience this night knew what the hell they were hearing, including some members of Miles’ excellent band. Saxophonist Wayne Shorter would leave the band not long after this to make some more great acoustic records for Blue Note before eventually forming Weather Report. Chick Corea was forced by Miles to play electric piano and it’s obvious he’s not in love with the instrument as he pounds on it like crazy to get it to respond. Miles must have loved this. Bassist Dave Holland plays both acoustic and electric on these recordings and plays incredible back bone grooves among all the chaos. He, too, would leave Miles soon after and stick to an acoustic instrument. Powerhouse drummer Jack DeJohnnette plays incredibly and blends well with the unhinged percussion of Airto Moreira. Then there’s Miles himself. His dark, smoky tone is intact but he’s playing in a higher register more than in the past to compete with all the electricity. He has yet to hook up a wah-wah pedal to his horn that really made his old audience mad.

The norm back at the Fillmore was 2 shows a night and It’s About Time includes both sets in their entirety. Each disc is about 45 minutes and showcases mainly Bitches Brew material with a smaller band than on the record. “Directions” opens each set, but very different versions. If you were high and sitting on the floor waiting for Steve Miller to rock you, baby, this would wake your stoned ass up. (Check out the hilarious part of Miles’ autobiography to get his opinion on Steve Miller). “Spanish Key” gets a high energy treatment but would benefit from John McLaughlin’s guitar like on the album. Wayne Shorter’s “Masqualero” made its debut on Miles’ Sorcerer album in 1967 and this version is pretty different from the original.

During the 2nd set the band runs “Miles Runs The Voodoo Down,” “Bitches Brew” and “Spanish Key” one after another and the confused crowd doesn’t know when to applaud. Anytime the band settles into a steady groove Miles signals for the music to change, keeping everyone on their toes and fully engaged. “It’s About Time” wraps up the show before morphing into the funky groove he titled “Willie Nelson” and the stunned crowd cheers. It’s unclear if they liked the music or are just glad it’s over. (Apparently, Miles and Willie hung out a few times. I wonder what they did?)

Miles would produce much more great music in 1970, including the awesome Jack Johnson LP as wells as more tracks that would wind up on albums like Live Evil, Black Beauty and another live one from the Fillmore but with a totally different band and repertoire. No one was making music like this in 1970. Frank Zappa, Soft Machine and a few others were incorporating jazz into their rock improvisations, while Tony Williams was playing jazz with full on rock guitar and The Stooges were working on the classic Funhouse album that would emulate some of the high energy grooves and musical freakouts, but no one was near what was happening on planet Miles.


--Woody

 Buy here: Live at the Fillmore East (March 7, 1970): It's About That Time