Advantages: Excellent Jazz Album. Disadvantages: None!
Darn that dream,
I dream each night.
You say you love me and hold me tight.
But when I awake and you are out of sight.
Oh, darn that dream.
Reasons For Purchasing
I was first introduced to this type of Jazz music by My Grandmother and Grandfather who loved listening to MilesDavis and of course their choice of music rubbed off on my own Mother, who I remember as a child, played the MilesDavis Quintet quite a lot also. I took this CD from my Grandmothers collection after she died three years ago and I am glad I did, as now I have got the chance to write about this CD.
This is quite an interesting album I have to say, it features twelve excellent jazz songs from MilesDavis. I listen to this CD when I am relaxed, feeling low or even in a party mood, as this is a great album for every occasion. This album seems to have ...
Advantages: Virtuoso trumpet at its best Disadvantages: Only the re-released version has the sound quality it deserves
The first time I heard this CD was with my Grandparents as a young child, I didn't understand and didn't appreciate the beauty of the music, I remember my granddad tapping his toes and sipping his whiskey, humming gently along with the trumpet solos, this fond memory was abruptly brought forward whilst browsing in a local alternative record shop. I spotted "A Kind Blue" and instantly withdrew my wallet and the CD was mine. As readers you will probably like to know about the music is like! Well simply it is divine, some find MilesDavis's music too intense and muddled, but it takes either an uninterested listener to ignore this or a fascinated listener to understand and appreciate it, I hope that the buyer will lean towards the latter of these two opposites. ...
Advantages: Ideal example of Miles' style at the time - funky and fun. Disadvantages: Not for everyone (but definitely worth a shot)
MilesDavis was one of the most influencial musicians of the last century, constantly innovating as a jazz sideman, soloist and bandleader. The trumpeter was at the forefront of bebop, 'cool' jazz, rock fusion, and funk. "Jack Johnson" falls in the middle of Miles' fusion period, with such albums as the famous "Bitches Brew" and "In a Silent Way".
Track Listing
1. Right Off (26:52), 2. Yesternow (25:34)
History
This music was written by Miles as a soundtrack to the documentary "A Tribute to Jack Johnson". Johnson was a black boxer, heavyweight champion in 1908. He was a black symbol - Miles, always acutely aware of racial prejudices, felt a connection with Johnson. Unusually, Miles wrote liner notes himself for the album, showing his strength of feeling - he says how Johnson was sophisticated, into wine, cigars ...
PANGAEA was the last album Miles Davis made before his 5 year retirement. Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet, organ); Sonny Fortune (soprano & alto saxophones, flute); Pete Cosey (synthesizer, electric guitar, percussion); Reggie Lucas (electric guitar); Michael Henderson (electric bass); Al Foster (drums); Mtume (congas, water drums, rhythm box, percussion). Recorded live at Osaka Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan on February 1, 1975. Includes liner notes by Kevin Whitehead. The companion set to AGARTHA, PANGAEA presents the Davis band in that evening's concert performance at Osaka Festival Hall on February 1, 1975. The difference in moods is readily apparent, as the band comes out on fire--particularly the trumpeter, who was in a more reticent mood during the afternoon's festivities. With PANGAEA Miles peeks out from the eye of an electronic hurricane to impart the darker side of his soul. Davis was on the verge of a total mental and physical collapse when this concert was recorded, suffering from a variety of degenerative physical ailments, in the throes of a cocaine haze, glaring out at the world from behind the protective darkness of his shades, amidst the grungy blare of his Afro-blue psychobabble. Whether these sounds derive from Davis' malaise or occur in spite of it, it's amusing to recall that this dangerous, relentlessly edgy music was widely held to be proof of Miles' commercial aspirations. Yet only in recent years did Ornette Coleman & Prime Time, The Black Rock Coalition, Living Colour and John Zorn's Naked City approximate PANGAEA's mysterious power. On side one, some fierce acid funk gives way to an aquatic percussive melange; likewise, side two's lyrical folk themes (as epitomized by Sonny Fortune's lovely flute and Miles' coy wah-wah trumpet) are transformed into a serene, mysterious blues of surprising delicacy. Throughout PANGAEA, guitarist Pete Cosey plays with heroic freedom and epic ferocity over the ritualistic roar of drummer Al Foster, bassist Michael Henderson, and percussionist Mtume.
Titles on disc 1
1.
Zimbabwe
2.
Gondwana
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Listed on Ciao since
11/11/2000
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