Album of the day (#3633): In A Silent Way by Miles Davis - Music

Fischman
RockMonster, JazzMeister, Bluesboy,ClassicalMaster

Gender: Male
Location: Land of Enchantment

RoundTheBend wrote:

good stuff - thanks for the comments.

And yeah - genre jumping indeed. Probably unfair to say, but miles' playing itself isn't radically different. Is it different, for sure. But really it's the rest of the band that provides this.

Anyone have any ideas on the control he had over the process? Like was he saying, yeah, I want to make an ambient album, or was it closer to he hired people who happened to "jam" out this feel? Or what?

Some interesting info in this article:

https://miles-beyond.com/iaswbitchesbrew.htm

RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

Fischman wrote:

RoundTheBend wrote:

good stuff - thanks for the comments.

And yeah - genre jumping indeed. Probably unfair to say, but miles' playing itself isn't radically different. Is it different, for sure. But really it's the rest of the band that provides this.

Anyone have any ideas on the control he had over the process? Like was he saying, yeah, I want to make an ambient album, or was it closer to he hired people who happened to "jam" out this feel? Or what?

Some interesting info in this article:

https://miles-beyond.com/iaswbitchesbrew.htm

Super helpful. It's interesting how "solo artists" often are a brand, and it appears Miles Davis is no different. Not a slight on him, just an observation. It's clear from that link that Joe Zawinul or Teo Macero played massive roles in the records themselves (along with others of course). Names I hadn't been familiar with before. It's not to diminish... a lot of solo artists are like this, but it does help me understand what really happened, etc., so thanks!

Its kinda like learning about Carol Kaye and how it's not Brian on Pet Sounds (or her amazing body of work at large). Doesn't really diminish Brian much, but a tinge (given Paul actually played all his parts for Beatles' works... well of course except when they switched up as multi-instrumentalists).

Pretty interesting paragraph:

Quote:

An important part of the legend of In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew concerns the extensive post-production that was involved in their making. Producer Teo Macero, who had worked with Miles since the late 1950s, played a central role. His influence in Miles’s music can be likened to that of George Martin with The Beatles. Macero was the one who tied the many disparate musical segments together, and edited them into a new whole, in some cases virtually recomposing the music. In A Silent Way, for instance, contained less than 27 minutes of musical material in its pre-edited form, and was cleverly looped by Macero to extend the music to 38 minutes. And the two opening tracks of Bitches Brew , “Pharaoh’s Dance,” and “Bitches Brew,” are completely restructured courtesy of 17 and 15 edits respectively.

Last edited by RoundTheBend on 11/30/2020 05:45; edited 1 time in total

RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

Maybe BEA can have interesting conversation after JMAN left after all Laughing

EyeKanFly
Head Bear Master/Galactic Emperor

Age: 33
Location: Gotham

RoundTheBend wrote:

Fischman wrote:

RoundTheBend wrote:

good stuff - thanks for the comments.

And yeah - genre jumping indeed. Probably unfair to say, but miles' playing itself isn't radically different. Is it different, for sure. But really it's the rest of the band that provides this.

Anyone have any ideas on the control he had over the process? Like was he saying, yeah, I want to make an ambient album, or was it closer to he hired people who happened to "jam" out this feel? Or what?

Some interesting info in this article:

https://miles-beyond.com/iaswbitchesbrew.htm

Super helpful. It's interesting how "solo artists" often are a brand, and it appears Miles Davis is no different. Not a slight on him, just an observation. It's clear from that link that Joe Zawinul or Teo Macero played massive roles in the records themselves (along with others of course). Names I hadn't been familiar with before. It's not to diminish... a lot of solo artists are like this, but it does help me understand what really happened, etc., so thanks!

Its kinda like learning about Carol Kaye and how it's not Brian on Pet Sounds (or her amazing body of work at large). Doesn't really diminish Brian much, but a tinge (given Paul actually played all his parts for Beatles' works... well of course except when they switched up as multi-instrumentalists).

Pretty interesting paragraph:

Quote:

An important part of the legend of In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew concerns the extensive post-production that was involved in their making. Producer Teo Macero, who had worked with Miles since the late 1950s, played a central role. His influence in Miles’s music can be likened to that of George Martin with The Beatles. Macero was the one who tied the many disparate musical segments together, and edited them into a new whole, in some cases virtually recomposing the music. In A Silent Way, for instance, contained less than 27 minutes of musical material in its pre-edited form, and was cleverly looped by Macero to extend the music to 38 minutes. And the two opening tracks of Bitches Brew , “Pharaoh’s Dance,” and “Bitches Brew,” are completely restructured courtesy of 17 and 15 edits respectively.

This is all super interesting, thanks for sharing. I think I was probably giving Miles more credit than he's due as a bandleader. It's interesting to compare him to Coltrane and Mingus in particular, since Mingus had clear visions and wrote all the parts or insisted that the parts be played the way he wanted. Coltrane and Miles' groups seem a little more on the "jam" side, but their presence and direction is not to be understated.

But the article really brings up a huge point about how many people are involved in making music beyond the writer(s) and musician(s) themselves. Editing, mastering, mixing, production, post-production, etc. are all incredibly important. And even on albums where the artist produces themselves, while that's an amazing feat there's still so many other people involved who make the music what it is.
_________________
51 Washington, D.C. albums!