Electric or Classic Miles Davis?

[jdenny2018]

Which period of Miles Davis is better? His classic period, or his electric period?

I've always leaned more towards his electric stuff, but I want to know what other people think.

[stangetzaway]

Probably depends which perspective you take. 3 of my top 10 Miles Albums (Jack Johnson, On The Corner, Bitches Brew) and considering you're basically looking at 1970 - 1975 in his career you can argue that period punchs above it's weight . Having said that check 1957 - 1959 it includes Round About Midnight, Cookin with the MDQ, Relaxin with the MDQ, Miles Ahead, Milestone, Kind of Blue, L'Ascenseur, Porgy and Bess etc. Little doubt in my mind which was his most fruitful period.

[RoundTheBend]

I kinda feel like the jazz purist would go early and the hey that's cool music types, but not necessarily jazz enthusiasts, go electric period. But that's just a wild guess.

As a Jazz beginner I'm stuck between both - I feel Kind of Blue is the jazz in a box album (all things beginner jazz), whereas In A Silent Way musically speaks to me more. It's got this beautiful ambient thing that I barely would consider Jazz.

On the Corner is like soul/funk meets jazz... idk - Bitches Brew is clearly more jazz than "rock", so I won't say that his later stuff is less than 50% "traditional jazz", whatever that means.

Anyway, I'll stop my incoherent ramblins.

[YoungPunk]

electric

[PurpleHazel]

DON'T MAKE ME CHOOSE!!!


Gun to my head, I'd pick Electric, but that's because it has a slight sentimental edge on Acoustic for me. I got into fusion from rock and mainstream jazz from fusion, so Bitches Brew, In a Silent Way, Live-Evil (even better, the Cellar Door Sessions box set) and Jack Johnson were in regular rotation during my late teens, a very formative age for me (my mind made more formable by mind-altering drugs). I love them all.

But I also love Miles Smiles, E.S.P., Kind of Blue, Miles Ahead, Milestones, Sketches of Spain.

Abstain

[PurpleHazel]

[RoundTheBend]

Pretty much - well said.

[boyd94]

Kind of Blue is interesting largely for its formal innovations but nothing compares to Bitches Brew. It's sitting in my top 5 so I would say that, but even compared to In a Silent Way the difference is night and day. I like IaSW but it seems tentative and transitional when considered alongside the follow-up along similar formal lines.

As said above, I never really bought the rock part of jazz-rock. Unless critics who label it as such are hearing very different rock music from me. Davis has claimed to be inspired by Hendrix but that doesn't mean it necessarily emerges in the composition in any identifiable way. I'd wager that rock was influenced by Davis far more so than the reverse.

[rkm]

I definitely prefer Miles up to the late 60’s. I’m not a purist. I probably prefer Weather Report in the early 70’s over Miles at that time. Wayne Shorter is the connection between the two. In the 70’s I lean more toward the atmospheric and avant-garde of the ECM label jazz, over the funky electric jazz of Miles, Herbie Hancock etc. I also like the spiritual jazz of Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane of the late 60’s and early 70’s. For me, Miles holds less interest once I get to the 70’s.

[Fischman]

For me, definitely electric.

I've always found his classic stuff rather uninspiring relative to the other greats of the time. Give me Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Wes Montgomery, or John Coltrane any time. Don't get me wrong, he put out a lot of great music back then, I just think a little less of it than many of his contemporaries.

But when he got around to the likes of In a Silent Way or On the Corner, he was not only changing the shape of jazz, but changing it in a way that was genuinely exciting and truly shone against the backdrop of everything else that was going on in jazz, and even music in general at the time.