Jazz Appreciation Month
As every single PS reader out there knows, this month is "Jazz Appreciation Month". As my own form of celebration, I decided to dig deeper into the Miles Davis catalog and really learn all about his music.
It's been a really fun and interesting ride so far. With a little help from iTunes and the Public Library, I have been able to get my hands on a substantial load of material. I'm focusing on his fusion period mostly. I was already a big fan of his more popular albums like "Kind of Blue" and "Birth of the Cool". That's the easy stuff - everyone knows "So What" and "Freddie Freeloader".
The truth is that when Miles started mixing funk and rock elements in with his prodigious jazz skills, things started to really take off. I have to say that I really like the results.
Do yourself a huge favor and check out "In a Silent Way", "Bitches Brew" and even "On the Corner" (if you feel a little adventurious). These aren't hit laden albums, but this is really good, interesting music that won't dissapoint. The list of bands that were influenced by this period in Miles's career is longer than even Miles Davis himself could have predicted.
The best part is when you pop on iTunes and start sorting through this stuff, you're gonna find a handful of incredibly long songs that you can pick up for the same price as some dumb 2 minute song by the most recent American Idol reject. That's a freakin' steal in any language.
Ben O.
BTW - Check this bizarre story out.
It's been a really fun and interesting ride so far. With a little help from iTunes and the Public Library, I have been able to get my hands on a substantial load of material. I'm focusing on his fusion period mostly. I was already a big fan of his more popular albums like "Kind of Blue" and "Birth of the Cool". That's the easy stuff - everyone knows "So What" and "Freddie Freeloader".
The truth is that when Miles started mixing funk and rock elements in with his prodigious jazz skills, things started to really take off. I have to say that I really like the results.
Do yourself a huge favor and check out "In a Silent Way", "Bitches Brew" and even "On the Corner" (if you feel a little adventurious). These aren't hit laden albums, but this is really good, interesting music that won't dissapoint. The list of bands that were influenced by this period in Miles's career is longer than even Miles Davis himself could have predicted.
The best part is when you pop on iTunes and start sorting through this stuff, you're gonna find a handful of incredibly long songs that you can pick up for the same price as some dumb 2 minute song by the most recent American Idol reject. That's a freakin' steal in any language.
Ben O.
BTW - Check this bizarre story out.
Labels: Fusion, Jazz Appreciation Month, Miles Davis
posted by Ben O. | 1:38 PM
3 Comments:
what a great idea! i love jazz. my big brother once gave me a GREAT cd of mixed jazz, and i love my Kind of Blue album. great post! :)
That is so cool, I once gave my younger sister, Sis C. (then Sis O.) a CD (that I happened to think was pretty great) of mixed jazz.
This planet is getting so darn small.
Ben O.
Seriously, in response I would so highly recommend going to your local public library (they have so many jazz CDs there just collecting dust) or hopping on iTunes and heading straight to the Miles Davis section and looking for an album (that's what there were known as back in the day) called "In a Silent Way". This has got to be one of the coolest CDs out there. Don't get scared when you look and it only has 2 songs. The thing to do back then was to fill the entire side of the record with music that sort of flowed between song-like phrases.
The best part is that this is known as a fusion album of sorts, but it is so easy to listen to that I think it is really something altogether different. You get the best of both worlds.
Trust me on this one . . .
Ben O.
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