As I recall we owned “Birth of The Cool” on which John Coltrane played along with a record where Miles played with the immortal Charlie Parker. I sort of recall a complete Coltrane album as well.

For my generation, Miles was older – a virtual icon from my parent’s generation and – even then – rather Avant Garde for anyone but the rather hip, urban crowd. Listening now to those old tracks, one is stunned by how good the man was – how true and melodic and how utterly moody as his trumpet carved soft chucks of shared Time out of the patterns and disparate occasional dissonance of the Jazz of the 40′s and 50′s – when time and melody often got sacrificed to an atonality of urban expressionism.

Then Miles did a few remarkable things. As the culture underwent its tectonic changes, he grabbed the bull by the horns and tried yet newer innovations in his corner of the music sphere and began nearing a rock and roll type of melody and expression. First with “Bitches Brew”, then with this amazing soundtrack to the movie, “Jack Johnson”, Miles commissioned what he referred to as “the best Rock And Roll band ever made”.

In 1971, using John McLaughlin, Herbie Hancock, Steve Grossman, Billy Cobham, and long time steady bassist Michale Henderson, Miles was able to cobble together musical geniuses to play alongside him, producing what I have always considered his greatest later work. It is long, but the latter parts of this tune, when Hancock absolutely rules with the Farfisa organ, it becomes greater than ever, bringing the entirety into a memorable listening experience.

This is my own tribute to Miles Davis, from his Tribute To Jack Johnson.

Right Off!

I’ve chosen these tunes in honor of you, the reader. I sometimes visit videos or get referred to them and I bear you in mind. I think to myself – “Would this be cool on my blog?”

“I wonder if folks have ever seen these, because, if they haven’t, I’d bet they’d be grateful after experiencing them.” This is as complicated as it gets. It’s most certainly sharing with people I like.

In the first video are old favorites of an entire generation: Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, working with an Egyptian Ensemble, doing what they do best – good  music.

This next tune is from some simply incredible Italians – Cuncordu de Orosei- and a marvelous Dane, Ernst Reijseger. I’ve always respected Reijseger, simply because he is in the Yoyo Ma category of Hall of Fame talents on a favored instrument of my own – the cello. But the stunning voices of his friends singing this hundreds-of-years old traditional song, make it a rather riveting experience, all-in-all:

The 3rd one is simply a delightfully different and lightweight bit of violin virtuosity at a club in California, featuring my current Love Interest Lili Haydn. Her work on “Mantra”, playing with Bill Laswell first showed me this incredible Canadian talent’s abilities as a musical prodigy – seen here in this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF1jRKXEuJM.

Here she does rock and roll in her own, um, “breathless fashion”.

The second tune is a favorite Cream tune of mine, also made recently as they reunited in Royal Albert Hall in 2005, after 30 years apart. It seemed electric.

Baker’s reputation is messy, with a drug reputation – no doubt well-deserved. But he is still a rocker and shaker, he seems healthy as heck now and he makes brilliant music, with excellent players.

Back then, Soul Music landed with all four feet and a loud, upbeat rhythmical thump. It took us all by storm. Fr0m Bo Diddly to the elegant Marvin Gaye, I spent years dancing and listening to Soul Music. It remains to this day a virtual Fountain of Inspiration to me. Here’s Bo – inventor of the guitar sound which he pioneered as well as the guitar itself. Funky man, that Bo:

I had an exceptionally eye-opening experience as a sophomore in high school, when three of us traveled to Evansville, Indiana from my home town of Owensboro to attend a James Brown concert. We got there real early, because we were afraid we wouldn’t get good seats, so we were easily an hour ahead of the concert start. As the crowd filed in, we began to realize we were pretty much the onliest white people in the entire small arena.

There we were, 3 young dumb white kids  in “O” jackets, with “State Baseball Champions” engraved across the letters – which we had just won. Well, as people filed in behind us (we were in about the third row), they engaged us. They were quietly thrilled we were interested in Brown but what blew our minds was that they knew who we were. Huge sports fans. “You boys have a sweet team. That Jim Howes will be throwing in the Big Leagues. Our boys gonna get you all!, ha ha ha.”

And, as always: “You came to the right concert, boys. James Brown is The Man.”

Well, he was. For all sorts of reasons, it may have been the greatest concert I’ve ever seen. Big Mama Thornton led things off, with Brown’s incredibly tight band behind her and our local men were going stark-raving crazy. She was amazingly talented, with a gorgeous voice and a passion I’ve never forgotten. She sang the blues – and she got upbeat – but her blues were the stunner. I wonder if I ever saw it done better.

We left the place on a cloud. It was a unique and enhancing experience for us all. It was, of course, during a time when racial issues became extremely important as an American social phenomenon. In a way, for me it was easier, owing to my athletics. Playing with the guys had me visit their homes, listen to them gab – for better or for worse, lol – have a darn good time and appreciate pure talent and performance. The good old bottom line in both the athletics and military experiences I had back then acquainted me with a race of people who were about as ‘different’ from me as “I am from me”. 

So I danced – and danced. Let’s face it. If you can’t move to this, you may be dead: