WE WANT MILES

It was in June, 1981 that Miles Davis broke a silence of about six years. The rumor for the revival frequently went around till then. The state of a silence was almost kept excluding the work though it was related to the work of the production of the film concerning the commercial for the enterprise in 1979 in Japan. The tiredness of his work done as a result in the 70's and the deterioration of the physical condition might have been related.

The rumor of the revival that had flowed in 1980 indeed had credibility. The news having been passed on by CBS was news that told the fact that Miles Davis began the recording of the album. And, it is told that work to edit the recorded album is done. However, the listener waited for the trend though the firm evidence was not obtained as a result in 1980 while rumored.

The rumor finally actually becomes 1981 for the revival of Miles Davis. The appearance was shown to live ..doing of Freddie Habbard.. in March, 1981. It came to 7th avenue south hearing the appearance of Kazumi Watanabe of a Japanese guitar player in April. And, Mike Stern active with Billy Cobham was requested. And, the point that had to make a special mention was true to which Thad Jones-The Vanguard Orchestra appeared live. And, the flow of this situation is connected with "The Man with the Horn".

As for this album, the sound source of the performance done in Boston, New York, and Japan is used. It is said that the sound source was basically used as it was though producer's Teo Macero edited a part of Intro and Solo of the tune. And, Miles Davis at this time was not a translation that had revived still perfectly. It is said that there was a vague part according to the performance, too. However, it is likely to have gone out for this album with the content that extracts the part where Miles Davis is good before support a surrounding musician who supports the music completely refined and Miles Davis.

In "Jean Pierre", the melody of the line of Bass is a feature. And, the oneness of the band led to the melody of the trumpet of Miles Davis exactly makes one space exist. This performance is done in the place that is called Shinjyuku in Tokyo in Japan. The band explodes gradually. Solo of Mike Stern has a good flow. It is guessed that Miles Davis wanted to take the part of Jimi Hendrix to own band as a result. Sax of Bill Evans might also have sent a new wind to this band.

"Back Seat Betty" is a performance done in New York. The trumpet that there is a tension in a chaotic part twines. The sound and the rhythm of Mike Stern also contribute to the tune. The tune progresses while maintaining the part of fine quality.

The band dashes in "Fast Track" completely in union. Melody of exploding trumpet. Rhythm where it dashes. Part of Bass and guitar that produces tension and wide. Solo of the guitar might be overwhelming. The tune shows various respects as the repeated theme twining. And, Solo of the trumpet that appears when seven minutes are passed is a masterpiece. The part and ensemble of the percussion instrument have succeeded, too.

"Jean Pierre" is a tune of which the same tune is composed further by the edit. The sound of the edited band is refined further. It is possible to listen to the sound of the trumpet and the guitar well.

"My Man's Gone Now" is a performance done in Boston. Line of heavy Bass. Guitar with anacatesthesia. And, the atmosphere of the trumpet is complete. The construction of the sound that each musician has them act while continuing the tension offers a good part. Solo of Bill Evans rides on the stream. The tune gradually receives the top. And, it develops while showing different further respect.

"Kix" progresses attended with the rhythm of reggae. The sound of the trumpet twines round the part where the percussion instrument is good well. Sound of glossy Sax. And, the sound of the guitar that offers the sound of fine quality. The introduction legato of four rhythms will be able to be improved as a composition.

The title of the album will have been exactly a shout of the fan of Miles Davis. Miles Davis rushes into a new age and the creation by this album.

We Want Miles is Miles' first live album since his lengthy hiatus and finds him more or less picking up where he left off in the mid-70s, albeit with some changes for the new decade. The basic approach of his live music here has remained the same in that Davis is still working with very spare musical ideas and counting on talented side men to make something happen with his bare riffs and rhythms. Most of these songs are extended jams based on short melodies, or sometimes just a groove, but this sort of loose structure has served Miles very well over much of his career.

Although the music on here has a similar organizational approach to much of his music in the 70s, there are some distinct differences to these new Miles jams of the early 80s. Overall there is a much leaner and cleaner texture, soloists are often left with only bass and drums/percussion to back them up thereby leaving a lot of breathing room and space in the solos. Marcus Miller on bass lends a very modern and virtuostic approach to the bass that was lacking from previous Davis jams and Mike Stern brings a fresh 80s styled tapping oriented guitar solo sound to the band. It's that leaner texture though that makes this 80s version of the Miles jam session slightly inferior to much of his 70s work. This kind of improvised music thrives on a busy rhythm section and it's the reason for the great music found in records like Live at the Fillmore, with Corea and Jarret's ongoing 'keyboard battle', and Agharta, with Cosey and Lucas' intuitive guitar interplay. It's those doubled up rhythm sections filling in the background for the soloist to float on top of that made so many of those 70s recordings so great.

Having said all that, there is some excellent music on here. Mike stern's guitar player is incredible as he blends his be-bop chops with Miles' recommendation to put some Eddie Van Halen in his solos. Alex Foster's powerful drumming helps the new band's sparse approach to accompaniments work, as he is almost an orchestra in himself and can go from a whisper, to gradually building to a busy roar that fills every space and pushes soloists to their maximum. Throughout this album Miles and his crew hit some moments that match past glories, particularly when Miles or saxophonist Bill Evans beef up the rhythm sound with some background keyboards to help push the solos.

Some drawbacks include a couple jams that are a little on the cute side with child-like melodies and/or 80s styled pop-reggae rhythms, but it was the 80s and we were supposed to 'be happy don't worry'. Overall this is a great album with slammin Miles styled free jams that suffer only when compared to Miles' 70s free jam masterworks such as Agharta or Pangea.

The return of Miles Davis to the public spotlight in the early 1980s, after falling off the map for almost six years, saw the Fusion beast of the mid '70s finally tamed and on a tighter stylistic leash. The trumpet player who took the stage in the summer and autumn of 1981 was a more easy-on-the-ears bandleader compared to the "seriously brutal artist" of the earlier decade (quoting guitarist and fan Carlos Santana). History, failing health, and creative fatigue had finally caught up to the aging Davis, a trendsetting pioneer reduced to following in the footsteps of his own protégés, notably aping the milder Jazz Rock fusions of WEATHER REPORT.

And yet his playing seems oddly stronger here than it was in those frantic, drug-fueled gigs caught on the "Agharta / Pangaea" and "Dark Magus" albums. And his new back-up band was solid, if nowhere near as incandescent or experimental as the thermonuclear ensembles of the middle '70s. Drummer Al Foster was the only remaining musician in the reconfigured line-up, now paired with twenty-two year old bassist Marcus Miller, soon to become a fixture on Davis albums and a stabilizing factor in his mentor's professional life.

The set-list from these concerts, recorded in Tokyo and the eastern U.S. seaboard, was more pleasantly jam-oriented than the often pyrotechnic improvisations of earlier bands, the difference immediately apparent in the late-career signature melody "Jean-Pierre" (included twice in this set). Needless to say, the simple, childlike song is a long way from the elegant sophistication of "So What", but it's a catchy little tune, and oddly playful coming from such an uncompromising musical agitator.

Of course in 1982 we should have been grateful to hear anything at all from the aging and reclusive legend. So how come the album has never (to date) been released on CD in North America? Never mind the cultural insult; in purely commercial terms the oversight makes little sense, although it might explain why so many fans, this relative newbie included, were hardly aware the album even existed. Don't expect a masterpiece, but on its own terms it works surprisingly well, far better than some of the Miles Davis studio albums from the same period.