Re: [Harp-L] Miles Davis

[The Iceman <icemanle@xxxxxxx>]

In regards to Miles, he doesn't fall under that category of having improvs that just repeat to a large extent with the chunks of phrases mixed around. He hated cliches and memorized licks and would fire those in his band when he started to hear this coming from them. He also didn't want his musicians to practice.. he would tell them "I'm paying you to practice on the bandstand, m*therf**ker".

Of all the artists I've been drawn to, Miles was the most "in the moment" as far as how he created and what he asked his side men to accomplish. He wanted the music to unfold in different directions every night, as is evident on those great live recordings that capture him in a 2, 3, 4 or 5 night gig, playing the same songs, but having them evolve differently all the time.

Did you realize that at the time of his death, he was working on a rap project which was released as a cd called "Doo-Bop"? He was always interested in the most current sounds that were happening on the streets - especially amongst young blacks, as he always wanted to break through to this particular market. At that time, rap was just coming into its own. He always looked forward.

I've pulled a lot of his influence, ideas, approaches into how I play the harmonica. As I've mentioned before, if you want a real ear opening experience regarding playing in 3rd position (minor blues), listen to his soundtrack recording Ascenseur pour l'Ãchafaud, a 1958 french film by Louis Malle.
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Fugazzi <mikefugazzi@xxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: info <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>; icemanle <icemanle@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Thu, Sep 27, 2012 3:50 pm
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Miles Davis


I would say that is true of just about any musician.  Tying in to the emotion comments this week, that can be spun too.  You can say that a person has their own voice and that comes through no matter what they play OR that they stink because they sound the same no matter what they play over.


FWIW, I contend most players have very limited vocabularies when improvising and quickly end up playing the same things over and over.  We give them a free pass when we like them (they have a voice!) and then slam them when we don't like it (same thing all the time is boring).  Exceptions can be made when they change contexts - like they have a typical 1st position solo, or some different chormatic riffs.  Really, though, after a few listens, most musicians' improvisations just repeat to a large extent with the chunks of phrases mixed around.

On Thursday, September 27, 2012 11:40:27 AM UTC-5, The Iceman wrote:
Here's the interesting thing about Miles.....

his trumpet playing remained the same (once he found his unique voice)...it was the music that he surrounded it with that he constantly altered.