Musical Windfall
Jan 25th, 2007 by Donagh
It’s quite astonishing. For the last week I’ve been mainly listening to The Best of the Miles Davis Quintet (1965-68). It’s weird because I’m not a jazz fan. I’ve tried from time to time, but could never cut it. For me it often veers dangerously close to easy listening or reminds me of those appalling Sunday afternoon sessions where you find yourself tapping your coffee spoon against your café-mocca-chino-latte involuntarily in some pub while the upright bass player nods regularly with closed eyes.
So it’s a fear of blandness; everything that the Montreal Jazz Festival suggests. Miles Davis though is the exception. In my youf I tried to get into Bitches Brew but I found the long rambling tracks of the jazz-rock freakout wearing. However, this mid-60’s phase is punchy and fast. In my enthusiasm I’ve uncovered some footage of the Quintet in action as well as couple of tracks, which can be played from this post.
Here’s the Miles Davis Quintet featuring Wayne Shorter,Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Jack De Johnette. Teatro Sistina October 27 1969.
You can also get listen to Miles here. Just click the Pop up Flash Player when you get to the page.
Oh and here’s more Miles:
Ascenceur pour l echafaud (Miles Davis) - Theme
Autumn Leaves
In other music news Nick Cave has a new band called Grinderman (thanks Alan). It’s a collaboration with Warren Ellis, Martyn Casey and Jim Sclavunos. The sound is more Birthday Party-ish than the recent Nick Cave.
You can listen to some tracks on the MySpace page or using Hype Machine.
There’s also an interesting London-based electro act called Burial. The Guardian talks it up here using references to Brian Eno and Joy Division.
Something else of (musical) interest is the documentary Liberace of Baghdad showing tonight at 11:20 on BBC 2.
According to the site, director Sean McAllister spent eight months with Baghdad’s most famous pianist, Samir Peter, who has been reduced to playing in a hotel bar as the chaos around him unfolds.
There’s an interview with Samir Peter here and one with the director Sean McAllister here.
