Why didnt miles play lee

He kicked the habit a few years later owing to the intervention of his father, a prosperous dentist. Then, in , Davis—taking a cigarette break in the street between sets that his band was playing at a Manhattan jazz club—was beaten by a police officer and arrested, an incident that left him shaken and bitter. The horrific attack proved to be a major public event, nearly sparking a riot, but the movie offers little context. It precipitated his use of drugs. So did his chronic pain from a degenerative hip condition resulting in major surgery in the mid-sixties , and so did pain from an injury from a car accident, in He was violent; he was abusive.

In an interview in the film, the artist Jo Gelbard, a woman who was in a relationship with Davis in his later years, speaks tenderly of his temperament in those times. Perhaps someone else can fill in the details. Vic Vic Sgornikov ac I have not read Miles' autobiography.

Does he mention "Fats" Navarro? Aaron Keys. And although I have tons of his stuff and I'm a. With all respect, how would Monk fare judged by this standard? Did he "miss" too many notes too? Ironic how these two innovators, both of whom exemplified a less is more philosophy in their playing, are criticized for their lack of technical proficiency. I totally agree. Miles's introversion is very attractive, as is his emphasis on the horn's mid-range.

With Dizzy and Lee, a lot of it is just "attack-attack-attack. Which is precisely what makes the modern, sales-oriented music business so bland and disappointing. When no one is allowed to make any mistakes, businesswise or in their playing, we don't get enough experimentation, reaching out for that something special, which results in either great art or glorious disasters.

Certainly, in his autobiography, Miles does not seem to have any lack of confidence in his own musical ability. But I didn't get the impression that he put down too many other musicians, either besides Eric Dolphy, of course, with that famous "standing on his foot" quote. No trumpeter today. That's why with the zillions of recordings out To each their own opinion, but I'm just curious One of the reasons I like Miles so much is because of the way he played the blues.

One shining example comes to mind Miles' solo on "Straight, No Chaser" on the album Milestones. To my ears, that solo is pure genius or at the very least a template of what a solo should be for those trying to play on the blues from the beginning where he quotes and develops the last phrase of Cannonball Adderley's solo, then quotes and develops the "Saints" phrase, and eventually works the solo to a blistering climax with the E above the staff concert D.

And along the way, you'll notice Miles using Red Garland to good advantage, taking a few ideas from his comping. There's not a sixteenth note in the whole solo unless you count the gliss's. Definitely not the way Freddie or Lee would play it. You say you have tons of Miles' stuff For contrast, name a solo by another player that you think is exemplary. Miles' technique wasn't the greatest but it was still damn good, imho ; but that didn't stop him from getting his incredible ideas across.

For what it's worth, I recall sitting at the defunct nightclub, 'Slug's' in NYC between sets with Freddie Hubbard one evening back in the early '70s. This was before VCR's. Freddie was bemoaning the fact that he wasn't going to be able to catch Miles on the Dick Cavett TV show that night.

Freddie thought Miles was tremendous. Martin Milgrim. Miles technique involves lots of space, a really dry sound almost like there's no bell on the horn , and precarious phrases where you don't know what note is going to be split next like Chuck Mangione.

There's almost no jazz trumpeter I don't like, including Miles as much as I've flamed him. I'm just not wow'd by Miles. Never liked any version of Round Midnight he's ever done. And I don't think Monk ever did either.

I couldn't stop listening to it for a while. Blues: Take almost any solo Lee Morgan has ever played as another example. Love his version of Night In Tunisia. For blues, how about Diz on Bloomdido. Hubbard on Watermellon man is another tasty blues example, although simple I know. Dig also hints at another direction Miles would take.

By now Miles had begun habitually playing trumpet with a mute, which lent his sound a wiry quality — as wiry as his physical presence — that inspired countless imitators and yet, six decades later, remains distinctive. Around this time, Miles also found confirmation of his own tendencies in the music of pianists Thelonious Monk and, particularly, Ahmad Jamal: their playing made full use of space, inspiring the trumpeter to continue experimenting in the same vein. Ironically, in applying that approach to his late recording Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants , the trumpeter created the space he desired by largely leaving out the piano played by Monk!

Of course, no artist, not even one as innovative and independent-minded as Miles, can exist in isolation or without influences. Miles, a lifelong devotee of boxing, found his own hero in the great middleweight fighter Sugar Ray Robinson.

It was a telling, and not very surprising, choice of role model. The boxer, that most solitary of athletes, fits well into the heroic tradition: a figure who learns from others, including younger versions of himself, but who performs his most important acts alone, in real time, relying solely on his own powers and judgment, bringing them to bear on every new situation — like a jazz soloist. That habit, in turn, led him to steal and even pimp, turning him into the kind of person he himself despised.

Miles admired the respect that Sugar Ray commanded, and in his own quiet but effective way he insisted on that respect for himself. While performing, he refused to compromise his dignity by clowning like Louis Armstrong or Dizzy Gillespie; he would seldom, in fact, communicate with his audience in any way, except through his music. The next couple of years would find Miles assembling and leading one of his most celebrated groups.

This quintet included the young bassist Paul Chambers and the pianist Red Garland himself a onetime boxer, who even fought Sugar Ray! He was the perfect foil for Miles, as Miles had once been for the by-then departed Charlie Parker. That quintet won Miles great acclaim, but he was never one to rest on his laurels.

Instead, he set off for new musical territory. Related Topics. Film Music. Published 19 January Published 25 January Published 29 September