Live at Teatro Dell'Arte, Milano 10/11/1964
Agitation (1967)
Karlsruhe
Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Tony Williams
miles davis catalog
music publishing
Bitches Brew (1968)
Clip
East St. LouisMusic
music publishers
From hard bop to fusion - a revolution in jazz performance and improvisation
Beginning with his pre-Kind of Blue recordings for the Prestige label, to his modal masterpiece, Blue in Green, recorded March 2, 1959, then fast forwarding to the abstraction of Seven Steps to Heaven, E.S.P., In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew, to the last music he made before retiring in 1975, the East St. Louis catalog is full of the familiar and unexpected. It marks a time when Miles's group was "still playing standard songs and new compositions," but looser, with "more modern and even avant-guard elements," to the birth of fusion jazz and beyond. By 1968, with the release of Bitches Brew, Miles' sound was devoid of cliche, electric, "more percussive than lyrical." What we first encountered and couldn't understand, later engaged us. Familiarity soon overshadowed the shock of the new. As Miles once said, "You don't stop playing the way you used to play. You don't hear the sound at first. It takes time."
This website, created by East St. Louis Music, which administers the Miles Davis song catalog on behalf of his sons, Gregory Davis, and Miles Davis IV, charts periods of courageous and defiant growth. Moving beyond hard bop, cool jazz, rock and funk, Miles Davis revolutionized jazz and jazz composition.
Jazz innovator. Dark magus. Icon. Miles often turned his back to the audience while playing, but, what most didn't realize, he wasn't bashful, rude, or simply leading his ensemble. He was all those things. But primarily he was pointing us in a new direction. We didn't hear the sound at first. But we do now.
These compositions are available to license for commercials and film. To sample the catalog click the Spotify button at the top of the page.
Resources:
The authoritative Miles Ahead website: http://www.plosin.com/MilesAhead/Disco.aspx?d=6
The Electric Music of Miles Davis by Philip Freeman (Backbeat Books)
Miles Davis Originals Vol. 2 (Hal Leonard)