Miles Davis: Panthalassa: The Music Of Miles Davis 1969-1974
It is always good to have something new from Miles Davis. And though he is no longer with us, of course his music lives on. This recording, produced by Bill Laswell was released in 1998 on Sony. Credited to Bill Laswell and Miles Davis, it is an album of re-mixes and interpretations, mainly drawing on out-takes or material from the late 60s and 70s fusion sessions. A time when Miles was deep into exploring the possibilities of electrified instrumentation and taking up some of the challenges laid down by rock and soul.
I have to say, whatever his credibility as a producer I have never been a big fan of Bill Laswell’s personal work. But here he finds something special and contributes an understanding of where Miles was going at the time. Much has been written about this period of Miles’s work and his subsequent disappearance from the music scene. His electric period is often compared to his earlier acoustic playing and then against his later ‘comeback’ work. Not always favourably. And it is a period that is arguably Miles’s most contended.
There has also been much discussion of Miles’s method of recording during this period. Working with Teo Macero, it was often a process of piecing takes together, of creating a weave of sound from what was on tape. Considered revolutionary at the time it laid heavy emphasis on the studio as part of the music-making process. So perhaps it is fitting that Laswell, no stranger to this mode of work, should steward this project.
There are four tracks. ‘In A Silent Way/Shhh/Peaceful/It's About That Time’, ‘Black Satin/What If/Agharta Prelude Dub’, ‘Rated X/Billy Preston’, and ‘He Loved Him Madly’. Basically an amalgam of the best tracks from the albums, In a Silent Way, On the Corner, Get Up with It and Agartha.
You have to approach this project with some caution, wondering how anyone could add to the music. Yet this recording succeeds. It succeeds because it does not tamper with the music, does not attempt to use it as a vehicle for someone else’s vision. At best it stretches the sound palette, adding depth and augmenting. It uses developments in studio technology to showcase Miles’s vision. Yes a little bit of dub here, a tweak there, splicing in some previously un-thought of juxtaposition of texture or sound, but letting the power of the music speak for itself. Some might find the use of so much material from On the Corner, (undoubtedly Miles’s most controversial recording), questionable, but the wah-wah on the horn sounds strangely contemporary. And the way in which notes are bent and stretched, their phrasing, brings to mind the work of some current trumpet players, Nils Petter Molvaer, Jon Hassell or Arve Henrikesen for example. The stand out track is surely ‘He Loved him Madly’, a beautiful piece of music under any circumstance. The horn gliding down through the melody, lingering and swaying, weaving its spell, then stepping back lightly to flit and distort in the upper registers. Always musical, never abrasive. A powerful and graceful piece of music that prowls lion-like across your mind.
Some mention should made of the other musicians who contribute, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Tony Williams and Herbie Hancock; John McLaughlin in particular adding some sterling fret-work.
Confirms how far ahead of his time Miles Davis was. Not a ‘tribute’ work or some sort of pastiche that attempts to introduce a new generation to the work of a master. A stand-alone work.
Copyright (C) Peter Hodgins Nov 2007
Panthalassa: The Music Of Miles Davis 1969-1974. BUY.
I have to say, whatever his credibility as a producer I have never been a big fan of Bill Laswell’s personal work. But here he finds something special and contributes an understanding of where Miles was going at the time. Much has been written about this period of Miles’s work and his subsequent disappearance from the music scene. His electric period is often compared to his earlier acoustic playing and then against his later ‘comeback’ work. Not always favourably. And it is a period that is arguably Miles’s most contended.
There has also been much discussion of Miles’s method of recording during this period. Working with Teo Macero, it was often a process of piecing takes together, of creating a weave of sound from what was on tape. Considered revolutionary at the time it laid heavy emphasis on the studio as part of the music-making process. So perhaps it is fitting that Laswell, no stranger to this mode of work, should steward this project.
There are four tracks. ‘In A Silent Way/Shhh/Peaceful/It's About That Time’, ‘Black Satin/What If/Agharta Prelude Dub’, ‘Rated X/Billy Preston’, and ‘He Loved Him Madly’. Basically an amalgam of the best tracks from the albums, In a Silent Way, On the Corner, Get Up with It and Agartha.
You have to approach this project with some caution, wondering how anyone could add to the music. Yet this recording succeeds. It succeeds because it does not tamper with the music, does not attempt to use it as a vehicle for someone else’s vision. At best it stretches the sound palette, adding depth and augmenting. It uses developments in studio technology to showcase Miles’s vision. Yes a little bit of dub here, a tweak there, splicing in some previously un-thought of juxtaposition of texture or sound, but letting the power of the music speak for itself. Some might find the use of so much material from On the Corner, (undoubtedly Miles’s most controversial recording), questionable, but the wah-wah on the horn sounds strangely contemporary. And the way in which notes are bent and stretched, their phrasing, brings to mind the work of some current trumpet players, Nils Petter Molvaer, Jon Hassell or Arve Henrikesen for example. The stand out track is surely ‘He Loved him Madly’, a beautiful piece of music under any circumstance. The horn gliding down through the melody, lingering and swaying, weaving its spell, then stepping back lightly to flit and distort in the upper registers. Always musical, never abrasive. A powerful and graceful piece of music that prowls lion-like across your mind.
Some mention should made of the other musicians who contribute, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Tony Williams and Herbie Hancock; John McLaughlin in particular adding some sterling fret-work.
Confirms how far ahead of his time Miles Davis was. Not a ‘tribute’ work or some sort of pastiche that attempts to introduce a new generation to the work of a master. A stand-alone work.
Copyright (C) Peter Hodgins Nov 2007
Panthalassa: The Music Of Miles Davis 1969-1974. BUY.
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