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

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Future to Future: Herbie Hancock


Back from the days of Head Hunters, Herbie Hancock has shown an interest in picking up popular genres of music and seeing where they took him. With Head Hunters he struck gold, literally, and forged a plethora of imitators. Some of them went on to better things, while others languished and ended up littering the charts with pale pastiches of his work.

With this 2001 release, Future to Future on Transparent Disc, Herbie again turned his hand to popular genres, namely hip-hop and drum&bass to which he added a dash of world.

This recording works best as an exemplar; something to which maybe younger musicians can turn for ideas, or failing that to see what their elders make of their music.

And this is perhaps the problem with this album. Its ambition is a little widely focused. It is never better than good. There is none of the excellence or cross-over successes that marked Head Hunters. Herbie’s choice of musicians cannot be faulted. He gives space to younger artists as diverse as DJ Rob Swift, and Dance artists Carl Craig and A Boy Called Gerald. He also calls on sassy soul singer Chaka Khan plus his old colleagues Wayne Shorter and Jack de Johnette.

Yet the best tracks are those where the other artists determine the direction. This leaves Herbie playing a near supporting role - as though he were a guest on their project. Still there is plenty to enjoy here.

Rob Swift provides a taut contribution named, ‘This is Rob Swift’. Mixing samples of what sounds like a music professor earnestly discussing ‘rhythm’ against neatly syncopated beats and sampling to which Herbie adds some nice electric piano. An ironic touch. Black Gravity, a contribution from A Guy Called Gerald, is funky and textural but never quite takes off. ‘Ionosphere’ remains trippy and pleasant. Of the younger generation only Carl Craig produces something memorable with Kebero Pt 1 and Pt2, a strange middle-eastern electronic chant of sorts. However Herbie’s contribution is that of keyboard effects and an ending motif, and good though that is he seems somewhat superfluous.

Elsewhere there is some nice sax playing from Wayne Shorter on ‘Tony Williams’ though the spoken lyrics sound a little preachy and close to New Age sentiment, (as does the track, ‘Wisdom’). ‘Essence’ is an enjoyable song, Chaka Kahn producing her trademark vocals and the album finishes out with ‘Virtual Hornets’ a closer to standard jazz track that, again, has some nice work from Wayne Shorter.

Perhaps the problem is that for a younger generation their music takes place in a sphere that they alone understand. In the urban poetry of hip-hop or the protocols of the dance club or rave.

Full marks to Herbie Hancock for trying though. But I suspect this recording will make few converts among the twenty somethings and leave us older ones feeling just a little perplexed.

(This review refers to the standard release of the recording and does not include the bonus disc of re-mixes)

Copyright (C) David Millington Nov 2007

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Herbie Hancock: River:The Joni Letters



Lovers of jazz will need no introduction to Herbie Hancock. Maverick pianist from the days of the Miles Davis quintet, preferred keyboardist of the Davis fusion years and central energy of the seminal funk-jazz crossover album Head Hunters. Herbie Hancock has never been afraid to experiment with forms and genres, to explore the possibilities inherent in different musics. However fans of Joni Mitchell may not be so well acquainted with his work. Though Joni has never been an artist to shy away from incorporating elements of jazz into her folk and rock idiom she has never quite made the step from those idioms to jazz.. All of which makes the new Herbie Hancock recording, River: The Joni Letters an intriguing listen.

For this album Herbie Hancock has assembled an eclectic mix of musicians. Saxophonist Wayne Shorter, his fellow traveller from the fusion years, bassist Dave Holland, drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, and west-African guitarist Lionel Loueke. There are also appearances by a number of leading luminaries, Tina Turner, Corinne Bailey Rae, Luciana Souza, Norah Jones and Leonard Cohen. Mitchell herself guests on a track.

Projects like this can go astray, fall between the contrasting drives of their respective genres. Yet it is to Hancock’s credit that this album delivers. It manages an adroit balance between accessibility and improvisation without sacrificing musical integrity. It plays with Hancock’s jazzier instincts and the limitations of the rock and folk idiom. It elaborates on the subtlety of Joni Mitchell’s melodies and provides a sophisticated setting for her often quite excellent lyrics. It manages to be neither a Joni Mitchell album nor a Herbie Hancock album. Instead it occupies a space somewhere between the two.

That is not to say it is without flaws. The title track, The River, comes over a little too sweet. Punching under its weight. Corrine Bailey Rae’s vocals sound to my ears somewhat girlish, smothering the ironical longing of the lyrics; Also, Norah Jones’s vocals on the opening track, Court and the Spark, appear at times to get lost, to sink below the music. And the final track, one of two bonus tracks, A Case of You, while infectious and cross referencing Afro-Pop, folk and R&B could be considered superfluous.

Stand-out tracks are Nefertiti, (a classic Wayne Shorter piece), Luciana Souza’s reading of Amelia, (melancholy, rich and warm all at once), All I Want, (performed as a true jazz-spiritual), Edith and the Kingpin, (Tina Turner on a song that lets her voice show its range and capabilities), and Joni Mitchell herself on The Tea-Leaf Prophecy. Special mention should be made of Leonard Cohen’s reading the of The Jungle Line. I approached this with trepidation having read that Cohen did not sing but recite the lyrics. However, despite his gravely, melancholy delivery, this track works very well. Just voice and piano, the piano returning again and again to the lower registers in an almost delta blues manner, and the voice, as would befit a man who is a published poet, ringing the nuances and levels of meaning from of the words.

This is not a jazz album in the purist sense. Neither is it a rock or folk album. What it is, is an album of contemporary adult music. Performed skilfully, with elegance and in a spirit of exploration. Those who criticise Herbie Hancock’s flirtations with popular music should consider that in many ways he is being true to the roots of jazz. A music that, (before it entered the universities and museums) was a popular music and never denied its relationship with popular forms of self-expression.

This is an interesting and successful recording. It begs the question what further such projects could produce. A collaboration with Tina Turner, Luciana Souza or even Leonard Cohen?

River: The Joni Letters, is well worth having. A enjoyable addition to any collection for those who love music.

Copyright (C) Peter Hodgins Nov 2007

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