JAZZ.FM91 celebrates 100 Years of Miles Davis

Ronnie Littlejohn’s Pick: “Générique” (1958)

Danny Marks and Laura Fernandez’s pick: Sketches of Spain (1960)

Sketches of Spain, reprising Joaquin Rodrigo’s classical composition “Concierto de Aranjuez,” is a favourite Miles Davis recording. After his wife Frances introduced him to Aranjuez, Miles Davis became enamoured with Spanish folk music and melody. The concerto is a showpiece for guitar and orchestra a staple of the repertoire. The modes of Aranjuez are Middle Eastern in nature, bringing a haunted, mysterious mood to the music. With such a strong melody to work from, Miles’ minimalistic technique is able to shine. Brave as it was for Miles Davis to reinvent this classical guitar staple as a Jazz piece, the man pulls it off with attitude and verve. The Columbia album Sketches of Spain grew from the central piece, Aranjuez, to become a showcase of Spanish Folk and classical music filtered through a jazz lens. – Danny Marks, BLUZ.FM and Beyond the Fringe

I grew up listening to Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez and El Amor Brujo and this is a beautiful fusion and interpretation of these classical pieces with jazz and the Spanish music I grew up with. It doesn’t get much better than that! – Laura Fernandez, Café Latino

Dani Elwell and John Devenish’s pick: Ascenseur Pour L’échafaud (1958)

Recorded before Kind of Blue and Milestones, it’s an enduring piece from the soundtrack that Miles was asked to create for the French film directed by Louis Malle, Ascenseur pour l’echafaud or Elevator to the Gallows. It was created in the late months of 1957. Miles watched a private screening of the film, agreed to create its sound and then brought four players into the studio without really preparing anything for them. Improvisation at its finest and beautifully moody. – Dani Elwell, Voice Tracks

There are the classic Miles Davis recordings and then there are those that are emotionally deep and spontaneously so in their presentation and their soundscape. I am partial to the music Davis created and improvised for the film Ascenseur pour l’echafaud (Elevator To The Gallows) . The album of the film’s music shares the name of the film. The story goes that Miles worked with Pierre Michelot, Kenny Clarke, Benny Wilen, and Rene Urtreger, and gave them only a few harmonic chord progression beds as an outline to after seeing scenes from the movie. The mastery is that the musicians collectively improvised music to set and match the moods of the film’s scenes. It is a truly organic and in the moment kind of creativity and is representative of the spirit of the artist and those he led for the recording. The album was recorded in 1957 and there is no one single track that is a favorite, truly the recording is best listened to in its complete form to experience the magic; the full experience is to watch the film and follow the music as it develops and becomes very much a character in the film’s universe. Ascenseur pour l’echafaud came out in 1958 and stars Jeanne Moreau and Maurice Ronet. – John Devenish, Dinner Jazz

Laura Fernandez and Jelani Watson’s pick: “Flamenco Sketches” from Kind Of Blue (1959)

I also absolutely love the album Kind of Blue. It is incredible and of course a masterpiece I bought a vintage LP of Kind of Blue for my partner’s birthday- it was best gift I could think of to give a musician. The track “Flamenco Sketches” is consciousness-altering. The musicians on that album… a historical document of mythic proportions. – Laura Fernandez, Café Latino

“Flamenco Sketches” feels like an encapsulation of the history and future of jazz. They took Bill Evans’ solo piano composition Peace Piece and used it as a foundation for Flamenco Sketches which is a song with no composed melody, but rather an improvised melody from Miles.

The is a ballad, but also features the emerging modal jazz approach at the centre of the Kind of Blue album. It showcases different approaches to this emerging approach to jazz and collective improvisation, from Miles’ simple yet elegant melodies, to the energy and dexterity of Cannonball Adderley’s bebop/hardbop lines, to the harmonic and modal clarity of John Coltrane through his “sheets of sound,” to the sparse, intentional and rich voicings of Bill Evans, to the delicate, floating and yet rooted playing of Paul Chambers’ bass and Jimmy Cobbs’ drums.

On top of all that the form of the song is flexible with different sections being queued by the soloist adding a unique touch to each chorus and keeping everyone locked in to the shared moment of story telling. – Jelani Watson, Take Me to the Water

Heather Bambrick’s pick: “High Speed Chase” from Doo-Bop (1992)

Choosing a favourite Miles Davis track is like choosing your favourite food or colour: there are so many factors, including the mood, tone, and musical experience I’m seeking as a listener. Thus, there are a few Miles tunes that stand our for me for a couple of reasons. Miles was a bit of a musical chameleon, changing his approach and musical direction with what was happening in the world of music at the time. We saw this in the 1980s, when he added pop music to his repertoire and in the 1990s when he embraced the subgenre of “acid jazz”. In fact, the final studio recording he made – Doo-Bop – fully showcased Miles’ interpretation of what was happening in the evolution of jazz at the time. On the song “High Speed Chase”, Miles wanted to capture the frenetic energy of New York City. I think he nailed it.- Heather Bambrick, Wake Up! with Heather Bambrick