Jazz / Fusion; Jazz-Funk; Modal Music
Recorded: The Site, San Rafael, California.
Among the giants enthroned in jazz's pantheon, no one made as big, as broad, as bad-boy brazen of an impact on popular music in many manifestations - jazz, rock and improvisation - as Miles Davis. At the same time, he pioneered new routes for rock. The innovations Davis made in both jazz and rock spawned immediate followers in his time, and continue to infuse and energize the music of today. But even during the revival that began in the 1990s, "... only one band has had the courage to throw itself full bore into the thorniest Davis era, the mid-'70s years when he created a dark, dangerous, haunting, ecstatically wondrous body of music that no one has ever attempted to duplicate."(San Francisco Chronicle). That band is Yo Miles! Yo Miles! was formed in 1998 to explore, expound and expand on Davis' mid-70s electric music. For Sky Garden, Yo Miles!'s 2nd recording and 1st release on Cuneiform, Kaiser and Smith have assembled an all-star cast culled from both the jazz and rock communities. The lineup here includes Smith on trumpet; Kaiser, Mike Keneally and Chris Muir on electric guitars; Michael Manring on bass; Steve Smith on drums; Karl Perazzo on percussion; Greg Osby (alto) and John Tchicai (tenor and soprano) on saxophones; and Tom Coster on keyboards. It also features special guests Zakir Hussain on tabla, Dave Creamer on guitar, and the ROVA Sax Quartet. This set is about equally split between Miles' compositions and original compositions in the electric Miles style. The group's studio performance at The Site was recorded live, directly to a stereo DSD (Direct Stream Digital) recorder. The result is a set of two hybrid SACDs (Super Audio CDs, a new technology for enhanced audio quality) playable in either an SACD player or on a standard CD player.
"A sprawling blowout that should convert open minds on a quest for freeform funkwith a pulse as well as brains...The covers of Davis' riffs are at once dangerous and respectful, but the standout tracks are the new compositions, including Smith's atmospheric "Miles Star" and the reckless, expansive "Shinjuku"-Bret Saunders, Denver Post.
This CD was the 2004 winner of the best High-Resolution, Stereo-Only release at the 2004 Surround Music Awards.
Disc 1: 77:58 min.
Disc 2: 75:11 min.
Henry Kaiser - electric guitar
Wadada Leo Smith - trumpet
Dave Creamer - guitar
Mike Keneally - electric guitar, keyboards
Chris Muir - electric guitar
John Tchicai - soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
Greg Osby - alto saxophone
Tom Coster - keyboards
Michael Manring - bass instrument
Steve Smith - drums
Zakir Hussain - tabla, percussion
Karl Perazzo - percussion
Rova Saxophone Quartet |
