(dedicated to Gregs´ soundspeaker system: when played here in the neverlands of Leinfelden, the music of Miles will jump out of the boxes and escape into the woods – and there will be no point of return)
VORSPIEL MIT FAHRRADTOUR
As an avid jazz fan (who listened to Miles Smiles just this afternoon during a bike ride over to Seneca Park), I am getting gooseflesh on my forearms as I think of listening to this. My computer speakers suck so I’m not sure I’m going to give it its first listen here and now but the box set will find its way into my life on the 20th. Give Kind of Blue and On The Corner a listen back-to-back then quietly ponder that they were born of the same singular soul. It leaves you with a giddy fascination about the depth and range the human mind and heart can encapsulate. Many artists attempt to re-invent themselves with a paradigm shift in their work and end up embarrassing themselves. Miles would make such a shift and make you believe he’d been there all along. Even should I decide to not listen to this on my pitiful little computer speakers, I will offer a very sincere thank you for this heads up regarding the forthcoming Miles Bootleg Series.“ (an american friend)
I
Das ist das Faszinierende am Miles Davis Quintet in der zweiten Hälfte der 60er Jahre. Davis, Shorter und Co. waren nicht daran interessiert, eine Erfolgs- und Virtuositätsformel endlos auszureizen, und liessen die Musik stets auf eine äusserste Grenze zusteuern.
II
„These impending transitions are part of why Live in Europe 1967 is essential: You get to hear exactly how these virtuosos were behaving just before the big change occurred. They were still operating in an old mode, small-group acoustic jazz, but they were interrogating it relentlessly, seeing how far they could stretch its conventions without ditching them altogether. Before they could break into the larger world of pop, they had to reach jazz nirvana, and that’s what they attain on Live in Europe 1967. The aesthetic here is less easily definable than those heard on Kind of Blue and Bitches Brew, but it’s no less significant. At its heart, jazz thrives on bold, sensitive interaction in the moment, and Live in Europe 1967 represents the pinnacle of that practice.“ (Source: Pitchfork)
NACHSPIEL MIT NOSTALGIKERN
Jan Garbarek, einer meiner Lieblingssaxofonisten der 70er Jahre, hat sich nun lange schon im „Jazz Nirvana“ eingerichtet. Da kommen immer noch herrliche, lichte Momente zum Vorschein, vieles läuft allerdings auch unter „sweet nothing“, und „in Schönheit gestorben“. Anders gesagt: wer den Hunger verliert und das Suchen einstellt, spiegelt sich nurmehr in den gelungenen Klängen des eigenen Lebens. Chronischen Nostalgikern mag das genügen.