DownBeat December 1991 [antikvár]

ON THE BEAT downbeat december 199 I Don't Wanna Be Kissed by John Ephland he Prince is dead. I first heard about it in a local bookstore, when the owner recognized me and asked if I knew that Miles Davis just died. He happened to be listening to National Public Radio when the first few strains of "Blue In Green" wafted through the store, followed by a voice reporting the detaDs of Miles' passing. Miles is no more. Even if a certain record company chooses to bless us with any of its vast quantity of unreleased material, there will be no more new Miles, not to mention live performances, controversial brushes with the media, interviews. The void created that fall afternoon found me tumbling back through the years, remembering the riches bestowed upon a young, awestruck, music lover by a jazz trumpeter in the throes of one marvelous muse after another. Kind Of Blue was a revelation. Porgy And Bess was a love song shared with a junior high sweetheart. 'Four' More, My Funny Valentine, back to Milestones and the Prestige sides and forward again to the '60s quintet albums. Coltrane, Bird, Gil, BiU, Monk, Newk, J.J., Tony, Jack, Wayne, Phiily Joe the list seems endless. Yeah, a new album from Miles was just that, new! "Directions in Music by Miles Davis": Filles de Kilimanjaro, In A Silent fiuy. Bitches Brew. Miles was inconsistent, contradictory, his autobiography a maze of occasionally interesting but generally unsettiing revelations, his fits of violence and abrasiveness saddening, and his penchant for celebrity status and anything new—all these realities could be distractions to the music. As with many great artists, however, Miles was a man largely misunderstood. Having met and interviewed him for DB, it was obvious to me that, like Mingus, Miles' rough, volcanic exterior protected a shy, warm, and lyrical underbelly. Musically speaking, to say that Miles eventually "turned butt to the beautiful in order to genuflect before the commercial," as writer Stanley Crouch recently put it, is to miss the point. A conservative position on jazz, which allows little or no room for musical dialog (with rock & roll, "European devices," whatever), is a prescription for folk music only, insulated and codified, and one diametric^y opposed to Miles' artistic thirst for imagination, possibility, and open sky. Not just a trumpet stylist, Miles the conceptualist and bandleader has changed forever the way we hear music. As J.J. Johnson stated after learning of Miles' death: "There's no question that Miles was one of the key figures in the evolution of jazz since the 1940s~maybe the key figure." Several months ago, we at Down Beat began planning a special issue to celebrate Miles' career. Sadly, it's become his memorial. Things around the office are different these days. There's an unsettling buzz, phone conversations with relevant parties, requests to send flowers to family, even a cartoon and poems for Miles faxed and mailed to us. The balance has shifted. And people feel it down deep. In this special issue on Miles Davis, we hope you find solace, not to mention a little big fun. DB dowpeat December 1991 - Volume 58 - No. 12 PUBLISHER Kevin Maher ASSOC. PUBLISHER Frank Alkyer MANAOINO EDITOR John Ephland ASSOCIATE EDITOR Dave Helland OESiQN Jay Crawford Design PRODUCTION MGR. Gloria Baldwin CIRCULATION MGR. Elaine Rizleris PRESIDENT Jack Maher • • • CONTRIBUTORS! Larry Bifnbaum, Fred Bouchard. Michael Bourne, Tom Copi, Owen Cordle, Lauren Deutsch, John Diliberio, Enid Färber, Leonard Feather, Mitchell Feldman, Andy Freeberg, Elaine Guregian, Frank-John Hadley, Peler Kostakis, Art Lange, John Litweiler, Howard Mandel, John McDonough, Bill Milkowski, Paul Nalkin, Dan Ouelletle, Ben Sandmel, Gene Santoro, Mitchell Seidel, Bill Shoemaker, Jack Sohmer, Slephanie Stem, Robin Tolleson. Ron Welburn Pele Welding, Kevin Whitehead. Joset Woodard, Scoll Yanow CORRESPONDENTS: Albany, NY, Georgia Urban; Atlanta, Dorothy Pearce; Auslin, Michael Poinl; Baltimore, Fred Douglass; Boslon. Fred Bouchard; Buffalo, John P Lockhari; Chicago, Jim De Jong; Cincinnati. Bob Nave; Cleveland. C. A. Colombi; Delroil, Michael G. Nastos: Las Vegas, Brian Sanders; Los Angeles. Zan Stewart; Minneapolis, Mary Snyder; Nashville. Dave Jenkins; New Orleans, Joel Simpson; Philadelphia, Russell Woessner; Phoenix, Robert Henschen; Pillsburgh, David J Fabilli; San Francisco, Michael Handler; Seallle, Joseph R. Murphy; Toronio, Mark Miller; Vancouvei; Vern Monlgomery; Washinglon, DC, W. A. Brower; Argentina, Max Seligmann; Australia, Eric Myers; Brazil, Chrislopher Pickard; Finland, Roger Freundlich; Great Britain, Brian Priestley, India, Vinod Advani; Italy, Ruggero Sliassi; Jamaica. Maureen Sheridan; Japan, Shoichi Yul; Nelhorlands. Jaap Lüdeke. Norway, Randi Hultin. Senegambia. Oko Draime; Soulh Africa, Howard Belling; Sweden, Lars Lyslodl • • • editorial/advertising production/office/ administration « advertising office: 180 West Park Ave. Elmhurst IL 60126 1-708/941-2030 FAX: 708^41-3210 Kevin Maher, Adverlising Sales 1-708/941-2030 Eatt! Bob Olesen 720 Greenwich St., New York NY 10014 1-212/243-4786