You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - What's So Great About Miles?

Episode Date: June 18, 2019

Today, Peter and Adam answer a SpeakPipe about why Miles Davis is a jazz great. Wanna send a SpeakPipe of your own? Check out the bottom of the page at http://www.openstudionetwork.com/podcast.Be one of the first 20 people to leave us a rating or review at https://www.youllhearit.com/sticker and you can score a FREE You'll Hear It sticker.Today's episode is sponsored by Soundslice. Soundslice is a web-based music-learning software that is a hybrid audio player and notation viewer that syncs music notation with real audio. To find out more about them, visit www.soundslice.com/transcribe. And check out our Slice of Emotion In Motion (the You'll Hear It Jingle)!Let us know what you think by leaving a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review, or head over to our YouTube channel and leave a comment for this episode.Interested in more jazz advice? Go here to browse our catalog of jazz lessons and courses available for purchase.Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram at:https://www.facebook.com/heyopenstudiohttps://twitter.com/heyopenstudiohttps://www.instagram.com/heyopenstudio See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hey Pete. Hey, man. You ever have a Gremlin in your computer system? I think I hear one right now. I'm Adam Anus. And I'm Peter Martin. And you're listening to The You'll Hear Podcast. Daily Jazz Advice coming at you.

Daily Jazz advice, some questionable dates about movies. Is that questionable? I believe it's 84. Yeah. Let me check that Gremlin's movie. Yes, 1984. You're correct. Bam.

Well, I was just barely a teenager, a 13-year-old then. So that's probably why I wasn't really paying much attention. I was a young child scared out of his mind. I was laughing at those monsters. I was laughing at little kids in the theater that were scared. Bad dreams, nightmares, all that stuff. Do you remember when they compared Miles Davis to a Gremlin on Saturday Live right around that time? That was horrible.

It's all coming together because today's episode, well, first of all, today's episode is sponsored by SoundSlice. Yes. Amazing browser-based software that syncs up music notation with videos. It's a perfect way to transcribe. We talk about listening, transcribing here on this podcast every day almost. We use SoundSlice to do it. We use SoundSlice here at Open Studio for all of our courses. Adrian and his team, they're musicians, first of all.

They know what they're doing. Yes. And it's just an amazing resource. It's magical. We don't use the term magical a lot around here, except when you have been known to bring your magic kit. Then we do say that's magical. I wish I was a magician instead of a musician. Well, SoundSlice is truly.

magical what it does. Just go check it out. Science Slice.com. Check out their community. A lot of exciting things over there. I think that you guys are going to love it just like we do. That's right. So today we're talking about Miles. I don't think he looks like a gremlin. I don't think so. I said SNL said that he did. But here's a question from theory. Hey guys. This is a theory from Sweden again. I hope you're doing fine. I'm doing great. My question is, or I can start like this. I have phases with musicians or pianists where I really dig deep into their music. So, for example, two months ago, I didn't know who Keith Garrett is.

And now all of a sudden, he's my favorite musician. And, you know, now I'm trying to, I'm finally trying to dig into Miles Davis. because with every pianist and musician that I encountered, he was a common denominator, common influencer. But my question is, and no disrespect, I'm genuinely wondering, can you talk a little bit about why Miles was so great and he's looked up on in the jazz community? why is that and what can I take out of listening from listening to him what can I listen to and yeah what what is your opinion what are your opinions on ice thanks theory for the question yes yeah yeah great question yeah great question um first of all that now I finally know how theory is I thought that was a French name maybe it is

Swedish? Swedish, is it? From Sweden, yeah. Yeah, but there was a great soccer player, footballer from France. Theory Henri. Right, way. Way. Way.

Way. That's what I thought it was, but now I know it's theory. So, um, good. Well, so he's talking about going in different phases of going deep of checking out certain artists, which we've done a lot ourselves. And we actually do the opposite here. We go shallow, 10 minutes a day, but that's okay. No, but, um, you know what they say about going, about going through phases?

phases leads to phrases No, I didn't. Well, it could be it could be a thing. It could be. Wait, Alexis, is Peteroff his game today? Also snitches dig ditches. Don't forget about that. Now that sounds threatening.

So, but, you know, to the heart of theory's question is what makes Miles Davis so great? I think it's something that we can address. Yeah. For sure. Have you been thinking about legacies of some of these musicians and artists from different eras? You know, Miles, in his personal,

life would not be okay today. No, no, no, no. He's not set up for today's social climate. But he was actually quite a social innovator, I think, as well as musical. I think that's probably the first thing to think about his impact just on kind of entertainment, you know, his interviews. I know that was that interview. I think it was in either Esquire or Playboy magazine that was very insightful and controversial and much talked about. I mean, he was a master of marketing and publicity.

sure but there was always that foundation of music which is what we'll probably talk about mostly here today but i think you know in terms of what made him so great we can kind of look at the the sort of i guess micro level first of just him as a player as a trumpeter and i think you know things to listen for and to check out is his phrasing his sound his individuality his voice um his phrasing like how consistent he was in terms of of, you know, as he moved through different styles and periods of his own career and also as music, you know, jazz music and popular music was evolving very quickly, how he kept up, but always kept that vision of his own voice within the music, I think, so well.

And that's something that, you know, a lot of trumpet players, I mean, you talk about other kind of iconic trumpet players. They're definitely known for that saxophone players, singers, and then maybe pianists and stuff as well. But he really set the stage, I think, for a horn player to have a voice, to be consistent with it, a beautiful voice, a beautiful sound, beautiful phrasing. And then just economy of motion in terms of the music. He was such a master of saying just enough, but not too much, getting busy when it was appropriate, laying back when it was, you know, being going for something, taking some chances. Vulnerability. Vulnerability, absolutely.

So those are a few things. These are a few of my favorite things. Yeah, I mean, for me, the thing that stands out when I think Miles, the first thing that stands out is his artistic voice and how strong that was and how strong it developed over the years. I mean, when you listen to him playing, you know, bebop with Charlie Parker or Birth of the Cool of that era or whatever,

he's playing a lot more notes than we usually think, like people say, oh, Miles didn't play a lot, but in that era he did play a lot. He did, you know, and he could play a lot. And he had an amazingly rich sound and was very agile on the trumpet and really had something to say from an early age. But what I think sets him apart as an artist

is that artistic voice that he was just constantly striving to refine and was never satisfied and was never resting on what he had done. I mean, the guy made kind of blue. You could just kind of pack it in after that, right? I'm not going to do anything else. But then the second great quintet happens.

And even that, you could have been like, Well, I played with Charlie Parker. I made birth of the cool. Then I did all that stuff in the mid-50s and late-50s. Kind of blew the second great quintet. I can just stop there. And then he went into the, you know, in a silent way, Bitches Brew era, changing again, not being satisfied.

And even going against some of the people who loved him, you know, musicians who loved him and critics who loved him to fulfill his own, you know, artistic voice. And then again in the 80s when he changed again and really somewhat invented what is now supposed. with jazz. I mean, it's like he's a huge pioneer in all of these kinds of music in each

decade of jazz's evolution up until the time he died. And that's really what his legacy is, I think. I was thinking about a word you said earlier, vulnerability and I've heard that attributed to, well, you know, to his playing, his kind of style,

his musical attitude that came through in his music. And I think that that's spot on and the other thing that, to me goes along with that is uncompromising. Yeah. He had a vulnerability and he had an uncompromising nature in terms of the way he improvised, certainly the way he put his bands together probably and structured the

music, but just in terms of the way he solo. And so what that kind of brought out was this great, you know, edge. And, you know, he didn't play perfectly. Maybe towards the beginning of his career when he was, you know, playing with Charlie Park and trying to play in a certain way, but you already heard his sound. But once he hit kind of, you know, you know, still relatively young. certainly in his 30s, early 30s. And on, man, he was, he was, he let that vulnerability.

And then he didn't compromise his artistic integrity, but that didn't mean he wasn't going for stuff. He was. So he had this ability to make it just as thrilling when he would miss as when he would make and try to go for something again. He never played it safe, you know? He didn't play it safe.

He let, he was uncompromising in his artistic vision. At least that's the way it sounds, you know. And that takes an amazing amount of courage. Courage. Think about that. Think about how much bravery it takes to not be compromised in your artistic vision, even when people don't like what you're going to do. Right, right, right.

And you know that. And you're like, well, this is what's hot. This is what I think is happening. And I'm doing it because I believe in me, you know? Yeah. That takes so much inner strength and confidence. It's really amazing. And we've heard, I mean, in Herbie's autobiography,

he talks about how that was an inspiration for him, that he learned that from Miles, this uncompromising attitude of like, okay, I'm going to let my voice ring out no matter what. This is what I think. I mean, when you can mix those two things together, that vulnerability, that willingness to take risks, and then your courage to stick with that conviction

and not compromise artistically, that is a dangerous combination. That's right. And it's a risky combination. It is. Because you can very well fall in your face and not be able to make a living and all this stuff. It's a buoyabays of risk and artistic flair

that's quite nice when sautated up correctly. Well, yeah, exactly. When it comes together with the right artist, it's like this magical thing happens. And I think Miles is not just one of those people. He's the epitome of that. Yeah. So I think the other side, you know, in terms of, you know,

what to take from, I think you mentioned, you know, he was asking about what to take from doing a deep dive on Miles Davis and what to listen for. I think as much, you know, we're talking about as playing now, the whole other thing that I think he's known for and is such a force, was such a force in it, is his leadership of bands and music and albums

and kind of projects. So something beyond just the trumpet and his ability to put the right combinations of players together, put them in a place of success, let them do their own thing, say the right thing, which often was very little, but from what you hear from, you know, Chick-Correan, I'm talking about the piano players, Herbie Hancock, but Ron Carter to Tony Williams, Wayne Shorter, all the different stories you hear about how he wouldn't say a lot,

but he'd say something sometimes. Yeah, yeah. But his ability to, you know, craft these advanced musical situations that really flourished, you know, on their own as bands and as projects, but then kind of were sprouted out and were the roots of this whole modern jazz music for all these other musicians to go on and do the same thing. I mean, he taught these young players how to be great leaders as a music, you know. When you talk about, like, Shirley Horn talks about all she learned from, like,

opening up for Miles at the vanguard in the 60s and stuff. So, like, his, and Miles was not afraid to take either. I mean, he was took from Ahmad Jamal and put that and put that through his filter with his bands and stuff. But, I mean, he really had an outsized influence, I think, on the music beyond just trumpet players. We're talking about Keith Jared has referenced him as someone who's influenced his artistic goals as a leader. Yeah. You know, John McLaughlin and, I mean, even those. John Schofield.

John Schofield, like all those late band members. Yeah, Brian from Arsales. Kenny Garrett. I mean, Garrett, I mean, all these people that play with Miles,

even in the later period, Miles is still shaping jazz in that sense. Yeah. That these guys are now shaping jazz. You know what I mean? Yeah. It's really something.

For playing wise, for me, man, I like to go back to the prestige records, the cooking, relaxin, you know, all that stuff,

that he was trying to get out out of the contract on. Chilling, max and relaxing, cooking. Feeling all cool, playing some jazz down by the pool.

But he was, you know, they're playing standards. And his playing on that is so precise. and lyrical. And the improvisation, like, you know, those are great places to start your transcription journey theory if you're thinking about transcribing some miles because they're easy to hear.

You probably know the tunes. If you know any standards, you could find something. And then you get an idea of the kind of melodic economy Miles improvised with. Right. Yeah. I think that that's great. I think, too, just the last thing to mention, I was just kind of hearing those prestige records, the sound of them.

he was a real innovator and paid a lot of attention to detail about making albums. You know, I mean, he came from a time when that was important. And I think just in terms of how the trumpet sounded, I mean, he was always, you know, teaming up with great producers and engineers. But he really cared about how the whole sound of everything. I mean, like, you can hear on some of those outtakes when he's instructing different, you know, play block chords or whatever. He was trying to get a whole sound.

And I think it was the aesthetic of that period of a great jazz album. We owe so much to Miles, but his whole aesthetic. And then also like his fashion aesthetic in terms of how it's connected with jazz. He kind of had, I mean, you know, in our time, I always think of Roy Hargrove, not just because he's a trumpeter, but because Roy really cared about the entire aesthetic of the music, how it looked on stage, how it sounded on recordings and all that. That's so great, man. Well, thank you, theory for the question. Enjoy your deep dive into Miles for the first time. I'm envious of you because I wish I could listen to some of the music.

Oh, you can dive back. Get back in the pool, man. You can't hear for the first time again, though, Pete. Unfortunately, you know what I mean? There's some good moments about to happen for you, theory. So thank you for that. You can go to You'll Hearit.com if you want to leave us a speakpipe. We love your questions.

We do. So get them in. Get them in. Go to you'll hear it.com. Leave us a speak pipe. Oh, you just said that. Okay, I'm saying it again, man. Say it twice because it sounds so nice.

And check out SoundSlice. Go to SoundSlice. We're going to leave a link in here for a link to our, we have our theme for this podcast, transcribed in SoundSlice. You can watch it. Go by. You can mess around with it. You can loop it.

see what Peter Martin's playing. Go check that out. Soundsolice.com. Right. And now our big promotion from last week is unfortunately over. It is. Yeah. But we've got a new one coming later this week. So we're not quite ready to announce it yet. I don't know if you knew that. I don't know anything. You don't know anything. That's okay. No. But tomorrow you're going to know. And until then, you'll hear it.