We’ve collected some quotes from the blogosphere. Turns out there are many, many ways that we, the people, listen to Miles. Grant is a Christian blogger who compares Miles to reading gospel…The question “What lowers your stress/blood pressure/anxiety level?” circulates blogspots like a chain letter. Turns out many people use jazz like medicine or meditation. Philosopher’s Quest uses a Miles Davis anecdote like the old adage “throwing pearls before swine.”
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Excerpts from various blogs:
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Since I tend to have my “binges”, such as a particular genre of food that I eat or some silly random craving, I also do that to the music I listen to, although I haven’t listened to much music lately. Point being, there are many jazz CDs out there that I know so well and have listened to so much that I can literally sing every solo on the CD. Of course like Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue…
Bryan Jao, Under the Bridge
When I was in high school, I played in a jazz band at the U of I for high school kids who were “serious??? about playing good jazz. They encouraged us to listen to the “classic??? great improvisers such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, among others. We were encouraged to listen to the music, learn how to play the licks and solos, memorize them, play them in our sleep, and eventually we would make great jazz improvisations, while retaining some of our own voice and style. The point was not to become Miles Davis, but rather to be strongly influenced by him…But like my “jazz purist” teachers, I believe in this life we will never sound exactly like God in this life, but we must try to sound “strongly influenced” by God. And yes, I believe we need to be wary of who are influences are even so-called “Christian” influences. After all, if Miles Davis is like reading the books of Moses, then listening to Spyro Gyro must be like reading Bruce Wilkinson.
Grant, grantcthomas
…like Miles Davis playing for an audience that ignored his “deliquescent” sounds in order to chat, smoke and eat noisily.
Juan Galis-Menendez, Philosopher’s Quest
Do you remember…
It was the stars that surrendered their radiance to your eyes,
And I asked you to dance,
The old record jukebox scratching out Sinatra and a slow Miles Davis in the background,
While you spoke to me so fluently through your footsteps…
Aaron, “Tables for Two,” Scenes From A Life
Once again, I’m on my bicycle (sidenote: the sunsets on the way back from the climbing gym are beautiful, especially with Miles Davis love songs on the discman as I whiz along the trail)…
drivingaroundinthedark, Driving in Circles in the Dark
Of course, considerable lag time is involved; the “jam band” scene is just now absorbing some of the lessons taught by Miles Davis and his followers in the early 70′s.
Adam Tierney, “Jazz–a rant and a recommendation,” In the Agora
I once heard my uncle talk about hearing my father play Miles Davis’s In A Silent Way, and how my uncle then proceeded to spin the record over and over again. Not only was [it] an insight into what my father listened to when he was a teenager (it was one of the 20 cds of my dad’s collection I grew to love), but it was an experience I understood. [It] was one where your eyes, or more specifically your ears, suddenly are more new than they used to be.
Indiana, I Never Loved You
What lowers your stress/blood pressure/anxiety level? Make a list, post it in your journal.
* MUSIC! Jazz in particular. I can almost swear that no matter what the problem is, listening to Miles Davis’ ‘Kind of Blue’ or Dave Brubeck’s ‘Time Out’ never fails to lift me up and calms me down. It might looks silly or weird to others, but to me it’s the best genre in music.
Fuzzy, Logic Look on Life
Saturday midnights with Miles Davis. To recap my Saturdays, I usually put on Miles on the stereo. Kind of Blue really just does it for me.
Enteng, “Stress Buster,”Enteng is Waiting
I could tell from the first seconds that this was going to be amazing. Again, I know nothing about music, but I could see the greatness. If you’ve never listened to Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew, you are missing out.
