To dismiss it, as some do, as rhythmic vamping would be akin to saying that West African drumming is the same. There is a complexity, a deep understanding of a human connection to that rhythm. Miles was leading those bands in exploring those rhythms and creating those textures as carefully as any other point in his career.

For all his composing smarts, playing virtuosity, and improvisation skill, the thing about Miles Davis that most impresses me is that he understood that you don’t have to play every note perfectly. You don’t even have to play every note. It’s like a musical optical illusion; once you’ve sketched it out, the mind knows how to fill in any missing notes. In this way, Miles could hit just the right pace for the mood of his music, and not start to sound rushed by trying to fit in all the notes. Listening to his music, you’re left with this powerful, engaging music so stripped of distracting elements that you can immediately connect emotionally with it.

That’s why “Kind of Blue” in particular is such a common introduction to jazz. It’s like when a noisy crowd get quiet and starts leaning in to hear someone who has laryngitis. It’s not intimidating at first. It seems so simple and naked that it draws you in. You can appreciate other aspects of it later.

By Stephen J. Charbonneau

Miles Davis, to me, was the pathway and the door into Jazz. He’s the link I use when introducing someone to Jazz. His musical voice is instantly recognizable, melodic, lyrical, dark and haunting, colorful and unique. There was no one before Miles and only one other Jazz artist that has captured my ears and my mind the way Miles Dewey Davis has. (The other artist is Bill Evans.)

Separating the man from the music, his attitudes and actions from his musical genius, is something I find necessary. Musicians are no different then today’s superstar athletes. Their actions on and off the field are not barometers of each other. No one is without flaws and some of us have more demons then others. The same things that make artists like Miles so special are the same actions that leave the casual fan or distanced masses shaking their heads in disbelief, questioning the motives, or judging why Miles, for a time, played with his back to the audience.

Miles Davis had courage, strength, determination, insecurities, fear, and anger. He was blessed with God-given abilities and the where-with-all to decide, seek and find his own voice, his calling: Jazz!

Growing up I was not a Miles follower or even a fan. Miles Davis was approximately the same age as my Dad and some of my uncles. If they liked his music then I figured it must not be cool. It certainly couldn’t be hip or very current. After all what could they know about something that was relevant to me? They couldn’t relate to the Beatles, Eric Clapton, The Buffalo Springfield, or troubadours like Dylan. Funny how when you’re young anything that adults like can’t be anything you’d be interested in.

As I became interested in music outside the popular culture, Miles was a bridge. I love his simplicity and the space he provides for interplay. I didn’t have to struggle to catch the chord changes or imagine that there really was a melody. The music of Miles eased me in and captured my heart. No one plays a ballad like Miles. Few, in jazz, can match his intuition and creativity, his constant search for the next thing. May Miles Davis live forever through his music!

I’m so disappointed that I won’t be able to hear the show, or contribute, in real-time.
As a former jazz host who came to jazz through Miles and others — I will be sure to download the program when I get home. There are lots of “ah ha” moments when listening to Miles but from the classic nonet recordings in 1948 and 1949, both live at the Royal Roost and in-studio — Kind of Blue all the way through Bitches Brew — The man and his music forever changed the way I listen to music.

How many times have all of us handed out a copy of Kind of Blue to non-jazzers? I just bought a couple more for the next person who says “Hey what is this?” “I never knew this was jazz.”

Looking forward to the show and check out the wgbh.org/jazz web site. There are several articles written by the hosts about Mr. Davis.

Be cool!

sjc

Read about it in the NY Times: “With its long reliance on talk formats and call-in programs, radio was…

My first experience with listening to jazz (as opposed to just bumping in to it occasionally) was through the public library as a late-teen — great age: you’re curious about everything and almost the entire cultural map is marked “uncharted.” I grabbed a few albums by some names I had heard of, and one of them was “Kind of Blue” — the cover mysterious, compelling. On to the turntable — Bill Evans and Paul Chambers do an intro duet of almost-suspended chords. Then the swing begins. A simple, unforgettable two note statement on top of a gentle-but-determined swing. And the sound is perfect.

“Kind of Blue” is the gateway drug of jazz. It’s sophisticated, but also accessible. If you are destined to get hooked on jazz, you are going to love this record, and it is going to open up the main gate and get you in the foyer where all the other doors are. The stuff behind those doors is going to be a great big mixed bag, some terrific, some terrible, but the memory of that first pleasure at the gate is going to keep you looking and looking and looking.