in Retrospect

Michael Ullman make a limited instrumental technique suggest infinite possibilities. As one of the great leaders in , Davis, like Ellington and Charles Mingus, consistently assembled groups that sound remarkably better than their individual parts. In the r95os the trumpeter changed the manners in jazz performance when he turned his back on audiences and refused to Miles Davis in Retrospect announce his tunes. No Louis Armstrong stage tricks for him. (But when asked a leading question about Armstrong, he lavishly praised the older man's playing: it was impossible for a trumpeter to play things Armstrong hadn't already done, he asserted.) Later Davis helped improve working conditions for jazz artists when he insisted on playing only a couple of sets a night; previously musicians were expected to play forty minutes and take twenty offfor as many as six hours. Davis's accomplishment is all the more impressive given his gruff and withdrawn manner, even among his musicians. Bassist told me that Davis spoke to him only once in the many weeks that he played with him during the early rg7os, and that was to ask his young sideman to rush another group offstage so that the trumpeter could play and go home. Originatly pubtished' in New Boston Review 6, no. 3 (May/June t98r)' Davis's early development had been swift. When in rg45 at the age of Reprinted, permission of the author. fu nineteen he first recorded with alto saxophonist charlie Parker, Davis seemed a somewhat bumbling, insecure stylist without the agility or When "Miles Davis in Retrospect" appeared in spring r98r, Davis was only panache of , who indeed took over Davis's for the weeks short of ending his nearly six-year sabbatical from public perfor- virtuoso performance of Parker's "Ko Ko." But Davis's tentative phrases mance. The piece thus provided a perceptive and fair-minded overview of contained the germ of an idea: two years later he would record for the Davis's career through rg7b, when he went into seclusion. During the same company of his own tunes, and this time Parker would be a side- trumpeter's long hiatus, there was intense interest both in and beyond tnan on . Clearly the twenty-one-year-old who could make jazz circles about ry[6n-e1 if-he would resume his career, and ru tenor player out of Charlie Parker knew what he was doing. Unable to "Retrospect" subtly reflects that curiosity. play as fast or as high as other bebop trumpeters, Davis developed an inti- Author Michael Ullman's jazz criticism has appeared in a number of tnate, round, almost vibratoless tone as far from the brash, extroverted publications, including thte Atlantic Monthly, the Natt Republic, the Boston sounds of Louis Armstrong and Roy Eldridge as from the bright fluidity of Globe, and ttre Boston Phoenix. He also is the authot of Jan liues ( r 98o) and the bopsters. And he found the proper setting for that sound on composi- coauthor (with Lewis Porter and Edward Hazell) of Jan from Its Origins to tions like "Milestones" and "sippin' at Bell's." Darker in texture than com- the Presmt ( r ggg) . Ullman teaches music and Engtish at Tufts University in llarable Parker arrangements, Davis's pieces reflected his simpler Medford, Massachusetts.-Ed' slt'cngths. He seemed intent, serious, restrained: "cool" is what the critics .irllcd him, and a series of rg49-5o recordings led by Davis with arrange- nrcnts by Gil Evans, Gerry Mulligan, John Lewis, and.|ohn Carisi was rlrrlrlrcd llirth, oJ'the Cool. Few musicians have brought as many new sounds and sights to the .iazz ln his nrcrrroirs Dizzy (iillcspic warmly describes Davis's approach in world as Miles Davis. An intense, ambitiotrs mrtsician, ht: hits trlanirgccl t

The record was called Binh of the assemble "the best damn rock band" in the world. The rock-influenced smeared with the term 'cool' jazz' '" played not hot but.'coolish'' Bitches Brat sold half a million copies in its first year, and Columbia's putr (lool because the guys in Califtrnia sort of less notes' less quickly' and lic relations office started calling Davis "the Prince of Darkness." They expressed less fire than we did' played tonal quality' ' ' ' I liked to A critical reaction was inevitable. In his history of jaz-2, Lincoln used more open space' and they emphasized James school-to take advantage of every Collier reproaches Davis for the paradoxes in his career, calling him "a niL.,p u bar myself-the Charlie Parker it to go over into the next bar' man who possessed only a relatively modest natural gift, but who by dint space that's there instead of just leaving of intelligence and force of personality made himself one of the major fig- Miles had wide oPen sPaces'" Gillespie praised Davis for ures of jazz." Besides lacking Beiderbecke's sense of musical line, Lester Wary of ottt., rn"*bers of the cool school' the blues' And Davis acknowl- Young's rhythm, and Armstrong's drama, Davis is, according to Collier, "a the guts in his music, for his ability to play ttre influence of Gillespie: "He could limited instrumentalist with a poor high register and a tendency to crack edged in a typically backhanded way shit was going too fast' I mean that more notes than a professional trumpet player should." (I am reminded I teach anybody, but me' No, *u"-iht I and I used to go down every of Whitney Balliett's description of Armstrong's early style, which he was a fast pace, man' ' ' ' Freddie Webster something' We'd go asserts is typified by the trumpeter's tendency to fluff every fifth note.) night to hear Diz. If we missed a night' we missed and get our ears stretched'" Those of us who find Davis's cracked notes more electri$ring than down to Fifty-Second Street to hear Diz a game while listening to Diz: other trumpeters' ringing tones should be thankful that so many of the Trumpeters Webster and Davis could play air' and the other would have to recordings remain readily available. Chroni,cle: The Complete Prestige one of them would throw a coin in the when the coin hit the bar' Davis Recmdings, t95 t-r956 begins with some sessions showing Davis still toying identify the note Cliittpit was playing, but later he contradicts himself' with the cool sound and ends with Davis's most celebrated quintet, featur- said that he couldn,t learn from Gillespie, I just played in a low ingJohn Coltrane on tenor sax, on , on "My style wasn't any different lfrom Gillespie's]' bass, and Philly on drums. Never before assembled in a single register." Joe Jones package, these recordings include some acknowledged classics in modern Davis'sdevelopingstylewassomethingmorethanGillespie'splayed things Gillespie shied away jazz: the two takes of "Bags' Groove" and "The Man I Love," the "Walkin"' lower or slower. soo"] Duui' could do some quality: on cuts like and "Blue 'n' Boogie" session. Recordings from this period also intro- from. By the r95os his blues had a rich' down-home manages to sound sophis- duced to a wider public some of the brightest names in the music: Sonny the rg5r "Bluing" (reissued on Chroniclz)' Davis unparalleled in modern jazz' Rollins, Coltrane, Lewis, Thelonious Monk, Mclean, ticated while suggesting a chaste intimacy John John Jackie the blues than Gillespie MiltJackson. They demonstrate Davis's uncanny ability to create the per- "Miles is deep"'Gillespie has said-deeper into his tone; from the beginning fect context for his improvisations. himself. Dizzy was once criticized for thin is for many listeners an acquired Despite the seeming informality of these early dates, Davis was con- Davis,s was vibrant and intense. Gillespie cerned with the quality of the overall sound. In his notes to an album taste'whileDavis,smusicseemstoarouseinstantpassion.Gillespie'strum- and Davis's breathes down recorded in rgTr by pianistJoe Zawind, Miles Davis commenrs admiringly pet, one might say, dances before your eyes'

by Davis with , Coltrane, Chambers, drummer-fimmy appropriate to Davis's sound' resulted' feeling of intimacy with the listener' Cobb, and pianists and Wlmton Kelly. (The choice of the lpical i*iott the lighrweight touch and Davis instructed pianist Red Garlandio Evans is instructive. From Garland to Evans to , his pianist Garland's reward was sophistication of Ahmad Jamal-and chic harmonic Ol::O in the from 1963 to 1968, Davis has shown a preference for pianists with a light, "Ahmad's Blues" (reproduced on Chro.nicl'e)'Int his feature strokes were even fragile touch.) Experimental though it was, sounds as it t955 was ideal: Garland's feathery quintet first recordea Paul natural as breathing. aggressive po\rhythms' Bassist offset by drummer fniffyJoelones's Davis shifted toward rock gradually. The quintet of the rg6os included behind the n'vo horns' Coltrane and Chambers ftetd steaaitfi" tnt beat , whose lazy melodies with their infrequent harmonic and develop it' finding a Davis ;iil;phy one note' bend Davis. Where in a changes often lacked a second theme or bridge. The languorous sound would surge up and down a scale pulse within a single boi"u"e and monolithic quality demanded new rhythmic energy in the drums and 'o"tt, at once' A siriking contrast' engineered heroic attempt to play everything new textures, soon provided by an electric piano. Davis was used to being purposelY bY the trumPeter' in the vanguard of music, but jazz was being left behind in the rock- clich6s' he also' like Louis Armstrong But if Davis resisted musical oriented r96os and rg?os. Davis wanted to make more money-he has banal' ln Chronic-lc one can a penchant for redeeming the before him' had i'It's and one of the most flamboyant lifestyles in the business, buying expensive on songs like Only a Paper Moon" hear him work his *ugit lat- sports cars, it would seem, only to crack them up. And surely he saw more foolishly jogging rhythms of the ..surrey with the Fri;;;:" Top.,'Tie than economic possibilities in rock rhythms and electronic sounds. Rock runs through and over them' and he ter open up delicious"ly when bavis may have piqued his longtime interest in salvaging the banal. round and elegant while paying more makes "It's only uiip4e' Moon" The transitional , three Shorter compositions, was when he performed with attention to its melody. In the rg6os than casual tempos' deservedly well received: not so some of the later recordings, which his method was to increase the many of his hits nigt'i ufter night' alarmed critics while delighting larger and younger audiences. Onstage in tempo might become a tour de force A hackneyed phrase at a moderate the early rg7os, Davis was a sight: stalking about, wolflike and thin, when sPeeded uP' dressed extravagantly-a family of four could survive for a year on what by bad moments: on his second Many of the Chroni'ctncuts are marred he's spent on sunglasses-he remained in perfect control, calling out Ouui,, So""y Rotti"''' interesting contributiont date with lt :"1-t:t^ll1latter agarn rhythms to a variety of percussionists, an electric bassist, a couple of gui- of Davis and Charlie Parker-the a squeaky.".d. fnt"union larists, and occasionally to as many as three electric keyboardists. In fact, by Davis's moodiness and Parker's on tenor saxophone-was weakened this was a difficult music to record, and few of the heavily edited records studio, parker reportedly downed a entering the that CBS released captured the drunkennesr. tert., up he felt sluggish' excitement of the Miles Davis show. In and pt-ptty feli asleep' he woke quart of gin ]^t" Davis t q75, amid speculations about his health, wealth, and possible dissatisfac- only Parker would have awakened' but as producer lra Gitler noted' tion with his music, Miles withdrew at what seemed the height of his popu- "Lily Pons' beauty must come of suf- u,td Pu'k"t responded' llrrity. complained, a popular opera He hasn't reappeared since; nor has he stated the reason for his Davis with light voice of fering," identiSing -tle :weet' of blues ir l)parent retirement. i"di'pt"'able' howevt'' fot Davis's playing singer.) ChronicleO cho- Unable to offer more current recordings by their .iazz star, Columbia solos such as Monk's eeri\ timed and ballads, and for incomparable Rt'r:ords has been searching its vaults for Davis material. Circle in the Round, Williams announced Groove'" m fnupz' Trad'i'tionMartin ruses on "Bags' and his :'l'xl Directions collect primarily unissued recordings dating from rg55 to ior Davis in 1954' Certainly Davis that everything came together t ry7o. Most come from the transitional period of the late r96os. Certainly o.^f my favorite about that time' brrt several grouPs became 1Tro" toi'i'tent llr(' rlx)st satisfring material does: after one listens to the awkward "'Round a Paper Moon"-6s1ns earlier' performanc.r-"Utt'itg," "It's Only Mi

and 'lMater Pat Harris to the Davis-Gil Evans canon, "Song of Our Country"; "Fun" joined by on the Pond" by the Shorter-Hancock-Carter-Williams quintet' ofJoe Zawinul's guitaristJoe Beck on the latter; and a spacious recording and a ioutirrg ;Ascent," featuring three electric instruments (two and ' bass) p'iayed by Herbie Hancock, ' Nothing but Bop? "Stu pid,' nytnetimeheretired,Davis'ssolos'seemedaseriesofdisjointedger tures,dramaticandstrikinginthemselvesbutnotthepatientconstructions Says Miles much praised for of earlier years. Nevertheless, during this period he was Coltrane his impact on younger musicians' The man who had allowedJohn ,o.*plo.. and develop, who had defended PhillyJoeJones's aggressive white saxophonists d.rumming, in the r97os promoted the work of young' Corea' Herbie Dave Liebman and Steve Grossman' pianists Chick Davis may not Hancock, and KeithJarrett, and guitaristJohn Mclaughlin' the have talked to Miroslav vitous, but he-albeit unconsciously-helped his phone would not bassist's career. After the stint with Davis, says Vitous, influenced stop ringing. Davis's spare but passionate playing has Hino' Less trumpeters fiom Detroitis to Tokyo's Terumasa Impressed by the Davis beneficial has been the impact of his image' Originally published, inDownBeat,January 27, rg50, r8-r9. Reprinted by lifestyle,TonyWilliamsandHerbieHancockformedaestheticallyuninter- pennission of Maher Publications. estingfusionbandsinanattempttoreproduceDavis,sfinancialsuccess. HancockandChickCoreatoldLeonardFeatherthatDavisdiscouraged If this is not the very firsr published intewiew with Miles Davis-it probably harmful' them from practicing: both realized later that the advice was is, but I can't say for surg-i1'5 surely among the first, and a good one. pass off And what of Davis's own achievements? Can we' with Collier' written by the chicago-based Down Beatwriter Pat Harris-the chicago "limited instrumen- the Davis recordings as the inspired ramblings of a area, then as now, was the magazine's home base-the article gives a adapt in some talist"? All musicians have limited techniques, and all artisS detailed account of Davis's early life and career. Harris generally gets the the late r94os the way their art to their technique' More important' in facts right, with three notable exceptions: Davis was never legally married trumpetplayerswhoimitatedthevirtuosicDizzyGillespiesimplyflattered to Irene Birth, mother of rhree of his children; he leftJuilliard in the fall paid him a realer kind him; the few who recognized that he was inimitable of Lg4b; and he used trombonist Michael Zwerin, not Ted Kelly, at his sec- of Gillespie' He of tribute. Davis was .r.i,tr.. intimidated by nor envious ond booking at the Royal Roost. knewhehadtodosomethingelse,andfromthetimeofhisfirstsessions Harris, incidentally, was a woman and a quite capable journalist. I new music appropriate with charlie Parker, we see him working to find a rrrention this because Down Beat in the r94os and early rg5os was a decid- opportunists in to his talents. Davis is, as Collier implies, one of the great cdly male-oriented publication with lots of cheesecake photos of girl trends in jazz. Bttthe has never been one to simply adapt to changing sirrgers. (Many of these singers literally were girls still in their teens.) To included a British music. \A4len Davis assembled a band in the r97os that Iritve been a female jazz writer at that time must have been an interesting straight out of rock guitarist, an Indian tabla player, and a Fender bassist < hallenge. and for his players new rhythl and blues, he was creating for himself Thc piece ends on a rather ominous note. What isn't said is that Davis musicalproblems'Thesenewlyissuedrecordingscontainsomeofhissolu- Irirrl rr:cently bccomc a heroin addict; he would remain one for four as when they tions fr