Miles Ahead [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

by Miles Davis

Overview

At the end of Don Cheadle's liner essay for Miles Ahead, the soundtrack for his expressionist Miles Davis biopic, he quotes Herbie Hancock from a documentary about the trumpeter's electric years: "...I couldn't pick a piece.. Because Miles is all of the pieces." That's a fine explanation for what is compiled here. Eleven of these tunes were selected from Davis' catalog, beginning with the title track cut for Prestige in 1953. There are stops all along the way to 1981's "Back Seat Betty." In presenting such a wide selection of Davis' music for a cinema audience, judicious editing was often necessitated: "Solea," "Seven Steps to Heaven," "Nefertiti," "Duran (Take 6)," "Black Satin," and "Back Seat Betty" are all presented this way. "So What," "Frelon Brun," and "Go Ahead John, Pt. 2" are presented in full. While fans may take issue with the entire idea of edits, they serve a proper purpose inside the soundtrack concept. Interspersed are bits of dialogue by Cheadle (as Davis) and others. They are so short they don't distract. The album also includes the brief "Taylor Made" by pianist Taylor Eigsti. Titled for Davis' first wife and muse Frances Taylor, it briefly recontextualizes several important themes in the trumpeter's fakebook. There are also four new compositions written or co-written by Robert Glasper. The funky "Junior's Jam" features saxophonist Marcus Strickland, trumpeter Keyon Harrold, drummer Kendrick Scott, and bassist Burniss Earl Travis. Glasper, who plays Rhodes, perfectly captures the spirit of Davis' early electric era, with riff-like basslines, funky drums, and eerie electric pianos, while the frontline horns engage and disengage from rhythm and vamp. "Francessence" is a lilting theme piece with Vicente Archer's upright bass, E.J. Strickland's brushed drums, and Elena Pinderhughes' flute. The real highlight is "What's Wrong with That?" Framed in the film as a live concert piece, it places Glasper's Rhodes in the company of Harrold (using a mute), Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Esperanza Spalding (on electric bass), Antonio Sanchez, and guitarist Gary Clark, Jr. A loose jam based on vamps, it weaves Davis' bluesy lyricism with spacy elements of fusion, harder psychedelic funk grooves, and even the tender soul pop notions from later years. The album closes with "Gone," a hip-hop tune with Pharoahe Monch rapping over a bumping bassline, slippery snare, and hi-hat beats (Dilla style), adorned by a sampled brass section, gospel piano chords, and Harrold's soaring, muted trumpet solo. It was wise to separate most of these new sounds from Davis' sides, making the album a double portrait: One of the artist and another of how he contributed to the future. Miles Ahead is not a complete representation of Davis, and that's fine. What it does accomplish is to offer an impression of essence as an artist who changed everything by his example. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date:	04/01/2016
Label:	Columbia Records / Legacy
UPC:	0889853066728

Tracks

1. Miles Ahead
2. Dialogue: "It Takes a Long Time..."
3. So What
4. Taylor Made
5. Dialogue: "Listen, You Talk Too Goddam Much..."
6. Solea (Excerpt)
7. Seven Steps to Heaven [Edit]
8. Dialogue: "If You Gonna Tell a Story..."
9. Nefertiti [Edit]
10. Frelon Brun
11. Dialogue: "Sometimes You Have These Thoughts..."
12. Duran [Take 6 Edit]
13. Dialogue: "You Own My Music..."
14. Go Ahead John, Pt. 2 C
15. Black Satin [Edit]
16. Dialogue: "Be Musical About This Shit..."
17. Prelude, Pt. 2
18. Dialogue: "Y'all Listening to Them..."
19. Junior's Jam
20. Francessence
21. Back Seat Betty (Excerpt)
22. Dialogue: "I Don't Like the Word Jazz..."
23. What's Wrong With That?
24. Gone 2015

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Miles Davis   Primary Artist,Organ,Trumpet
Robert Glasper   Primary Artist,Fender Rhodes
Ewan McGregor   Primary Artist
Taylor Eigsti   Primary Artist,Piano
Don Cheadle   Primary Artist
Phil Schaap   Primary Artist
John Lewis   Piano
Cannonball Adderley   Sax (Alto)
Janet Putman   Harp
Bill Barber   Tuba
Harold "Ivory" Williams   Organ,Synthesizer
Jimmy Buffington   French Horn
Burniss Travis   Bass
Steve Grossman   Sax (Soprano)
Bill Evans   Flute,Sax (Tenor),Sax (Soprano),Piano
Billy Hart   Drums
Vicente Archer   Bass (Acoustic),Bass (Electric)
Jack DeJohnette   Drums
Chick Corea   Fender Rhodes,Piano (Electric)
Barry Finnerty   Guitar
David Creamer   Guitar
James Mtume   Percussion
Elvin Jones   Percussion
Frank Rehak   Trombone
Johnny Coles   Trumpet
Khalil Balakrishna   Sitar (Electric)
Jack Knitzer   Bassoon
Jose Mangual   Percussion
John McLaughlin   Guitar (Electric)
Wayne Shorter   Saxophone,Sax (Tenor),Sax (Soprano)
Percy Heath   Bass
Pete Cosey   Guitar,Percussion,Synthesizer
Ron Carter   Bass
Harold Feldman   Flute
Jimmy Cobb   Drums
Esperanza Spalding   Bass
Max Roach   Drums
Gil Evans   Conductor
Marcus Strickland   Saxophone
Dave Holland   Bass,Bass (Electric)
Al Foster   Drums
Al Block   Flute
Louis Mucci   Trumpet
Reggie Lucas   Guitar
George Coleman   Sax (Tenor)
Marcus Miller   Bass (Electric)
Danny Bank   Clarinet (Bass)
Paul Chambers   Bass
Bernie Glow   Trumpet
Badal Roy   Tabla
Billy Cobham   Drums
Bennie Maupin   Clarinet (Bass)
Tony Williams   Drums
Carlos Garnett   Sax (Soprano)
Sonny Fortune   Flute,Sax (Alto)
Ernie Royal   Trumpet
Romeo Penque   Oboe
Sammy Figueroa   Percussion
Pharoahe Monch   Featured Artist
Kendrick Scott   Drums
Michael Henderson   Bass,Fender Jazz Bass
Tony Miranda   French Horn
Antonio Sanchez   Drums
Keyon Harrold   Trumpet
Herbie Hancock   Piano,Keyboards,Synthesizer,Fender Rhodes
Gary Clark, Jr.   Guitar
Dick Hixon   Trombone
Joe Singer   French Horn

Technical Credits

Erin Davis   Soundtrack Executive Producer
Vince Wilburn, Jr.   Soundtrack Executive Producer
Ed Gerrard   Soundtrack Producer
Steve Berkowitz   Soundtrack Producer
Don Cheadle   Composer,Narrator,Producer,Liner Notes,Soundtrack Producer,Soundtrack Executive Producer
Darryl Porter   Soundtrack Executive Producer
Teo Macero   Producer
Ira Gitler   Producer
Irving Townsend   Producer
Wayne Shorter   Composer
Robert Glasper   Composer,Producer,Soundtrack Producer
Miles Davis   Composer
Gil Evans   Arranger,Composer
Marcus Strickland   Composer
Taylor Eigsti   Composer
Victor Feldman   Composer