The Complete On The Corner Sessions (2007)
#8 Of 8
This is where Miles went off the deep end. Forced into retirement for 6 years, Davis’ last raging electric music was a final, obliterating assault on jazz and the fiercest music of his career. The sticker on this 6CD box tells us that “Miles Goes Beyond The Outer Limits Of Jazz, Rock And Funk!” And that’s actually pretty accurate. By 1972-1975 (the span of these sessions) however, there were plenty who had already gone over the line in jazz, rock or funk. Miles was just doing it all at the same time… and these cluttered, multi-percussive jams sound like it. I’ve always been magnetically drawn to the albums these sessions spawned (On The Corner, Big Fun and, especially, Get Up With It), but can offer no scholarly explanation for the music’s importance. I just like Miles’ peerless way of putting together intensely interesting bands, then making them play. The 32-minute atmospheric stoner space jam, “He Loved Him Madly,” is essential listening, but there are also 18 jams ranging from 10min to a half-hour each to choose from. Thom Jurek summed up the proceedings nicely, stating… “Davis stripped everything back to endlessly repetitive, circular, and hypnotic rhythm… minimal grooves with an array of percussionists along with a trap kit to shore it up like an impenetrable wall. The use of everything from cowbells and woodblocks to congas and tablas enabled the musicians to dig deep into the territory of beat and rhythm. Melody was an accident. Chords changes were nonexistent; soloing contributed to the atmosphere in short bursts and was layered atop caverns of sound by whatever instrument was called up at the time to play. Otherwise they laid out, or played some kind of rhythmic pattern to enhance the atmospheric groove, which was sometimes nearly spiritual, and sometimes downright freaky and spooky. The groups were ever-changing; 27 musicians played in those 16 sessions, and individual tracks would employ groups from five to 12 players. The names of those players are synonymous with the groundbreaking expressions of electric and acoustic creative jazz and funk in the ’70s and ’80s: Jack DeJohnette, Badal Roy, John McLaughlin, David Liebman, Carlos Garnett, Mtume, Collin Walcott, Pete Cosey, Reggie Lucas, Dominique Gaumont, Bennie Maupin, Sonny Fortune, Khalil Balakrishna, Al Foster, Lonnie Liston Smith, Harold “Ivory” Williams, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Cornell Dupree, Bernard Purdie, Billy Hart, and Don Alias.” This one is still pretty expensive at Amazon. Great embossed colored steel box design, incredible images, 120 page book. Big thanks again to Grateful for re-upping this box set.
1
One The Corner [Unedited Master] (19:27)
On The Corner (5:17)
One And One [Unedited Master] (17:58)
Helen Butte/Mr. Freedom X [Unedited Master] (23:22)
Jabali (11:05)
2
Ife (21:36)
Chieftain (14:40)
Rated X (6:52)
Turnaround (17:18)
U-Turnaround (8:28)
3
Billy Preston (12:35)
The Hen (12:37)
Big Fun/Holly-wuud [Take 2] (6:34)
Big Fun/Holly-wuud [Take 3] (7:08)
Peace (7:04)
Mr. Foster (15:16)
4
Calypso Frelimo (32:07)
He Loved Him Madly (32:14)
5
Maiysha (14:54)
Mtume (15:10)
Mtume [Take 11] (6:53)
Hip-Skip (19:01)
What They Do (11:46)
Minnie (3:55)
6
Red China Blues (4:09)
On The Corner/New York Girl/Thinkin’ Of One Thing And Doin’ Another/Vote For Miles (19:59)
Black Satin (5:20)
One And One (6:10)
Helen Butte/Mr. Freedom X (23:20)
Big Fun (2:33)
Holly-wuud (2:55)
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“The 32-minute atmospheric stoner space jam, “He Loved Him Madly,” is essential listening.”
Indeed. I remember first buying Get Up With It because Robert Quine mentioned it among his all-time favourite albums (his endorsement of The Complete Quartets With Sonny Clarke was also what got me into Grant Greene). Quine said of “He Loved Him Madly”:
Maybe his chops are a little shot on ‘He Loved Him Madly’ but emotionally, when the smoke has cleared, that will be regarded as one of his most profound statements. You could listen to it when you’re depressed, when you’re having sex or whatever.
And certainly the minimalist, textural approach of the song – which I find more reminiscent of Kosmische Muzik and ambient than jazz – are very apparent in Quine’s out-of-print solo albums like Basic with Fred Maher.
My jaw literally dropped when I first heard it. There was no driving rhythm. Seemingly no extroverted improvisation. No horns that my ears could hear (though the credits swear that Miles played electric trumpet, I guess that’s what the wah-wah did). The drumming was limited to these skeletal rolls. A droning organ permeates the entire song. while Pete Cosey and Reggie Lucas traced out these weird, creeping little guitar lines like men desparately crawling through a dense, miasmic cocaine-fog.
http://www.furious.com/perfect/quine.html
Thanks for the assessment.
You’re welcome, and maybe next time I got on a long-winded rant about my musical likes I’ll finally get the code right. :-P
Actually, I have all-powerful capabilities on my end to fix that… and did.
Hi Willard
I am having some sort of weird issue with Disc 1. It won’t download properly for some reason (MF) and the WU link does nothing. I got D2-6, and they unzip fine and play fine, but D1 has some kind of issue. Can you look at it?
Thanks!
You were right. The one I downloaded wouldn’t open either. I think it was just a sour upload. It’s been re-upped. Thanks for the note.
I’m downloading it now to check. I also checked Wupload. What do you mean it does nothing? Are you selecting the slow download box and doing the captcha? And have you tried a different browser yet?
Its weird (WU). the screen just sort of “flashes” when I click the button. Its doing that on all of the WU radio buttons. I tried downloading something with an WU link at another site, and it worked fine, and like I said, the MF 2-6 links were good also. I use Mozilla Firefox for a browser, but I haven’t had any Updates from them for a few days so I don’t think it’s a firefox issue, and my computer is working fine. I’ll try again in a couple of hours to shake out any network issues. Thanks for looking into it!. I’ll keep trying to figure it out on this end. It’s probably something simple
*UPDATE*
right clicking the WU link and opening in a new tab let me get to the WU D1. Got it, and it opened fine.
Not sure what the issues are, but oh well.
Thanks!
Sounds like a pop up blocker is getting involved on WU links.
The sample you chose to link brought my daughter (who just turned 2 this week) running in from the other room to groove out, she hasn’t done that since the Faust, and now she\s bobbing her head and yelling “I LIKE that!”
…and then, she ran to her little toy drum kit and started hammering away.
You’re gonna have a weird one Colin. I knew that with Faust.
in the end, she had me play it back 3 times, before she got hungry enough to go eat her supper instead.
That was a track from the unreleased Miles For Kids album.
My favorite jazz kind of isn’t. This is the shit.
I’m hearing all the stuff I only knew from Panthalassa. Right now it’s “Helen Butte/Mr. Freedom X [Unedited Master]“. It’s crazy some people thought this was lame back in the day. It’s frying my brains. In a good way.
It wasn’t thought of as lame, so much as non-musical. All the melody was gone and the oldsters just didn’t know what to make of that.
I’ve been listening to it for the last 4 hours and It’s my new favorite music. As always, Thanks!
It’s whack stuff.
I had a great time with some of that at work last night. Gonna be ny new cooking music for a while, I think. Particularly liked “Black Satin”. I’m going to have to track down what the actual released album was among these things.
Unless I’m mistaken, that would be the On The Corner album proper.
It looks like that might be tracks 2,3,4,5 on disc six. The song titles and lengths are right, according to wiki.
That Wiki certainly is handy.
Further research confirms. Tracks 2,3,4,5 on disc six are indeed the stereo LP master of ON THE CORNER .
Willard – Thanks for the significant upgrades for Miles — very important music and much appreciated.
Thanks, Captain. I´m still fliping out listening to the Davis Evans Box Set!
I’m the same way. When I dug it out to post I couldn’t stop listening. Until I went to the other boxes.
Miles. That motherfucker could play like a motherfucker.
I’m drooling in anticipation of the cellar door.
WOW!
Thanks buddy!
Thanks for all these W. Discovered the Miles Box Sets when I finally went online in the early 2000s. There’s a great eerie mood going on when we get to creep into these long form rehearsals & complete takes. Headphones increase the effect. So glad to have another re-upgrade for the newer computer.
For Pete Cosey madness check out his work on that Miles From India tribute album of last 5 years or so. He has the solo that steals the whole album.
Thanks for On The Corner. I also appreciate reading your comments on this one as I didn’t know much about it. Actually I read all the comments–they got me laughing. Its a good thing you can never have too much Miles–thanks to you I’m now doing well in that department.
I read all your comments, too.
Hmmm. My interest peaked at Jack Johnson – incredible rhythmic material that just kept on building. Bitches Brew and Jack Johnson box sets are part of my essential listening. I’ve got Live Evil and On the Corner on vinyl, but haven’t been tempted to play them or dub them for years. However, this opportunity….
Thanks, I’ll give it a go and see what twenty years of distance gives.
r
Actually, browsed thru the music today. Damn, it’s good! Much much better than my juvenile youth remembered. woo Hoo. Thank you. Maybe I’ll even add it to my Amazon purchases nest time it goes on special.
r
There seems to be some diginoise in Disc 2, Track One (“Ife”)…
Bummer…. I’ll re-rip it. Thanks Winky. Where is it at in the track so I can listen for it on the new one?
It’s during the last three minutes or so of the track, when Miles begins his last solo with some long, single notes. Thanks Willard, because this can’t be bought without sacrificing a limb, or one’s first-born, or something…
Thanks Winky. Just re-upped it. The new one seems to be OK on my end. Sorry for the extra download time.
Cheers, Willard. I don’t mind the DL time, I love On The Corner… even more than the much-lauded Bitches Brew. I think it’s due to the presence of… “The Funk.” ;) Thanks for re-upping it, I’m off to DL it. I’ll write another comment here after I check it out…
Diginoise gone from re-up. :) Thanks again, Willard, for making this available.
Very cool. Thanks again WT.
A million miles away…is not just a plimsouls song
(Thanks, Grateful…and Willard)
I love this box
File under: insanely great
Thanks for this – I had the released albums from these sessions, but this is just better. In fact, it’s better than anything I can think of right now. And perversely easy to listen to – it’s not an avant-jazz endurance test, like those early reviewers claimed. You can hoover to it, type to it, eat to it, even just listen to it. Effortless.
A couple months later and this is still floating my boat, as it were.
MF Link for CD 6 is dead. Any way that you could fix, would be amazing!!
New link up, thanks.
Wow!! Thank you SO much!!