So that means you got 18, 19 different things to play in two bars. Free from the more limited musical challenges of big bands, earning and learning in the greenhouse that was Davis' group, Coltrane blossomed.
His self-education was pushed into high gear nightly, propelled by an ace rhythm section. Miles consented, sat at a table and watched as his new protege blew one of the prime purveyors of the California-based, 'Cool' jazz school off the bandstand. As the sound of the entire quintet was a sizzling, ear-grabbing study in contrasts — sophisticated yet funky, swinging hard but with a laid-back, lyrical ease — so Miles soon realised that he had found not just a great sideman in Coltrane, but the perfect counterpoint to his own subdued trumpet.
Serene and poised, Miles phrases his solo like an off-hand chat, playing off the light swing of the tune, pausing, allowing space to breathe in between the notes. A slight drum roll introduces Coltrane. More assertive in tone, he answers Davis, building a rougher, more urgent reply, but still finding loose, melodic lines that lead him to longer statements.
Their contrasting approach was even more pronounced during performances, and less balanced. Often, Coltrane would take three, four, even five times as much time for his improvisations.
Solo lengths notwithstanding, the quintet coalesced and clicked, its success and popularity growing at a swift rate. Unfortunately, as it toured coast-to-coast, the group — and particularly Coltrane — carried a pernicious problem that was growing just as rapidly: the burden of drug addiction.
Davis reported his star saxophonist showing up to gigs in rumpled clothing, picking his nose distractedly and nodding out onstage, drinking heavily at the bar when he could not score. Miles initially resisted judgment, knowing only too well the suffering Coltrane was experiencing. Exasperated, the diminutive trumpeter slapped his taller sideman in the head, and slugged him in the stomach.
October, Miles could take it no longer. The saxophonist was too much in a stupor to respond with anything but silence. Coltrane still offered no resistance. A non-plussed Thelonious Monk witnessed the one-sided argument, stepped in and urged the saxophonist to quit and join his band. A man with higher self-regard might have struck back or at least walked away for good, but Coltrane was an extremely humble, non-violent man.
And with a young family and a growing habit to support, he desperately needed the pay. Despite the assault on body and pride, he intermittently returned to Miles over the next few months. It was a wake up call for Coltrane, hitting him harder than any well-aimed punch.
Fittingly, upon his return to New York — clean and revitalised — he entered the studio and recorded his debut as a leader: First Trane. December Miles, back from a tour of France, had a vision.
After getting through most of the year without Coltrane, after a series of replacements that included Sonny Rollins, the trumpeter had eventually lured Cannonball Adderiey into the band. Much had changed in Miles' group.
Tired of a scene that felt littered with musical cliches and formulas left over from the heyday of bebop, Davis was pursuing a path that became known as modal jazz. His compositions began to rely on scales rather than established chord patterns, as both tempo and harmonic movement of the music downshifted.
With few or no chordal patterns available on which to hang his notes, Miles forced his soloists to rely on their own innate sense of melody to improvise and express. Coltrane's intrepid spirit had led him to probe the very nature of his saxophone, ostensibly a single-note instrument.
When Coltrane resumed with Miles that final week of the year, the result was a creative pressure cooker wherein the tenorman's blues roots and recent rule-bending experiments dovetailed perfectly with the challenge of an expanded lineup and a new modal form of music. From , whenever Coltrane and Miles performed and the tapes were rolling, the full promise of their collaborative magic was finally fulfilled.
Even their impromptu live recordings merit focused listening. But the two masterful studio albums from this period — Milestones and Kind of Blue — are list-topping must-haves for any jazz enthusiast, any student of 20th century music, any music lover.
Anyone with ears. The same maturity and self-assurance powers his work on both. Miles keenly sensed Coltrane drifting away, just as he felt how frustrating it would inevitably be to find a replacement of equal talent. As Davis confessed, he tried to both expedite and defer their parting. And then Harold got him a recording contract [and] set up a publishing company for Trane To keep Trane in the band longer, I asked Jack Whittemore, my agent, to get bookings for Trane's group whenever we weren't playing, and he did.
March, Coltrane grumbled his way through a month-long tour of Europe, his last with Miles, his mind more on his own music. Davis continued to record, perform and innovate in the s and early s, absorbing influences from Stockhausen to soul.
By , however, a combination of exhaustion, personal demons and drug addiction forced him to take time out. The trumpet was made by the Martin Company, which had been founded in Chicago in by the German instrument-maker, Johann Heinrich Martin.
By the middle of the 20th century, demand for its trumpets was pretty much insatiable. Dizzy Gillespie was a huge fan, Miles Davis was another. Davis was particularly fond of a model called the Committee. So much so that when the Martin Company was sold to a rival manufacturer in the s — and the production of Committee trumpets officially stopped — they continued to be custom-made for Davis. Musical instruments are meant to be played and meant to make beautiful sounds.
Miles did it and we're trying to carry that forward," he added. It doesn't matter if you are a musician, a business person or both, never giving up and always pushing yourself, I mean, how is that not inspiring?
The once-a-year sale in New York offers bidders a highly curated selection of rare masterworks. Join ST's Telegram channel here and get the latest breaking news delivered to you. We have been experiencing some problems with subscriber log-ins and apologise for the inconvenience caused. Until we resolve the issues, subscribers need not log in to access ST Digital articles.
But a log-in is still required for our PDFs.
0コメント