pull over

Everyone should know the notorious verbally related stories of Miles Davis' life in New York in the '70s. He was pulled over again and again by the cops driving in his fly car (seen above and below). But that wasn't the only thing that was stopping Miles in the '70s - a lot of critics hated his album "On The Corner" so much so that it gained a reputation as the most hated album in jazz . What's clear from the advertising for the album



is that Miles was trying to make an album for the people. He didn't give a damn what the critics thought. But this is hardly the street music the sleeve depicts

Funky it may be. But if this is street music then maybe the street was in Blade Runner or some other future zone.

Miles' catalogue is so overwhelming and his musical alchemy so strong it's something you just have to experience but I can understand why people get daunted with it. Luckily I managed to get introduced to Miles really early on so I've had plenty of time to get through the entire catalogue. For the last ten years I've pretty much focused on trying to listen to more of the what I refer to as his "mind-expanding" phase - the period from "In A Silent Way" to the early 80's. Why ? Because the records are challenging but full of ideas. Admittedly albums like Dark Magus, Agharta and Pangaea (which I consider amongst my favorite Miles albums) are not records you can just play anytime. There's some serious density going on which is likely to make a lot of people's heads feel like exploding.

Returning to the recently issued box set "The Complete On The Corner Sessions" last month I was reminded yet again of the thing that for me always broke the density - Michael Henderson's in the pocket bass playing.

"I was playing with Stevie Wonder... He said to Stevie, “I’m taking your fucking bass player.” " Michael Henderson to All About Jazz