Zappa.com

I read somewhere in an interview with a former band member they were at a mid 70's show and Miles was playing with a busted leg and the show was the heavy funk era '74 '75 period.  I guess Frank up and walked out.  I guess it was too straight up for his tastes?   <br><br>I love Miles' electric stuff.  I'm not into the pure be-bop as much when it's straight piano.  Gotta have my Fender Rhodes or organ.  For some reason electric pianos put the eyebrows on jazz for me.

_________________
Take a penny... give a shit.

Miles was racist no doubt. BUT, he was racist mostly against white america. Not white europe, or white nowhere else. He stated in his Bio that white people where different in europe than what they were in the states because they werent arrogant, rude and in places like france people like miles were regarded very highly and respected despite the fact they were black. They didnt care.<br><br>And who can blame him anyway? Are we forgetting what time period he grew up in? Racism was still in abundance and theres plenty of examples of it in his auto-bio.<br>

Miles' own bio is great and a hilarious read. I really like how he doesn't seem to give a shit about anything, and some episodes in that book make him look like a total asshole. I also learned 20 new uses for the word 'motherfucker' after finishing the book. I don't really care if he was a nice guy or not, you'd have to be utterly stupid to look at him as some sort of role model, other than for his musical accomplishments.<br><br>Still looking for another good book about Miles, any recommendations?

_________________
"When you hear music, after it's over, it's gone in the air. You can never capture it again." -- Eric Dolphy

http://www.frappr.com/frankzappaforum - FZ Forum World Map

Yeah, I heard that's supposed to be a good one, will check it out. One thing that's lacking in Miles' own book is an indepth description of how the music itself developed.<br><br>Ian Carr is a pretty good trumpet player in his own right as well, made a couple of nice records with Nucleus in the 70s.

_________________
"When you hear music, after it's over, it's gone in the air. You can never capture it again." -- Eric Dolphy

http://www.frappr.com/frankzappaforum - FZ Forum World Map

of course there are some interesting things mentioned in the zappa and roland kirk thread somewhere here on the forum as well as slimes cool news article and that summer it seems the mothers and davis did play at the same festivals in that summer of '69<br>in other words right BEFORE Hot Rats AND Bitches Brew were recorded . . .<br> <br>of course big name artists both like and don't like to associate themselves with other big name artists when the spark hits 'em or to have their work be associated with other artists, right when they're in the middle of doin it . . .<br><br>haven't seen the tapes yet, but wouldn't it be cool if we could at least hear what these two artists may have heard of each other's performances that summer? from whence so much seem to have tumbled outta the ether

_________________
" . . . On the outside now . . ."

<br><br>Exactly.<br>This is very very true for many many albums of his different periods, starting from "Birth of the Cool" up to the last one.<br>[/quote]

Lol..that works great with Dark Magus or On the Corner!

Yea, my mom can vouch for Miles being kind of a prick. I remember hearing a lot of stories about him blowing a snot at the audience and just being an all around prick...but great trumpeter. But, honestly I just think he had bad social skills.

Maybe so, but he was Miles Davis after all! If he and Hendrix had have made a record, it would have probably changed the face of music ( even more than Miles did himself ). Also, if his planned collaboration with Prince had happened in the 80s, it would have been changed again.......

If I had the chance to see Miles in the '80s I would have laughed in his face and told him he was a sell-out pussy, and that his new music sucked.
Some people tend to bash FZ's '80s music, but his music kicked the shit out of Miles stuff from that decade. I mean Jesus H, Cyndi Lauper & Michael Jackson covers? A 70 yr old man wearing wigs, dressing up like and sucking up to Prince? What a faggot he turned into. It's kind of sad really how his musical career ended.

Another late post, but here it is.

I met a friend at a Jazz Camp at Aquinas College, and he told me that Miles played there as a special guest. This was in the 60's/70's, somewhere in there. The story goes:

Some kid wanted to go into the recital hall to practice, but two security guys were standing outside the door, and wouldn't let him in. Told him Miles Davis was practicing. The Kid said: "I don't give a fuck who's in there, I want to practice". He opened the door, and Miles exclaimed: "Thas' Right, boy, you don' take shit from no one!".

The Next day, the kid went back to the recital hall lobby, and saw Miles, and tried to lay low, but Miles saw him, and said to him "I see you, muthafucka!".

The other story:

A guy who apparently worked at Aquinas had an interview with Miles, and when he showed up at Miles' house, he found him completely nude. He asked: "Miles, could you put some clothes on for the interview"

"It's my muthafuckin' house, I do what I want!".

He eventually dressed, and continued with the interview. Eventually this question popped up:

"What do you think when you 'duel' with another soloist?"

Miles: "Fuck you, You motherfucker, you son-of-a-bitch, and sometimes, I love you".

There's my Miles Davis story.

I love Miles Davis. And, everyone should buy The Complete On The Corner Sessions box set. It rules...

Wow, that wasn't a very nice post I made about Miles. Oh well, it's somewhat true. I love everything he did up to '75. I still stand by my statement that his "comeback" output sucks.
The On The Corner box set does indeed rule.

His 80s stuff I hated at first, but it did grow on me. Albums like Youre Under Arrest, Aura and Live Around The World are very good records....Doo Bop, however, ranks among the worst albums Ive ever had the misfortune to hear.....

Tutu has some nice moments. George Duke adds a lot to the mix.

_________________
NJP

Yeah, I like Tutu. Yes, its very 80s sounding, but I get a nice " Miami Vice " feeling from it.....

I have never heard of any such thing - the only thing I can say is that he was not very nice to FZ when they met and this item is documented in an FZ interview somewhere . . .

good luck with finding it.

i read that, too. i think it was back in the very early 60's. frank going up to him as a fan and miles saying something very rude. i have no clue where that interview is....somewhere in my magazine collection.

_________________
One two, buckle my shoe!

The only guy with more bullshit stories about him than Miles is that weird guy who ate shit on stage.

Can you imagine hearing Machine Gun, Jack Johnson, and Hot Rats in the same year? Goddamn.

_________________
monktail creative music concern
http://www.monktail.com

Frank approached him after a gig to say that he really enjoyed what Miles was doing...and Miles turned his back on him without response. FZ said he was done with him after that. No date mentioned that I recall but got the feeling it was early 60s, too. I think the interviewer was fishing to see if Miles was an influence on Frank's jazzier albums.

I do recall reading somewhere that FZ was into Nefertiti, and the way Miles composed, and produced his records. Some book somewhere I think?

q: do people like miles davis know about you and your music ?
fz: well, i met miles davis in 1962 in a jazz club in san francisco called the black hawk; i really
. . .liked his music and i went up to him and introduced myself to him and he turned his back
. . .on me and so i haven't had anything to do with him or his music since that time

q: in 1962, though, you hadn't recorded anything
fz: that's okay, he had his chance, i don't treat people that way


. . .rockbill nov-84

_________________

I recently talked with my Jazz band director, and he told me this story about a newspaper guy who had... "dolls" of old Jazz players, and he said that when you used the Miles Davis doll, he'd turn his back on you. Anyone know anything else?

That is such a funny comment. I love how Frank said "he had his chance!" hahah
In terms of 80's Miles, I haven't heard many of the albums, however.... Doo Wop is absolutely awful. The rapping is so bad, and not cheesy in a good funny way like the Holiday rap, just lame and terrible! I couldn't believe Miles associated with such a terrible rapper! I would have thought he'd have used some hard core shit with something to say!

Live Around the world is an excellent album however, if you haven't checked that out, it ranks right up there. I find it funny people think he went so far downhill, in my opinion, it is a fusion of his earlier ballads mixed with fusion instrumentation. It's a perfect summary of his career. The pop covers are georgeous and totally in keeping with the jazz tradition.

_________________
For my clinically insane music
http://routenote.com/album/FOWL
http://www.myspace.com/fowlmusic
http://www.last.fm/music/fowl
http://www.deezer.com/en/#music/fowl
Your mental health requires buying my cd

Doo Bop is indeed a steaming pile of shit. Such a bad album, and yet, could have been a great mix, had it been executed correctly.

Live Around The World, I also agree, is fantastic....