The 500 - #358 - Sketches Of Spain - Miles Davis

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: # 358

Album Title: Sketches of Spain

Artist: Miles Davis

Genre: Third Stream, Orchestral Jazz

Recorded: Columbia 30th Street Studios

Released: July, 1960

My age at release: Not Born Yet

How familiar was I with it before this week: Not At All

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Concierto de Aranjuez 

(Selected by my friend James, who grew up in Spain & gave me a brief history of Flamenco music)

We all have "concert regrets". One of my biggest happened when I turned down an opportunity to see Miles Davis perform at Massey Hall in Toronto, Ontario. My good friend Jeff, with whom I have seen dozens of concerts and live music performances, called me in the autumn of 1989 to let me know he was getting tickets and asked if I wanted any. I can't remember the reason I declined. I suspect it was because of money. Which, in retrospect, seems ridiculous. The cost was $25. Perhaps, worse still, I dismissed the opportunity by saying: "I'll see him next time."

Miles Davis Ticket from the late 80s 

Jeff did attend the concert. He was glad he went, but said the performance wasn't great. The band was exceptional, but Davis seemed to be off. We would later learn that he was quite ill. As always, Davis rarely faced the audience, preferring to angle himself toward his bandmates. A decision that some have, mistakenly, attributed to arrogance or performance anxiety.

Miles Davis performing (1960s)

Over the years, he has given many reasons for his positioning. The answer that makes the most sense is that he is leading the band, like a conductor. When asked, he told a reporter: 

"Nobody ever asks classical orchestra conductors why they have their backs to the audience. The reason is that they're telling the orchestra what to play and when. You don't criticize them for doing it, so why do you criticize me for doing the very same thing."

Miles Davis didn't like his music referred to as Jazz. He preferred to call it Social Music because it reflected the sounds of his time. That makes a lot of sense when looking at the wide spectrum of styles he adopted over his five-decade career. Books, feature films, comprehensive blogs and web-pages (including the  immersive and interactive timeline, Scaled In Miles, from 2015), have documented Davis' complex career.

Screen Capture of the Scaled In Miles Website

From Bebop to the Birth Of Cool in the early 50s, he transitioned into Hard Bop a few years later, along with a heroin addiction. He kicked heroin in the late fifties, took up boxing and began to explore Modal Jazz. At the end of the decade, he recorded his most important record, Kind Of Blue (#12 of The 500).

While recording Kind Of Blue, Davis married Francis Davis (nee: Francis Elizabeth Taylor), who was the first African-American ballerina to perform with the Paris-Opera ballet and who had transitioned to work on several Broadway (and off-Broadway) shows. Francis insisted that Miles accompany her to a performance by flamenco dancer, Roberto Iglesias in New York. 

Francis Davis, featured on the cover of Miles Davis record
Someday My Prince Will Come (1961)

Miles was completely captivated by the performance and, rumour has it, bought every flamenco album available at his local record shop. This influence is first heard on Flamenco Sketches, the final track of Kind Of Blue. However, it is fully explored on record #358 on The 500, Sketches Of Spain.

Davis recording Sketches Of Spain (November, 1959)

Sketches was recorded over three days with 34 of the top jazz and classical players of the time. It is considered Third Stream, a term coined by composer, musician, lecturer and historian Gunther Schuller in 1958. It is best defined as a fusion of improvisational jazz and European classical with influences from World Music.

Gunther Schuller

By the time I made the mistake of skipping Davis' performance in 1990, he had moved through many more phases, including an electric period. When he visited Massey Hall he had become enamoured with contemporary music. Indeed, half the songs he performed that night were covers from popular artists of the time, including Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Scritti Politti and Toto.

Davis died a little over a year later, on September 28. 1991, of complications from bronchial pneumonia. When I learned the news, I deeply regretted the choice I had made when Jeff called to invite me but, if I can borrow from Davis' philosophy of improvisational playing, "Do not fear mistakes, there are none."