Great look at Decoy! I still wrestle with all the "post-comeback" Miles, but do find the live stuff works better for me. That said, looking forward to revisiting Decoy with your enthusiasm ringing in my ears.
I saw him at the Hollywood Bowl in I think 1981 (poss. ‘82) and what stands out most clearly in my memory was how happy he seemed. He was sort of teasing the (by this point much-) younger musicians, acting a bit like a coach. There was more keyboard/synth noodling than there was memorable trumpet playing, but it was pretty early in his reemergence so pretty much everybody was just happy to have him back. (Besides, this was the era when you could see Weather Report live and count the number of seconds Wayne Shorter blew sax during any song on your fingers. Strange days.)
Miles thanked the audience at least a couple of times, and if I recall correctly, even cracked a couple of jokes. He looked like a man who was having fun.
Yes, interesting! I had overlooked Decoy. There's a nice radio broadcast 1984-07-07 of that band at Wiesen, unfortunately cut to fit within one hour. Check it out here
The first 80’s Miles lp I ever found, back when records cost next to nothing and were dusty and mouldy like old books. It’s remained my favourite from his comeback period precisely because of the short sharp electro-jazz-funk-noir excursions. I remember him appearing in Miami Vice and Decoy now sounds like an alternative score to that show 👌🏻
Great stuff! Just ordered the Cecil Taylor book.
Great look at Decoy! I still wrestle with all the "post-comeback" Miles, but do find the live stuff works better for me. That said, looking forward to revisiting Decoy with your enthusiasm ringing in my ears.
Nice one. I always mean to dip back into 80s Miles and this is the push I needed.
I saw him at the Hollywood Bowl in I think 1981 (poss. ‘82) and what stands out most clearly in my memory was how happy he seemed. He was sort of teasing the (by this point much-) younger musicians, acting a bit like a coach. There was more keyboard/synth noodling than there was memorable trumpet playing, but it was pretty early in his reemergence so pretty much everybody was just happy to have him back. (Besides, this was the era when you could see Weather Report live and count the number of seconds Wayne Shorter blew sax during any song on your fingers. Strange days.)
Miles thanked the audience at least a couple of times, and if I recall correctly, even cracked a couple of jokes. He looked like a man who was having fun.
Yes, interesting! I had overlooked Decoy. There's a nice radio broadcast 1984-07-07 of that band at Wiesen, unfortunately cut to fit within one hour. Check it out here
https://archive.org/details/miles-davis-chick-corea-1984-jazz-summit-austria
Here is my after-the fact review of the Montreal show: https://www.allaboutjazz.com/festival-international-de-jazz-de-montreal-2020-oscar-peterson
The first 80’s Miles lp I ever found, back when records cost next to nothing and were dusty and mouldy like old books. It’s remained my favourite from his comeback period precisely because of the short sharp electro-jazz-funk-noir excursions. I remember him appearing in Miami Vice and Decoy now sounds like an alternative score to that show 👌🏻