Material - One Down

Second album from Laswell's collective, going into a hard edged, streamlined Disco/Funk direction. Nicky Marrero, Nona Hendryx, Nile Rodgers and Fred Frith all contribute. It also features the curio "Memories", a song penned by Hugh Hopper of the Soft Machine that features some nasty sax from Archie Shepp and the lead vocal by the one and only Whitney Houston. Laswell sure liked to bring incongrous elements together, bless his heart. Not their best by any means, but i like it a lot.

Busting out

Material - Memory Serves

"One of the most high-profile projects of the endlessly prolific bassist and producer Bill Laswell, Material pioneered a groundbreaking fusion of jazz, funk, and punk that also incorporated elements of hip-hop and world music well before either's entrance into the mass cultural consciousness."

More Material material to come. heh.

what a great cover

Defunkt - s/t

"Defunkt has been active since 1978. They merge avant-garde aesthetics with punk rock and funk, and have produced 15 recordings on various independent labels. It is also worth noting that the band has traveled throughout the world as an opening act for such artists as James Brown, David Byrne and Talking Heads, The Clash, Hans Dulfer, Candy Dulfer, Isaac Hayes, Prince, Larry Graham, Me'Shell NdegéOcello, Maceo Parker.

The band has also performed at Jazz Festivals, as well as Rock & Soul venues throughout the world, gaining a small but devoted cult status."

One of the coolest covers ever.

strangle me with your love.

Miles Davis - Dark Magus

Part one of the "Satanic Miles" trilogy. Pure utter dementia. Two CDs on one file.

"Recorded in concert at Carnegie Hall, on March 30th 1974, Dark Magus is, therefore, both earlier and later than the Get Up With It sessions. But, whilst Get Up With It works hardest to define the new shamanic Miles sound, Dark Magus is probably the most musically concise because it was captured on tape in one single evening of fury. Indeed, of all four double-LPs, Dark Magus is the most tightly drawn and the most mysterious and difficult to fathom. Unyielding and as narrowly defined in its musical parameters as reggae or ska, the music of Dark Magus revealed that Miles was by now so dedicated to the on-the-one rhythm which James Brown had instigated and George Clinton had championed, that even his biggest admirers were having problems following him. Indeed, Dark Magus initially only saw its release in Japan. The wa-guitarists Cosey and Lucas were here joined by a third guitarist, Dominic Gaumont, and all three joined forces with the rhythm trio of Al Foster, Michael Henderson and James Mtume, to unleash a savagery which would not let up for the entire concert. Indeed, sax player Dave Liebman's sleevenotes admit that none of them knew where one piece ended and another began, and Liebman himself believes that Miles only much later gave the music individual titles in order to bring some hint of order to the primordial soupy-ness of the proceedings. I use the phrase "some hint of order" because a hint is really all we get. When I explain that disc one's tracks are "Moja (Part 1)", "Moja (Part 2)", "Wili (Part 1)", and "Wili (Part 2)", you could be forgiven for thinking that it was all a big wind-up intended to confuse us even further. But, when I explain that disc two's tracks are "Tatu (Part 1)", "Tatu (Part 2) (Calypso Frelimo"), "Nne (Part 1) (Ife)" and "Nne (Part 2)", then it becomes clear that Miles was surely intending to cloak the entire trip in some impenetrable mystery. And so it is best to listen to Dark Magus as a whole, preferably on repeat for hours on end. Its fury rarely subsides, and soon the whole of the listening space becomes a shamanic environment where time is meaningless and the world outside is forgotten."- Julian Cope

Tatu

Miles Davis - On the Corner

I'll let Dave Clarkson praise this piece of timeless music.

"Frantically kick-starting another period in the forever changing Davis musical psyche and blowing the webs away from several years of cosmic ambience, ‘On the Corner’ served up a heat hazed, down and dirty stew of funk and avant-garde in a glorious cacophonous soul sauce. Simply sizzling in the heat and humidity of the NYC studio it was recorded in, the album is a total masterpiece from beginning to end.

Featuring an all star line up of some of the best jazz musicians this side of Acker Bilk, the music featured on ‘On the Corner’ is executed with attitude, ferocity and with a feeling that this may be the last time they play. The diverse range of musicians gel more than a thick blancmange and the band is as taut and tight as a crabs’ arse. The music contained on this release is three dimensional, nasty and demonic…. Miles runs the voodoo down, down, downtown.

‘On the Corner’ features a wealth of instrumentation, both rich and varied. The percussion and drumming on this recording has obviously been influenced by european avant-garde music such as Stockhausen due to its uniformity and intensity and sounds very much like the rhythm track tape has been cut and looped throughout much of the session to give an almost organic drum machine feeling – no doubt Teo Macero had a field day here. In fact, the master tape sounds like it was cut and pasted in sections – especially with the feeling of being thrown in at the deep end on the first track. (Also, interesting in this direction is that percussionist and later member of Davis’s group, Mtume, is credited on the proceeding live gigs with drum machine). The bass groove from Michael Henderson often sounds looped throughout the record as well. Keyboards featured on the album are played layering upon each other textures of warmth with the music. The reeds section of the band is kept fairly taut and frantic throughout the sessions and the eastern instruments sprinkle the magic spice upon the whole – giving it a far out vibe but never cosmic. The overall sound is evocative of the hustle, bustle and humidity of NYC in unbearable heat.

The most practical way to review this album is to split the review into the three recording sessions which make up the final release – each session featuring slight musician line-up differences:

Session 1: ‘On The Corner’ / ‘New York Girl’ / ‘Thinkin' One Thing And Doin' Another’ / ‘Vote For Miles’. Recorded Columbia studios, New York City : June 1, 1972.. Line-up: Davis (tp) Dave Liebman (ss) Harold Williams (org, syn) Chick Corea (el-p) Herbie Hancock (el-p, syn) Collin Walcott (el-sitar) John McLaughlin (el-g) Michael Henderson (el-b) Jack DeJohnette, Al Foster, Billy Hart (d, per) Badal Roy (tabla).

Never before, or not since, has a musician mixed funk-rock and jazz like Miles does on the opening ‘On The Corner’, which is actually the first four tracks (‘On The Corner’ / ‘New York Girl’ / ‘Thinkin' One Thing And Doin' Another’ / ‘Vote For Miles’) welded together by the rhythmic genius of Jack DeJohnette. A little bit of Sly and a lot of James B are thrown in the melting pot together with echoes of Hendrix and a smattering of Stockhausen for good measure. John McLaughlin plays mean guitar licks and an even meaner guitar solo further on into the piece and Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock offer some great keyboard passages…Nice! Miles’ trumpet playing is incredible on this track, as he spits out piercing notes processed through wah wah as if his life depends on it. This four part epic finally ends in an Indian style with a sitar and a bongo menace fadeout.

Session 2: ‘One and One’ / ‘Helen Butte’ / ‘Mr. Freedom X’. Recorded Columbia Studios, NYC, June 6, 1972. Line-up: Davis (tp) Carlos Garnett (ts) Harold Williams (org, syn) Chick Corea (el-p) Herbie Hancock (el-p, syn) Collin Walcott (el-sitar) David Creamer (el-g) Michael Henderson (el-b) Jack DeJohnette, Al Foster, Billy Hart (d) Badal Roy (tabla).

'One and One' is similar to the previous piece but there is more interaction between the band members. There's a great clarinet solo by Bennie Maupin and some nice playing from the bandleader.

Lasting over 23 (count ‘em!) minutes, 'Helen Butte’/ Mr. Freedom X' is another welded together track and is the longest piece on the album. ‘Helen Butte’ is similar to 'Black Satin,' in rhythmical terms albeit more arresting but the rest of the music is more layered with keyboards and exotic instrumentation. Herbie Hancock is the more apparent instrumentalist on this track with his beautiful Fender Rhodes playing and the piece is nicely capped off with some sweet trumpet phrasing from Miles. ‘Mr Freedom X’ changes the mood somewhat to a darker space before the percussion section thrust themselves forward in the mix and the keyboardists (Hancock and Chick Corea) create the right atmosphere to end the piece.

Session 3: ‘Black Satin’. Recorded Columbia Studios, NYC, July 7, 1972. Additional musicians: Carlos Garnett (ss); Bennie Maupin (bcl) Khalil Balakrishna (el-sitar).

The Eastern sound of the band open ‘Black Satin’ featuring sitar and tabla. This doesn’t last long as DeJohnette quickly establishes a wicked funk before Miles enters the show soon after with his signature style. The track propels itself forward until it eventually closes with the same sitar licks that started the piece. ‘Black Satin’ also features some great overdubbed handclaps and an incredibly catchy trumpet riff. If this track was played on national radio, 24-7, it would probably have bricklayers and office workers the length and breadth of the country whistling the signature tune.

‘On the Corner’ is a motherfunking masterpiece. This unique and innovative recording put the cat amongst the pigeons as far as the jazz elite and critics of the day were concerned. Miles was accused of cheapening the genre and was called the jazz anti-christ in many quarters (and quartets no doubt). This is the album that the jazz purists hated and in doing so, encouraged a new avenue of exploration for Miles. A less focused live album featuring many of the same musicians was released soon after - ‘Miles In Concert’ - (Live at the Philharmonic, NYC, September 1972).

‘On the Corner’ is the sound of a multi dimensionally talented band stood at the crossroads of four musical genres and exploring the next road to venture down. It’s simply awesome in its scope and delivery."

Any questions?

Rated XXX