ON THE AIR: THE COMPLETE IN A SILENT WAY SESSION!

Mr. Miles Davis needs no introduction at all (I hope!).

The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions is a three-disc box set, featuring recordings from the sessions that would produce his 1969 album In A Silent Way, as well as transitional pieces from the era. 

It is notable since it includes several previously unreleased tracks on CD, namely "Splashdown", "The Ghetto Walk" and "Early Minor", plus a longer and different version of "Shhh/Peaceful" and two "In a Silent Way" alternate takes.

Session One:
1. Mademoiselle Mabry (00:00)
2. Frelon Brun (16:28)
3. Two Faced (22:03)
4. Dual Mr. Anthony Tillmon Williams Process (39:58)
5. Splash: Interlude 1/Interlude 2/Interlude 3 (53:14)
6. Splashdown: Interlude 1/Interlude 2 (1:03:14)

Session Two:
1. Ascent (1:11:10)
2. Directions, I (1:26:00)
3. Directions, II (1:32:41)
4. Shhh/Peaceful (1:37:30)
5. In A Silent Way [Rehearsal] (1:56:35)
6. In A Silent Way (2:01:54)
7. It's About That Time (2:06:01)

Session Three:
1. The Ghetto Walk (2:17:23)
2. Early Minor (2:44:07)

Original 1969 LP Release:
A Side: Shhh/Peaceful/Shhh (2:51:04)
B Side In A Silent Way/It's About That Time/In A Silent Way (3:09:18)

Musicians (click on the names for more info):

• Miles Davis – trumpet
• Wayne Shorter – tenor saxophone (Disc 1: All), soprano saxophone
• John McLaughlin – electric guitar (Disc 2: Tracks 4-7; Disc 3: All)
• Chick Corea – electric piano
• Herbie Hancock – electric piano
• Joe Zawinul – organ (Disc 2; Disc 3)
• Dave Holland – double bass
• Tony Williams – drums
• Jack DeJohnette – drums (Disc 2: Tracks 1-3)
• Joe Chambers – drums (Disc 3: Tracks 1 and 2)

And my personal all-time favourite gig: Miles Davis Group Live at Jazz Fest, New Orleans 1991! 

WHAT IF HE DIDN'T DIE?

Few months ago, 12 previously unreleased Jimi Hendrix recordings from 1968 and 1969 were made available as People, Hell and Angels. The legendary guitarist was experimenting with new sounds and musical directions for First Rays of the New Rising Sun, the planned double-album follow-up to Electric Ladyland, and on "Somewhere," Hendrix sits down with Buddy Miles on drums and Stephen Stills on bass for a far-reaching psychedelic blues jam. Recorded in 1968, "Somewhere" rides signature Hendrix wails, long exploratory solos and free-flowing wordplay. Rolling Stone's Greatest Guitarist of All Time shows why he's earned that title with unparalleled skill and eternally innovative sounds, but "Somewhere" suggests his most complex work may have only been ahead of him..

AUTUMN LEAVES!

Choose your favourite. I'll go for Chet Baker this morning! Just feels better with my kind of latte.

CHET BAKER: LET'S GET LOST!

''When Charlie Parker first heard Chet play he called Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie and said: 'this little white cat out here is gonna give you guys a lot of trouble'''

Travelling with the elusive jazz vocalist and trumpeter Chet Baker, Bruce Weber weaves together the life story of a jazz great. The film uses excerpts from Italian B movies, rare performance footage, and candid interviews with Baker, musicians, friends, battling ex-wives and his children in what turned out to be the last year of his life. Winner of the 1989 Critics Prize at the Venice Film Festival and nominated for an Academy Award, Let's Get Lost has become an important document in the career of the filmmaker on the life of a jazz legend. Since its release in 1989 Let's Get Lost has introduced a whole new generation of jazz enthusiasts to the timeless talent of the late Chet Baker.

Sadly, like most jazz musicians, Chet's legacy is completely lost on today's youth culture...

WATCH THE FULL DOCUMENTARY AFTER THE BREAK!!!

JAZZ MAESTRI!

Lester Young with Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker & Miles Davis! 

Have a jazzy Friday night!

STYLE ICON: MR CHET BAKER!

Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and vocalist. Baker earned much attention and critical praise through the 1950s, particularly for albums featuring his vocals (Chet Baker Sings, It Could Happen to You). Jazz historian David Gelly described the promise of Baker's early career as "James Dean, Sinatra, and Bix, rolled into one." His "well-publicized drug habit" also drove his notoriety and fame; Baker was in and out of jail regularly before enjoying a career resurgence in the late 1970s and '80s.

A person of great anomalies and contradictions. A trumpeter of virtuosity compared favourably to Mr Miles Davis, he was mainly self-taught and played almost entirely by ear. He took no interest in jazz older than bebop, yet when he chose to sing his style and repertoire were purely traditional. He was a depressive personality, but his music is lyrically sweet and melodic. He took drugs to devastating effects, yet played with a crystalline flawlessness. His style was famously laid-back, effortless and flowing, yet his moods were violently extreme. He reputedly rarely practiced and was considered lazy by other musicians, yet his complete recorded oeuvre consists of more than 200 albums in his short 58-year-old life.

 CLICK CLICK CLICK TO READ & LISTEN MORE!!!

WHAT RAY'D SAY!

Forget everything I ever said about music, artists, bands whatsoever.

Although I love various artists from Johnny Cash, B.B. King, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix or Aretha Franklin 

to Richie Hawtin, Jay-Z or Chimie (bet you don't know him), Ray Charles is definitely the most 

complex artist in 'my' history and perhaps my favourite! Enjoy with a freshly brewed cup of coffee, please!

THE COOL JAZZ SOUND!

Enjoy the Music of Miles Davis!

KIND OF BLUE!

Good night! 

love, fashionspam.

MUSIC FOR THE SOUL!

Just a little playlist for a Friday evening chill-out dinner..

Have a nice one!

As Miles Davis once said: ''Music & life are all about style!''

MILES, DIZ & BIRD!

'LISTEN. The greatest feeling I ever had in my life - with my clothes on - was when I first heard Diz and Bird back in 1944. 
I've come close to matching the feeling of that night, but I've never quite got there. I'm always looking for it, trying to always
 feel it in and through the music I play..' 

Miles The Autobiography

MR Davis, we're pretty sure you got there!

Charlie "Bird" Parker & Dizzy 'Diz' Gillespie

INNOVATION!

Have a pleasant & peaceful weekend!

SPENCER HART TAILORING: A CUT ABOVE THE REST!

'Our brand is an edit of the way icons such as Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin dressed.'

'Everything is very tailored even down to the way the shirt fits.' Mr Nick Hart

'It's about a lot of little things coming together: texture, detail and understatement'

'Spencer Hart is about being photographed, being out, and having people look at you'

Shop MR PORTER's selection on the site!

FASHIONSPAM RECOMMENDS: MILES DAVIS [BIRTH OF COOL]

Birth of the Cool is a compilation album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released in 1957 on Capitol Records. It compiles twelve songs recorded by Davis's nonet for the label over the course of three sessions during 1949 and 1950.

Featuring unusual instrumentation and several notable musicians, the music consisted of innovative arrangements influenced by classical musictechniques such as polyphony, and marked a major development in post-bebop jazz. 

CLICK CLICK CLICK FOR THE TRACK LISTING + SONG!!!