Various Artists - Miles from India (TWO CD SET)

In a startlingly original recreation of music associated
with jazz legend Miles Davis, producer-archivist Bob
Belden, renowned for his Grammy Award-winning
reissue work on a series of Miles Davis boxed sets for
Sony/Columbia, along with co-arranger Louiz Banks
(celebrated keyboardist from India), has recast familiar
themes from such landmark recordings as Bitches
Brew, In A Silent Way, and Kind of Blue with an East
Meets West sensibility on Miles...From India. An
incredibly ambitious project involving two dozen
musicians from two separate continents recording in
studios around the world, Miles...From India is a cross-cultural summit meeting that puts a provocative pan-global spin on such Miles
classics as All Blues, Spanish Key, So What, It s About That Time and Jean Pierre.
Sitar and tablas, ghatam and khanjira, mridangam and Carnatic violin blend seamlessly with muted trumpet and saxophones, screaming
electric guitar and grooving electric bass lines, piano, upright bass and drums on this profound fusion of Indian classical and American
jazz. Recorded in Mumbai and Madras, India and New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, the music on Miles...From India was performed by
classical and jazz musicians from India with the addition of musicians who have recorded or performed with Miles Davis over the span of
five decades.
The Miles alumni included on the sessions are saxophonists Dave Liebman (1972-74) and Gary Bartz (1970-71), guitarists Mike Stern
(1981-84), Pete Cosey (1973-76) and John McLaughlin (1969-72), bassists Ron Carter (1963-69), Michael Henderson (1970-76), Marcus
Miller (1981-1984), Benny Rietveld (1987-91), keyboardists Chick Corea (1968-72), Adam Holzman (1985-87) and Robert Irving III (1980-
88), drummers Jimmy Cobb (1958-63), Leon 'Ndugu' Chancler (1971), Lenny White (1969) and Vince Wilburn (1981, 1984-1987) and
tabla player Badal Roy (1972-3). The Indian contingent is represented by keyboardist Louiz Banks, drummer Gino Banks, American-born
alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, sitarist Ravi Chari, Vikku Vinayakram (a charter member of Shakti) on ghatam, V. Selvaganesh (a
member of Shakti and Remember Shakti) on khanjira, U. Shrinivas (from Remember Shakti) on electric mandolin, Brij Narain on sarod,
Dilshad Khan on sarangi, Sridhar Parthasarathy on mridangam, Taufiq Qureshi and A. Sivamani on percussion, Kala Ramnath on Carnatic
violin, Rakesh Chaurasia on flute and Shankar Mahadevan & Sikkil Gurucharan on Indian classical vocals. Product Description

MILES SMILES FROM NIRVANA

IF YOU LOVED THE ECLECTIC (AND ELECTRIC!) JAZZ FUSION MUSIC THAT MILES DAVIS RECORDED IN THE LATE 60'S AND EARLY 70'S (BITHCES BREW, BIG FUN, SORCERER, NERFERTITI, JACK JOHNSON, LIVE/EVIL, IN A SILENT WAY, ON THE CONRER, ETC, ETC), THEN YOU WILL GET TO APPRECIATE THIS TRUE LABOR OF LOVE THAT COMBINES MILES' WORK FROM THAT PERIOD WITH A HOST OF GREAT MUSICIANS THAT HE RECORDED WITH (ALMOST TOO NUMEROPUS TO NAME), AND SOME STELLAR MUSICIANS FROM INDIA PLAYING TRADITIONAL INDIAN INSTRUMENTS. MILES WOULD APPROVE, AND I AM SURE HE IS LOOKING DOWN FROM SOMEWHERE RIGHT NOW AND SMILING. GREAT DOUBLE CD RELEASE. PRODUCED BY BOB BELDEN, WHO YOU COULD EASILY DESCRIBE AS THE "CARETAKER' OF MILES' MUSIC. THIS CD TRULY CAPTURES THE SPIRIT AND SOUND OF THOSE EARLIER RECORDINGS, WITH MORE OF A WORLD SOUND TO IT THAT ENHANCES IT EVEN MORE. October 2, 2008

An essential addition to the canon of reworked electric Miles

Some people have been disappointed that this project did not realise its full hybrid potential, and perhaps not unduly so. However, we must remember that the music of Miles' electric period was already inflected with Indian musical structures and musicians, irrespective of the extent of explicitly Indian instrumentation (surely part of its appeal to me). On Miles From India I will concede that some tracks are more successful than others in their achievement of indo-jazz synergy. But for example, Spanish Key is absolutely incredible- a really distinctive interpretation with a pronounced Indian inflection, and reason alone to purchase this. As an obsessive about this era of Miles' music, this rendition really caught my attention, filling me with delight.

Others have complained that the project suffers from the segregation of its recording, with separate sessions in India and the US (reducing the carbon footprint of its production), with the music only combined in production, thereby depriving the musicians from the dynamic intersubjectivity of shared being. This too I will partially concede. Again however, I will defend this project by noting just how successful the dynamic integration of component parts has generally been. And after all, so much of this era of Miles' music was a cut and paste job by Teo Macero anyway.

In recent years we have been treated to Bill Laswell's Panthalassa project and its dance remixes, to Henry Kaiser and Leo Wadada Smith's Yo Miles! project (producing three wonderful CDs), and to the potent live performances on the Children on The Corner album. Miles From India represents another worthy addition to a body of work that so warrants celebration through reinterpretation. Whether these projects try to innovate or replicate, I'm still happy to hear alternative versions of so many tracks that I love so much. Great stuff. September 27, 2008

A Million Miles Ahead

Another great example of how Miles' music, particularly the 70s period, his greatest period, will stand the test of time and continue to influence future generations. A true Jazz GIant and a great tribute. I'm looking for Miles From Africa next... September 6, 2008

The Best Indo-Jazz Fusion album in recent times !

I am usually ambivalent of this genre of music.Fusion albums can be either superb or very banal.For example compare this release with "Floating Point" the latest album by John Mclaughlin.I was utterly disapponted.It has absolutely no new ideas and is banal at it's best.Interestingly, both albums have a lot of musicians in common - Luiz Banks,Ranjit Barot, Shankar Mahadevan...

This album is a totally different cup of tea.It works and like how.Of course the premise to begin with, is brilliant.And then the musicians are on fire and you can actually feel that on every track.

All the songs on the album are superb, but if I have to pick a favourite it would be Jean-Pierre, the last track on the first CD.

Highly recommended.

July 31, 2008

Sketches of Excellence

Miles Davis passed away in 1991, but his majesty has lived on through any number of reissues, boxed sets of classic sessions and the reinterpretation of his music in a variety of settings.

This set - placing Miles in a World Music context - is sweeping in scoop and breathtaking in sound. The project was overseen by producer Bob Belden and co-arranged by Louiz Banks, who also performed on keyboards.

Utilizing classical and jazz artists from India and musicians who mostly performed with Miles during his "electric" years, the 12 numbers - which include In a Spanish Key, Silent Way, Jean Pierre and Miles Runs the Voodoo Down - are powerfully presented on an illuminated landscape that subtly changes with each listening.

But it's the title track - composed, produced and performed by guitarist John McLaughlin with U. Shrinivas on electric mandolin, Louiz Banks on piano and Sikkil Gurucharan on vocals - that merges the sketches of excellence of the past with the brilliance of the present.

The project is not just a tribute to the genius of Miles, but an absolute gem in the art of making modern music.
July 16, 2008

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