Customer Reviews

Filles De Kilimanjaro (Deluxe Edition) (Bonus Track)

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Filles de Kilimanjaro has an odd pedigree for an "album" -- it was recorded in two different sessions, featuring two different lineups. As a result, in their box-set-everything-Miles-recorded campaign, Sony/Legacy split this album across two boxed sets. That's really unfortunate, because these recordings really work well together, and as an ALBUM this is one of the highest peaks in Miles Davis's career.

The three middle tracks ("Tout de Suite", "Petit Machins", "Filles de Kilimanjaro") were the last recordings of the 2nd Quintet with Ron Carter and Herbie Hancock. These five musicians played great on nearly all their recordings, but here they are really incredible. And the MVP has to be Tony Williams, who supplies the music with lots of extra juice. "Tout" combines mellow, Gil Evans arranged outer sections with an explosive rock middle section; Miles and Wayne play off the fireworks of Tony's drumming. "Petit Machins" is the most conventional melody here, but the improvisation afterward is open-ended. The title track has a gorgeous, dreamy melody a la "Footprints" or "Masqualero".

"Frelon Brun" and "Mademoiselle Mabry" were recorded three months later with Chick Corea and Dave Holland replacing Herbie and Ron. "Frelon Brun" is surely one of the best boogaloos ever recorded: intense solos by Wayne and Miles, Chick's spiky comping behind them, and Tony Williams going completely crazy underneath. "Mademoiselle Mabry", on the other hand, initially seems like a bunch of languid, bluesy phrases (including a nod to Jimi Hendrix's "Wind Cries Mary") played by Chick and Dave under Miles's statement of the melody. But eventually you realize that these phrases form the frame of the song, repeated over and over while Miles, Wayne and Chick paint beautiful, unhurried solo statements over it. Tony doesn't "drum" here, instead commenting irregularly but respectfully when the music merits it. And then the tune ends just like it started, with Miles playing the melody.

This is a major masterwork, a collection of five magical experiences captured in the studio. It's an album that maintains jazz's approach to improvisation, but fuses it with electric piano and rock and soul grooves in a way that's rarely been done since. Miles moved in the rock and soul direction more decisively with In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew (both wonderful albums) but unfortunately never explored the peaks of Kilimanjaro again.

One final note: this "deluxe" edition contains an interesting alternate take of "Tout de Suite" that maintains the original groove throughout.

For me also this has been a longtime-favorite, even though, as other reviewers have said, not often recognized by everyone. In all aspects this marks a transition. The Fender Rhodes is used here for the first time, and to great effect--Herbie Hancock knows what he is doing, maximizing the funky effect and bell-like clarity of the instrument by not playing it too much. A tune like "Tout de Suite" showcases Hancock's rich economy: he uses the Rhodes almost like a percussive instrument. On "Frelon Brun," the Rhodes plays a different part in the rhythm section, almost as an electric bass, and it is funky, y'all.

The album is also a transition in terms of composition, as was "Sorcerer," recorded the year before. The five Davis-originals foreshadow what was to come, and the songs Wayne Shorter wrote for that earlier album seem to have influenced Davis here. Polyrhythmic and polyharmonic (is that a word?), these songs, more than those on "Sorcerer," played with more or less traditional jazz instrumentation, look ahead to the kind of free jazz/funk/rock displayed on "In A Silent Way" and "Bitches Brew."

My favorite is "Petits Machins," which combines just about everything I like about this music and particularly these musicians. The theme is great and played with tremendous energy. Davis's trumpet initially sounds cool and detached, but the intellectual sparsity gives way to great emotion. He makes it sounds so easy, seemingly playing beyond all measure while being in total control. Typically Miles, the final bars of the song repeat the theme with immense sadness, as if the dream is over, and I have the feeling he is quoting these lines in 1986, on "Tutu" (listen to "Tomaas"). The song's drumtrack alone is worth the price of the CD--Tony Williams does all of this, I think, on just a bass, a snare, and a ride. Whatever it was that made Davis hire him in 1962 or 63, when Williams was, you know, like seventeen years old, it was heaven-sent.

I really can't tell you how much I like this album, and perhaps this is not a CD for the multitudes, but you might give it a try. Certainly these are "Directions in Music."

Filles De Kilimanjaro would be Miles Davis' last album with his second great quintet and pointed the way towards the jazz-fusion of his next album In A Silent Way. This album also marked the debut of bassist Dave Holland and keyboardist Chick Corea on the tracks "Frelon Brun" and "Mademoiselle Mabry." This album, along with their previous album Miles In The Sky, introduced the electric instruments and longer compositions that came to define fusion.

The opening track "Frelon Brun" is the only track which resembles the hard-bop of the Miles Smiles and E.S.P. albums. Although Corea, Davis, and Wayne Shorter all have impressive solos here, it's drummer Tony Williams who truly carries the track with his extremely busy drumming. "Tout De Suite" is an excellent track which starts out very subdued. Then with Williams' drumming gaining more momentum, Davis and Shorter both lend excellent solos to the track. Miles' solos are extremely impressive throughout the album possibly due to the exciting direction his music was going in. Herbie Hancock's solo on this track is also a highlight. "Petits Machins (Little Stuff)" is more of the same although it holds none of the subtlety of "Tout De Suite." The title track is the most memorable one here and is carried by Ron Carter's inventive bass playing. This track, as well as "Mademoiselle Mabry", which hints at Jimi Hendrix's "The Wind Cries Mary", are the most subtle ones here concentrating more on space rather than intense soloing. This album is usually overlooked because it preceded In A Silent Way. Nevertheless, it is an outstanding album and arguably the best of Miles' second great quintet. Highly recommended.

Filles de Kil possesses the same cheerful, soft, funky vibe that can be found on Miles in the Sky and In a Silent Way. To me this album is the best of the three of them, and the best way to transition from acoustic to electric jazz.

The first tune "Frelon Brun" (Brown Hornet) is a jaunty, happy-go-lucky boogaloo with Chick Corea playing an electric piano. He was highly annoyed at Miles during this session, as the piano was apparently a cheap one that had no dynamic range. At all. This makes it sound rather like an electric organ; like any talented musician Corea works around the limitations, using the keyboard as a pounding rhythmic instrument. The result is my favourite track on the disc, a jolly romp that is over in just five minutes.

"Tout de Suite" (All Together) is a much, much longer piece, with Herbie Hancock on electric piano - a better piano, this time, with dynamic range - in a long noodly track that presages groove-based jazz like you get in the 1970s. The atmosphere is slow and moody.

"Petits Machins" (Small Stuff) is another jaunty piece. Miles' playing is full of joy. The melody is based on a countermelody that he sometimes played on the standard "Walkin'".

"Filles de Kilimanjaro" (Girls of Kilimanjaro) is a pun on the Picasso painting "Filles D'Avignon", the joke being that Kilimanjaro is a mountain in Africa, and has nothing to do with France. The tune is again filled with joy.

"Mademoiselle Mabry" (Miss Mabry) is named after Miles Davis' then-current wife, Betty Mabry. The tune is slow and romantic. Perhaps Mabry was a more complicated personality than her persona suggested. The tune begins with odd, confusing fragments of melody, played by Chick Corea and the rhythm section in little snippets. The pieces seem utterly confusing and strange - but then Miles Davis enters on his horn, and "joins the dots". He reveals the true nature of the tune, covering all the little fragments with a melody of immense beauty.

This is my favourite Miles Davis album, and a marvel of improvised music.

Hindsight being what it is, Filles De Kilimanjaro is often regarded as the point where Miles Davis made the radical--and, in the minds of some of his critics and contemporaries, reviled--move to amplify his sound with electric instruments. But the record was much more than just that. Miles had enjoyed a solid three-year creative burst as leader of the groundbreaking Miles Davis Quintet (with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and the young hyperkinetic drummer Tony Williams), and in the spring of 1968, he decided that new musical directions were needed. On top of that, the natives were getting restless: Williams was itching to move into more of a progressive rock vein (which he soon pursued with his group Lifetime), and Hancock had visions of fronting his own ensemble (leading eventually to his hit Headhunters album in 1973).

Everything about Filles was new at the time, from Ron Carter playing electric bass (at Miles' insistence--an order that moved Carter to quit the band soon thereafter) to Hancock's electric piano throughout (some of which had graced the previous album Miles in the Sky). Even the cover art featured the striking visage of Miles' new wife Betty Mabry, whom he had married shortly after the main sessions for Filles had been taped. But newest of all, this extraordinary album featured two quintets--one making peace with the past, the other moving into the future. The epic "Tout De Suite" is the old group at its best, oozing existential cool in the opening moments until Williams, Carter and Hancock launch into a sizzling polyrhythmic vamp that allows Miles to take flight, with Shorter right in his wake. On "Frelon Brun" and "Mademoiselle Mabry," Chick Corea replaces Hancock on electric piano, and 22-year-old Brit bassist Dave Holland steps in for Carter, and we begin to get a taste of the melodic spacing that would lead to In A Silent Way--the 1969 album that announced Miles' metamorphosis was for real.

When reviewers compile which Miles Davis albums are the key ones to own, FILLES DE KILIMANJARO often doesn't quite make the cut. That's too bad, because all five tracks--augmented here by one alternate take--are outstanding in bridging what came before (the 1960s quintet) with what came afterward (Davis' electric era).

For those who are turned off by much of Davis' 1969-1975 music, the results here seem quite organized and melodic (reportedly arranger Gil Evans had a significant hand in the arrangements). The music is clearly in transition, with little in the way of 'straight-ahead' jazz rhythms or walking bass lines. Yet the spirit if not the letter of a quintet jazz sound is in evidence, particular with improvisations still in the forefront. Even so, Davis' interest in the likes of James Brown shows up in some of the drumming, and his interest in electric instruments is fully intergrated into the music. Highly recommended!

Filles de Kilimanjaro is one of the best albums by Miles Davis and it is the swan song for the second great quintet. The title track is mesmorizing and it was the last thing recorded by the quintet before Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter left to be replaced by Chick Corea and Dave Holland. The tracks with that band are Frelon Brun and Madmoiselle Mabry. Petits Machins is equally awesome. The song just jumps out at you. The whole album is pretty mellow and the title track is one of the most beautiful things Miles ever wrote. This is an excellent introduction to two of the greatest bands ever, the Miles Davis Quintet of 1964-1968 and the incarnation which was with Miles from '68 to '69

As I've said elsewhere, I started off collecting Miles' electric material and believed I would have little interest in Miles' legacy work... WRONG! Once I'd snapped up everything I could find from the 68 - 75 era, I picked this up (along with Nefertiti, Miles Smiles, ESP, Miles in the Sky and Waterbabies). Man, I love all those releases but this one is very special. The band toys with rock rhythms on Miles in the Sky and that is actually where Herbie first played the Rhodes for a release. But this release finds the band a little more immersed in the rock sound. The listener can really hear how Miles' sound changed. Part of that change may be that Davis wrote almost all of the lead sheets rather than Shorter (who was this quintet's principal composer)

Tony Williams is a monster of a player on this disc - Frelon Brun drums is like nothing I've heard before or since. The rhythm section is split between the Williams/Carter/Hancock "staff" and the Williams/Corea/Holland "staff". All the players are incredible. You can really tell the difference between the two line-ups. I really dig the doubled bass line on Frelon Brun.

Look, I could write and write and write about this release but you'll find all you need to know elsewhere on the Web. If you read the autobiography and any of the biographies, you are going to discover this release figures very prominently. Buy it! Now! You will also want to pick up Water Babies which is made up of more material that was recorded during this time frame (but remained unreleased until the mid 70's.

Miles Miles Miles! ya gotta have it all but if you can't afford them all then this is the ONE CD you want to own by this particular quintet.

"Filles De Kilimanjaro," released in 1968, marks an interesting musical period for Miles Davis. Incorporating just a few electric touches into the mix, it would help pave the way for his more daring works of fusion such as "Bitches Brew." A few of the tracks here clock in at least 10 minutes, guiding the listener through many textures, moods, and flavors. The overall feel of the album is much looser than what Davis had been playing before, often showing spontaneity and improvisitation in the performances. There's also great interplay between the band players, with Tony Williams, Herbie Hancock, and the great saxaphonist Wayne Shorter making the best impressions. "Filles De Kilimanjaro" has been digitally remastered, and it features an alternative version of the opening track "Tout De Suite." On the cover of this CD bears a sticker that boasts, "Jazz Masterpiece." After giving this fine album a listen, I can't help but agree with that claim.

I find this a unique recording in the history of jazz.

On the one hand, Davis continues his tradition of creating albums that are a complete work (Kind of Blue, Porgy and Bess, Nefertiti, etc), rather than a just a collection of performances.

The music here is not only transitional, maybe it reflects some of the political and social chaos of the late sixties as well.

Miles continues the trend of pieces which are peformed with a focus on group performance, rather than individual performance. Not that the soloing isn't as terrific as you would expect from the musician's involved. While many of Miles recordings display this focus on the group chemistry, this became even more pronounced on records like ESP, Miles Smiles, Nefertiti, and Sorcerer.

Filles De Kilimanjaro shows a concerted shift away from the usual walking time and AABA employed in typical jazz recordings. After this recording, Davis became more interested creating "groove oriented" arrangements, with a more predictable underpinning.

One personell note: I've always thought it was Corea/Holland on Pettit Machins, and Hancock/Carter on Frelon Braun, although the liner notes show otherwise.

Regardless, I love this record!