Customer Reviews

Panthalassa: The Music Of Miles Davis 1969-1974

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The idea behind this CD is brilliant. Take the high points of Miles Davis' "electric period" and blend them into one long song. Bill Laswell pulls it off, creating a beautiful and moving tribute that will send you to the source CDs in a hurry.

Starting with music from In a Silent Way, Laswell lets the songs play just as they did on the original album, condensed slightly. This leads to a 30-minute suite (the two tracks in the middle of the disc) that draw from On the Corner, Get Up With It, and Agharta. Laswell has added a little dub to the mix, enhancing it in a subtle way. The CD ends with 14 minutes from Davis' incredible "He Loved Him Madly" (the first track on Get Up With It). The original is 32 minutes of perfection. This excerpt will make you want to hear it all.

The only thing missing from this album is music from Bitches Brew, but here again Laswell is way ahead of everyone. Bitches Brew is the Davis album you probably already have (and love) if you were thinking about buying this, so there's no need to sample it here. This is an amazing CD. It made me want to hear more Miles Davis --- and more Laswell albums, too.

It was with trepidation that I listened to this lp. Mixing Miles with Laswell (who always seems to be making the same lp under different names of late) was an exciting idea but taking the Prince of Darkness into the electronica age scared me some seeing as Miles wasn't doing it with Laswell..

But after listening to it, I found that Laswell did Miles' funk/fusion justice and enhanced it a bit, bringing out the layered textures that are not easily noticed on the original recordings. His rendition of the insane "Rated X," arguably Miles' most Stockhausen-esque piece of avant garde is amazing.

Along with the entertaining "Remixes" lp, Laswell does a stand-up job and hopefully has tuened Miles' music on to a new generation.

 

 

Miles Davis - Panthalassa -the music of Miles Davis1969-74, reconstruction and mix translation by Bill Laswell.

Overall, I believe Miles Davis would have been quite happy with these 'reconstructions' by Bill Laswell. Sticking pretty much to the original material, what Laswell does is tighten up the overall sound so that it ends up kicking butt big time. Miles' electric period alienated a lot of his old time listeners because it was a 'new' sound for him,because it was radical and somewhat experimental and reflected what was happening at the time, from flower power to funkster Sly and The Family Stone to the Black Panther movement and a lot more in between. The original recordings that these extracts came from were all produced by Teo Macero who basically let the tape run and worried about cleaning it all up and editing later on. Not having discovered Davis' music till I was in my late twenties, I never really listened to Bitches Brew or In A Silent Way till much later in life, preferring the big orchestral sound and arrangements of Gil Evans to the above. I had been exposed to albums like Get Up With It but never really understood or appreciated what MD was doing. These days I have more time and patience for this sort of thing and consequently am hearing these recordings anew. When I look at the line up of talent MD was employing I'm in awe because these guys were all to end up becoming big names in the music industry, if they weren't already. So Uncle Bill has gone in and reedited what were already classic albums and just cleaned up the sound to make it even more listen able, more than likely in the process generating a fresh interest in MD's music for a new audience. Laswell has created three medleys plus a revamped version of He Loved Him Madly, which for me is the highlight of this album. Laswell has a real ear for ambience and he uses his talents to best effect on a track like Ellington's He Loved Him Madly ,which in the final stage becomes very hypnotic through the use of repetition and loops. Miles sounds great and I think everyone must have had a good time when this was being recorded. The problem with a lot of Miles' music from around this time was it was somewhat abstract and consequently unlistenable except for the die hard followers. It wasn't till Marcus Miller became involved that I started listening again and espousing the virtues of Miles' music. Over the years I have grown to reestablish my respect for the man as a musician as a distinct voice in black American jazz. Laswell no doubt feels this way himself, thus these re-translations. This particular recording will no doubt reestablish the fact that Laswell is one of the leading producers in the industry these days and a force to be reckoned with. It will be interesting to listen to the originals again but since they are in storage for the moment this will do nicely.

 

Take some of the best jazz musicians and recordings of the early seventies that were led by Miles Davis like Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter , Chick Corea, John McGlaughlin, Tony Williams and Herbie Hancock and fast forward thirty years or so. Enter mad mixer extrordanaire Bill Lawell and let him reconstruct the classic original recordings and the result is mind blowing. Understand that the envelope was being pushed on the origianl recordings, incorporating electric instruments into the acoustic realm of jazz to for what these musicians percieved as a fusion of music .The recordings utilized by Laswell are from Milles Davis far reaching and critically regected electronic period which was a break away from "jazz." Never one to let the critics dictate his direction, Miles was a musical genius with vision beyond his years. This coupled with Laswells expertise in reconstruction, who's knack for keeping it original yet enhancing the music to even higher standards results in an original new concept . Listening to this disc is like traveling through a black hole and becoming an exploding nebula. Miles Davis could play a horn like no other, building on the masters before him like Armstrong and Guilispie, Miles Davis on these recordings illustrated he represented the new sound of the trumpet; he was part of the evolution of his instrument all the while taking jazz into areas unknown or unheard of at the time. Laswell enhances Davis music beyond the common perceptions of jazz, taking the listener on a voyage that soars.The original recordings like "In a Silent Way " were classic but these have been given a sonic boost that elevate the music. The booklet included is full of superlatives from various authors on the genius of Miles Davis. This is roots music for the twenty first century that is like a retro rocket that continues to reach new heights.This is a highly recommended disc for anyone with an open mind towards music who wants to listen to reconstructed music that influenced many genres and generations to come.

Laswell takes a few highlights from Miles' most underrated music - his electric music of mid-late 1970s - and weaves them into a coherent CD. Critics who call this stuff "commercial" are wrong - it is dissonant, dark, and challenging to listen to. It's great, and it made me pull out my old LPs from the period and listen to them again. The biggest contribution is the improved sound. The originals were recorded by Teo Macero mostly, and they sound awful - garbled, fuzzy, and no bottom. Laswell's remix pumps up the bass and drums, and cleans up the sound, so "Black Satin" sounds like it was recorded yesterday. Mr. Laswell, it is time for you to do the same with ALL of the Miles recordings of that era. Thanks a lot.

I am a great admirer of Miles Davis' 70's output. His electric period has always seemed to me to be the natural evolution of someone so dedicated to driving the jazz canon forward (if only Jimi Hendrix had survived!!!). So when I saw that Bill Laswell had remixed some of the best of this period, I was pretty excited, and albeit a little apprehensive.

Laswell is pretty respected, I guess, but I've always thought that his production was a little heavy handed. What he intends has always seemed to me to be a touch too obvious ("This is a dub record." "This is an ambient record."). So I thought that the orignal sources would be left in the dust in the name of his producing. What a surprise.

The production here really demonstrates a respect for the work. As I listened to this for the first time, I thought to myself that these could very well have been the original mixes. There seems to be a genuine reverence for the the original material. The mixes blend together so well that this seems like a respectful labor of love.

The orignal music is there, but the remix interpretations definitely add a different slant to the compostions. The first track moves seemlessly along, incorporating songs that originally shared a common link (percussion and mood), different approach, but link together with seamless remix production. Teo Macero has been critisized for his own heavy-handed production on some of Miles' 70's stuff, in some way, Laswelll has given us the other side of the coin.

This is a worthy addition to anyone who has any interest in Miles Davis' "difficult" period.

I don't know why any one who likes Miles' music from this period would not like this CD or have a problem with it conceptually. I have a HUGE library of Miles' music and have read many books about the man, his music and the process used to create much of the music found on Miles' Columbia (Sony) releases. Look, when this music was recorded, tape ran continuously in the studio. Teo Macero, Miles' producer would then "compose" or "sculpt" finished pieces by editing the material together. This is precisely how EVERYTHING from In a Silent Way up to On the Corner was done. Generally, Miles' had very little to do with the work Teo was doing in creating the finished product - Despite the "Directions in Music by Miles Davis" proclamation found on the records released in the late 60's and early 70's. Essentially, Laswell is just doing the same thing Teo did with those original tracks. Yeah yeah, he adds a little background ambience with a synth or perhaps tape loops to pull the pieces in the suites together. Big deal. Teo did the same sort of thing slap in the middle of In A Silent Way and A Tribute to Jack Johnson. And let's not even get started on what Teo did to the live Cellar Door material on Live-Evil and Miles at Fillmore. Talk about heavy-handed!

Listen: Nevermind the so-called purists and nay-sayers. If they understood the process used to create the original works, they wouldn't be complaining. This CD is terrific! Especially the second suite with Black Satin, What If, and Agharta Dub - ah, and Rated-X gets a new treatment that I feel is actually BETTER than the mix we got on Get Up With It. The band's "stop-starts" where the band is repeatedly edited out and replaced with that evil-sounding organ aren't nearly as heavy handed as those Teo created in that piece. If you are a fan of this period of Miles' music, fear not. Don't worry about purchasing something you already have, Laswell's edits are completely different than Teo's so you ARE going to hear something new... sort of.

If you appreciate Miles' electric period stuff, than you will really love this re-translation, Combining works from "In a Silent Way", "On the corner", "Agharta" and "Get up with it" and re-remixing them into a cohesive whole may sound a bit Haphazard but it works so well. Embracing all of Miles eclectical forms, Laswell really let's Miles and his band shine and he brings empasis and structure to "He loved him Madly", from "Get up with it" , that captures Miles in a seriously beautiful melancholy that is evident from his lyrical, colorful playing and the ominous dissonance that pervades the track. This cd hasn't left my rotation for 10 years and I never stop turning people on to it. You will miss out if you don't check it out! One of my absolute best cd's.

This is exactly what a "remix & reconstruction" should be. Bill Laswell has made a lot of great music that's heavily indebted to Miles' electric period (check out Material's "Memory Serves"), so it's only natural that the musician/producer/mixer should take on a project like this. Basically what Laswell did here was take pieces of 'In A Silent Way', and some funky stuff from 'On The Corner' and 'Get Up With It', improve the sound a bit, edit some songs into each other, and play around with the mixes. The reason it works is because it but sounds modern and cutting edge while still remaining respectful to the original recordings. And the best part is that the end result makes a great introduction to Miles Davis' underrated electric period from 1969-1975. Now check out the original albums...

The album begins with 15 minutes of the shimmering and incandescent "In a Silent Way" album, Miles and co. honing the blues of Kind of Blue into a lissome funk that makes the heart ache and joy. Music of truly rare beauty. For the next half hour you are plunged into gutbucket electricity, menacing sitars and guitars calling the names of Jimi and Carlos. The ensemble is as tight as any of James Brown's finest bands. Bass player Michael Henderson and drummers DeJohnette and Al Foster kick it like a glorious amalgam of Larry Graham, The Meter's Zig Modeliste, and John Bonham. Miles floats and darts above it all like a wise spirit, with his signature tone-mixture of malevolence and love. And it all ends with an elegy to Duke, praising the past by forseeing the future. This truly is an album for the ages, music that I feel no shame in praising in high hyperbole. Bill Laswell has done a commendable job of alchemy here, I truly think Miles would be very pleased with his blending and weighing. For similar excursions into mind-expanding astronaut rock, try the German band Can's albums "Ege Bamyasi", "Future Days", and "Tago Mago", Also try to find "Iron Path", by Laswell's old band, Last Exit. also Roni Size fans take heed, here are the blueprints.....