Customer Reviews

Russell Gunn Plays Miles

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Good stuff! Russell is the master of his domain. A tight, stand-out group of musicians with a funky, easy-beezyness sound that makes you want to keep playing this CD over and over. Thank you!

PS - Of course it's not Miles and I'm glad it isn't Chris Botti.

young cat has nice chops and a nice band, but not as smooth as Miles or even Chris Botti. the bass player stands out. I did like Gunn's attack on phrases.

I just loved the sound of this group. Very respectful of Mile's music and yet with a unique rhythm to each tune. I too first heard the group on cable jazz station and the full album did not disappoint.

This CD is just plain good! I became aware of the artist from Music Choice on cable t.v., copied down the name of the CD, and bought it here. I highly recommend it.

Updated from 2007 review. Today's date, 7/15/2009


Excellent album...a must for all Miles Davis fans, who also are familiar with Russell Gunn's work. In my opinion, Russell Gunn's music fosters a conversation between a type of street poetics that converge with a Jazz aesthetic; as is evident in his 2008 release _Love Stories_. To speak of a political economy of Black music, in the specific context of Gunn's music, is to speak of an dialectical interplay between sound technologies and Black music (Gunn's utilization of technology as a means of innovation, as opposed to utilizing technology to compensate for a lack); it is to speak of a type of "sonic Afro-modernity" that bespeaks and embodies a rich legacy of Jazz trumpeting that converges with Gunn's self-fashioning sound (one that is marked by a persistent critique of Western modernity); and finally, it is to speak of Russell Gunn's Ethnomusicological journey (exterior as well as interior) that informs and laces each of his recordings, never letting in challenging the listener as well as his band members. With all due respect to Gunn and the fellow musicians, this recording is necessarily politicized. I think all "Black artistic expression" is necessarily politicized, given the historically marginal status that, by and large, Black artistic expression continues to occupy. Make no mistake about it, this particular album is the music of Miles Davis. Miles was not one to "shuck & jive," and "coon" for white people. I met Russell Gunn once, briefly at FSU (Tallahassee, FLA) and the impression I received was that he was not one to "shuck & jive," and "coon" for white folks either. I do not think this Brutha's East St. Louis roots would let that happen. I do not proclaim to know this brutha. Its all respect. It is from within this exigency, that I approach/listen to all Black music, not just this album.

Accompanying Gun on this release is an group of cats who, in there own right, strengthen and assist Gunn in delivering this musical portrait of Miles Davis. Orrin Evans (another favorite pianist of mine), Mark Kelley, Montez Coleman, Kahlil Kwame Bell--dropping 8 tracks on this album all vary in terms of groove, tempo, vibe, sound, nuance, volume and energy--will definitely keep you on your toes. You will certainly not be disappointed with this purchase.

I must assert, out of respect for the artists and their artist productions, that my interpretation of any music I might review on Amazon or anywhere else, is mine alone. I do not proclaim to know nor do I possess the audacity to place my own hermeneutic upon the artists' texts, or their intended goals for their music. I think the music speaks for itself, ultimately. I also think that if we attempt to listen to Black music, abstracted and isolated from the long and continuous history of Amerikkka exploiting Black labor, land, bodies, language and sound, then we are selling ourselves short and therefore, may never fully grasp what each listening experience could potentially offer. I cannot listen to any music nowadays, without the implicit reference to Katrina, for example, or the continued police brutality against Black people.

Thank you to Russell, Orrin, Mark, Montez and Kahlil for bringing really good music to us in this age of hyped-up media muck-a-bucks.

Much love and respect.
Kelvin J. Monroe

~ciao