Tutu

Miles Davis | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002LAB
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,944 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

DAVIS MILES TUTU

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A late period masterpiece., October 21, 2005

By 

Michael Stack (North Chelmsford, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tutu (Audio CD)

In 1985, Miles Davis' thirty year association with Columbia Records came to an end and the jazz legend, who managed to reinvent jazz a dozen times over managed to reinvent the price value of jazz recording contracts when he signed with Warner Brothers. What Davis unfortunately didn't seem to do was read past the bottom line and his royalties for songwriting would lie with Warner Brothers, not with him. As a result, Davis refused to compose anything on his own and instead brought his former bass player Marcus Miller to compose for him. Miller wrote compositions for Davis and set up a framework in which the trumpeter could solo. The first album resulting from this collaboration, "Tutu", proves to be one of the great records of Davis' career, and like "Sketches of Spain" before it, provides a powerful launching pad for Davis and coaxes out of him one of his best performances.

Musically, the album is guaranteed to alienate Davis fans everywhere-- while he'd abandoned acoustic instruments as the only way to go in the '60s, this album was an embracing of synthesizers, drum machines, and electric instruments, even moreso than his previous records were. Miller performed all the electric and acoustic instruments (including bass guitar, electric guitar, at least some live drums, soprano sax, bass clarinet and synthesizers) with additional contributions in synth programming from Ron Miles and Adam Holzman and one track ("Backyard Ritual") where George Duke assumes the framing role. The album does sound (particularly in the drum tracks) a bit dated, but this in no way gets in the way of enjoying the album anymore than acoustic basses get in the way of enjoying Davis' '50s work-- in fact, it all adds to the ambience. Most importantly is that Davis, who sometimes seemed a bit unengaged with his own music on his later recordings, is full of fire and passion-- blows powerfully in a number of different moods, be it passion and fir ("Tutu"), a deep romanticism and yearning ("Portia"), funky explosiveness ("Splatch") or bouncey ecstacy ("Perfect Way").

For the purists who claim it's not jazz if it has electric instruments, programmed beats, or synthesizers-- skip this, you'll find nothing to like and nothing I say will convince you otherwise, even though this album is one of the best of its form. For those who question bringing in Miller to frame Davis and would make the statement this is a Marcus Miller record thinly veiled as a Miles Davis album-- remember that Gil Evans set up the same kind of framings for Davis, and no one views "Miles Ahead" or "Sketches of Spain" (or for that matter "The Birth of the Cool" where Davis only cowrote one piece) as anything other than a Miles Davis album. The fact is, this album is one of the best of its generation, and time and again, Davis proved he was capable of shaking the jazz world apart. And I suspect it's no coincidence that in his absence, a regressionist viewpoint has taken hold in commercial jazz. "Tutu" is a relic of a time when artists were not afraid to try something new. Highly recommended.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Listen to Miles and learn., May 16, 2000

By 

Brett Hopgood (Adelaide, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tutu (Audio CD)

I got into Miles through this album and have since collected most of his albums. Tutu for me is the outstanding track. Whoever heard a drum machine swing like this before? Much credit has to be given to Marcus Miller for what he has created here. As the credit notes say, "Miles Davis - Trumpet all other instruments Marcus Miller except indicated". You could call this a Miller album. I don't think there is a weak track here. Even George Duke's Backyard Ritual is a treat. Portia the ballad is fantastic. Just listen to the outro, it is an inspired piece of composing. Listen to the chords on this album and if you can, work them out. It'll change they way you think about harmonies and chord progressions. Perfect Way is an interesting choice. It's a cover of Scritti Politti's tune. To date still my favourite electric Miles album. A must for any lover of fusion or funk. If I was stranded on a desert island with my Discman, this album would be with me. 5 stars

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Miles Had Something To Prove, February 13, 2007

By 

Bicycle Day - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Tutu (Audio CD)

This first release for Warner Bros. was supposed to be a collaboration with Prince. Instead, it was a reuniting with Marcus Miller for this outstanding tribute to Archbishop Desmund Tutu which captured a 1987 Grammy Award.

Miles had previously taken part in Artists United Against Apartheid and this CD finds him putting his complete artistic signature in the criticism of the institutionalized white racism in South Africa.

The majority of the compositions, arrangements, production and instruments were provided by Miller. George Duke wrote, arranged, co-produced and played on Backyard Ritual. Programmed synthesizers - from Jason Miles - samples and drum loops are the studio tools that dominate the mix.

The last track, Full Nelson, is a Miller composition named for Nelson Mandela. The title track sets the stage for arguably the strongest work by Miles in the 1980s. There is not a weak cut as the studio is used to its full potential to merge technology with the trumpet; which hadn't been done since the 1970s funk classic, On The Corner.

Miles had left Columbia Records for a variety of artistic issues and one major personal situation. The breaking point was when a company executive contacted Miles and asked him to call Columbia artist Wynton Marsalis and wish him a happy birthday. Miles and Marsalis had a contentious relationship due to harsh comments Marsalis had previously directed at Miles.

Unlike many of his critics within the industry, Miles refused to fall back on an antiquated style and simply crank out generic music. Tutu and the subsequent concerts demonstrated that Miles continued to look ahead and refused to wait for others to catch up.