Saturday, April 30, 2016

Feeling Miles, while I Sing the Body Electric




... sometimes it happens... I feel electric... 



I today realized that - randomly, yet every some months or so - I get massive loads of Miles' electric music on a daily basis: Filles de Kilimangiaro, In a Silent Way, Jack Johnson, On The Corner, Live/Evil and, of course, Bitches Brew goes and goes and goes, loop-like, in my player(s)... early morning, while driving my car, while working, having lunch or dinner and in the evening... this Miles' frenzy lasts some days, say two-three days, with extremely positive effects on my overall feeling.

I also get some theme-variations, changing the diet with the three double-disks of Wadada Leo Smith and Henry Kaiser's Yo Miles!



It's difficult to explain why I feel the need for this very kind of music and what it gives to me: I noticed that I play, like now it's going Jack Johnson Complete session 5-disks superb box-set, when I'm OK, feeling groovy and happy as I can be... but it works also when I'm down, tired, stressed, nervous...

Strange, uh?

Strange or not... music is now playing while silent TV screen shows Rocky, Sly vs. Apollo Creed fighting;-), so Jack Johnson's pretty appropriate!

Cannot say what Miles, John McLaughlin, Bernie Taupin, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Teo Macero (definitely YES!), Keith Jarrett, Dave Holland, Airto Moreira, Larry Young, Badal Roy and all these zillions tape reels endlessly spinning at Columbia studios in NYC did to create this supremely untiring, fluctuating, pulsating, ever-transforming and mutating, yet so appropriate for me, my life, my feeling.



It's feverish and quiet, and when low pitched, cool, da boss Miles' voice appears at the end of a piece you feel part of the game...

Miles was such a cool guy, proud of his heritage, loving tradition, but never caged... he loved Bird, Ornette, Sly Stone, Jimi... maybe thanking his young wife he got, in his forties, a new glimpse of youth and, not by chance, Bitches Brew sold more, MUCH more than his previous masterpieces.



Columbia wasn't recognizing the revolution going from the very beginning, a revolution not only Miles', but global, which was going on in jazz... so the above mentioned records weren't immediately recognized as the hugely important, amazing beauties they are.



A lesson: art isn't something to be caged in definitions, jazz soon incorporated RnB, rock, funky, ethnic and this saved jazz itself!



Miles was guilty of blending this and, most of all, making freedom of expression to blossom among his musical partners... he knew art, music, creativity cannot come but from freedom...stellar musicians from England, USA, Brasil, India, Austria, black, white, tanned... no way, no brainer... just people melting together into an unique creature: the Electric Man.



... so, YES, I got it: what electric Miles', more than with his early milestones;-)  gives to me is a strong, unleashed, pure sense of freedom, a pulse, like a cosmic breathe coming from Earth itself, something deeply hinting to the mystery of creation, both artistic and, to a larger extent, Universe Creation.

A priceless, heart-warming statement of freedom.



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