Miles Davis - Agharta
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Miles DavisEdition: Music CD
Format: Live
CD Release Date: 1990-12-29
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Prelude, Pt. 1
- Prelude, Pt. 2
- Maiysha
- Interlude
- Theme from Jack Johnson
Free Music Notes for Agharta
Free Music Review: The Apocalypse of Jazz
Hit: 5 Stars
If jazz began with Buddy Bolden in the streets of New Orleans in 1890, then according to some, it ended on a winter evening in Osaka, Japan in 1975. This is an absurd exaggeration of course; still, it's difficult not to think apocalyptic thoughts when listening to Agharta and Pangaea. If jazz itself did not die that day, then surely one must confess that some great line did end; the line of musical development that commenced before the invention of recorded sound finds its Book of Revelation and its Armageddon in this performance.
From archaic beginnings to the Hot Fives, from the Swing era to bebop, from modal to fusion, the seemingly predestined course of the music had seen miraculous creativity and great leaders. With the retirement of Miles Davis in 1975, the music had no more great leaders. The essential course of jazz would thenceforth become a multitude of courses. Charlie Parker was dead; Bud Powell was dead; Satchmo and Duke were dead; Thelonious Monk had gone mad; Sonny Rollins was in India - the remainder of the 1970s would be a howling void, punctuated by the occasional flash of brilliance.
FUNK (16:39)
Agharta commences with a churning motiff that is called "Funk". It is a theme that developed from "Right Off" during the 1970s. The mood is violent and churning. Miles Davis's solo should silence all people who claim he had lost his chops. His ideas are fearsome, and despite his chronic illness and pain at the time, he plays with great energy.
AGHARTA PRELUDE (15:56)
My favourite tune on the album is Agharta Prelude. For those driven away from this album by its depressing reputation, rest assured that this piece, at least, is jaunty and puts a smile on the face. Miles again soloes with surprising energy.
MAIYSHA (12:20)
A gentle ballad by David Liebman makes its appearance here. It is a much more concentrated and gritty performance that the version on the album "Get Up With It". A bass line that sounds suspiociously like it comes from Super Mario Bros underlies a piercingly beautiful flute solo by Sonny Fortune. Midway through the groove shifts to the second theme, which sounds anxious and fearful. Miles' solo contains plaintive qualities that go all the way back to "Round About Midnight".
RIGHT OFF/SO WHAT (17:23)
A very fast, fearsome version of Right Off blows apart the peace of Maiysha. It starts off with the famous repeated riff that Miles was later to use in "You're Under Arrest"; before settling into the more familiar groove. But amazingly, the groove ebbs away into a swing beat, and Michael Henderson begins playing a walking bassline. For a moment, it is as if we are back in the 1950s, with only Miles' wah-wah reminding us of all that has been and gone.
Out of nowhere, Henderson begins playing the bassline from "So What". Not only is this the last performance of "So What" in Miles' discography, but it is the only time his band performs the tune after going electric in 1968. At first Miles ignores the bassline; but as the tune ebbs away, he begins to play the "So - What" motif on the electric organ; and in response Pete Cosey, who believes "jazz" is a dirty word, also plays the motif. It is a moving and fitting tribute to the past.
IFE (17:36)
A rather dull, lifeless performance compared to the same tune on "Pangaea".
FOR DAVE (a.k.a. WILI) (16:53)
A harmonically vague motif on the electric organ by Miles Davis heralds this obscure tune. An electric guitarist (ah, but which one?) plays the sombre, almost motionless tune, which sounds like a Spanish lament. Miles Davis' is sublime, another throwback to a more lyrical style.
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