Miles Davis - On the Corner

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Free Music Notes for On the Corner

Free Music Review: The Prototype for Trance and Techno
Hit: 5 Stars

On the Corner was one of the last albums Miles did with his rotating, multi-layered electric bands of the early 70s. The albums after this would delve into avant-rock-funk of the Agharta period, before Davis took his complete hiatus and suffered his mid 70-s breakdown. Assembled for this disc is a typical conglomeration of the jazz-rock stars of the 70s, including Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock on electric pianos, John McLaughlin on guitar, three drummers including both the marvelous Jack Dejohnette and Billy Hart. Along with these luminaries were Dave Liebman and Sonny Fortune on saxes, fat funk grooves by Michael Henderson, Colin Walcott on electric sitar and Badal Roy on tablas. This lineup is probably the most complexly layered group Miles had in the electric period, and the inclusion of Indian instruments gave the album a world music groove that was years ahead of its time.

Most of the criticism that has been lobbed at this album has to do with the fact that, in many people's estimation it's not a "jazz album". What is meant by this is not always clear, and an old refrain that is leveled at just about every album considered a departure from the "tradition". There seems to be some complaint that On the Corner is devoid of improvisation. This is not true. In fact the album is one long improvisatory jam. What it doesn't have is a clear head-solos-head structure. Rather, the rhythm section provides a dense polyrhythmic carpet over which the horns solo in an extended manner. Also, Miles continued his trend toward significant post-production work in the mixing of the album. As a result, much of the improvisation by the band is used as source material for further creative manipulation, through electronics, and through other post-production effects. The result is a mix which is trance-like, hypnotic and a precursor to the trance and techno albums of Aphex Twins and others from the 90s. To jazzers, this post-production work signaled a retreat by Davis from the studio-as-club-date attitude of most traditional jazz sessions. But to my mind, this shows that Miles and company had really thought through the nature of electronic music. Rather than just playing on electric instruments and adding some bleeps, bloops and funk grooves to what was basically a 1960s jazz album, Miles added electronics idiomatically, creating a new art form in the process. Miles' jazz fusion of this period cannot be compared to his work in the 50s or 60s. It's a completely different animal that functions by different rules.

This is not an album that you can speak about in cuts. There are pre-composed pieces, and probably some pieces that were composed after the fact, by splicing together tracks and grooves and giving them shape. But each separate piece tends to blend into the next, prefiguring the DJ jams of the 90s. The result is funky and infectious, but also hypnotic. On the Corner may be demonized by traditionalists, but Miles was saying something here, and it's something that still bears listening to, after thirty years. Miles' music of this period is not dated badly at all and still has implications for younger musicians. Approach this as a sonic experience and not as a jazz album and you will be pleasantly surprised.

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