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Miles Davis: The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 That's What Happened 1982-1985
In a nutshell, there are three discs. The first two are studio outtakes from the Star People (Columbia, 1983), Decoy (Columbia, 1984) and You're Under Arrest (Columbia, 1985) recording sessions, while the third is a previously unreleased live recording from 1983. Surprisingly, perhaps, there is nothing at all from Davis's comeback album, The Man With the Horn (Columbia, 1981).
Davis's comeback at the dawn of the 1980s, after five years of self-imposed hiatus, was big news. But the buzz was such that it was always going to be a big ask for him to live up to the hype. As it turned out, the 1980s was arguably the most divisive period of Davis's career. While fans around the world flocked to his concerts in their thousands, critics were often painfully dismissive of his albums, or else damned them with faint praise. The reasons for these polar opposite reactions reveal themselves neatly across these three discs.
But in the same way that those who deride
John Coltrane
saxophone1926 - 1967
Admittedly, there isn't a single album between The Man With The Horn (Columbia, 1981) and his posthumous swansong Doobop (Warner Bros, 1992) that would make a Top Ten essential Miles Davis album list, but the eight albums that Davis recorded for Columbia and Warner in his final decade represented another change in direction, as had been his way in previous decades.
And, as this three-CD set demonstrates, there were some important continuities with his heyday—the most obvious one being Davis's love of the blues, the other being his obsession with rhythm, though in a more simple, less cluttered way.
Disc one begins with "Santana," a thirteen-minute, steadily grooving funk burner that catches fire around the halfway mark when Bill Evans, on soprano saxophone, and guitarist
Mike Stern
guitarb.1953
Marcus Miller
bassb.1959
Al Foster
drums1944 - 2025
Mino Cinelu
percussionb.1957
The surprise on disc one is the appearance of trombonist
J.J. Johnson
trombone1924 - 2001
Two takes of "Remake of OBX Ballad" amount to pretty thin gruel, smooth jazz if truth be told, though Miller, Evans and Stern all present lyrical solos. "Freaky Deaky" is the only offering from the Decoy sessions, which, percussionist Cinélu apart, features completely different personnel. Shorn of Davis's atmospheric synthesizer arrangements that colored the official album version, these are less striking takes, though guitarist
Robert Irving III
keyboardsb.1953
Guitarist
John McLaughlin
guitarb.1942
The studio versions of Miles Davis in the 1980s was one thing, the live experience, as disc three testifies, was quite another. The energy emanating from the Star People band, captured at the Theatre St-Denis, Montreal, in 1983, is palpable. Several minutes of "Speak (That's What Happened)" and "What it Is" would find their way onto Decoy, but the rest of this energized 80-minute concert is seeing the light of day for the first time.
The only difference personnel-wise from the Star People sessions on disc one is that
Darryl Jones
bassb.1961
The slow blues numbers, "Star People" and "It Gets Better," find an unmuted Davis in terrific form—his strength, stamina and embouchure back to somewhere near their best. Nor is there any holding back on the up-tempo "What it Is" or on his fiery intro to the slightly misfiring "Hopscotch," which becomes somewhat derailed by a meandering percussive interlude.
There are certain echoes of Davis's dark and brooding 1970s aesthetic on "Star on Cicely," with Scofield's solo bristling with coiled tension, and in the twenty-five-minute-long finale. On this epic, tightly orchestrated ensemble jam, where "Jean Pierre" bleeds into "Code 3," the band serves up a leaner, more snarling alternative to the leader's broiling 1970s jazz-funk stews. Davis, Evans and Scofield all take impressive solos as the music waxes and wanes hypnotically.
For many, particularly for those too young to have seen Davis at that time, this previously unreleased live disc provides an alternative narrative—and a compelling one at that—to the oft-cited notion that Davis's last decade had little to offer. For this reason, if for few others, Vol. 7 in the Miles Davis Bootleg Series is a welcome document.
The three discs, presented in a handsome slipcase, are accompanied by a lavish 50-page booklet featuring photos and revealing essays by key Davis collaborators and esteemed critics, including the late Gregory Tate, to whom this release is dedicated. ">
Track Listing
CD1 Santana; Minor Ninths, Part 1; Minor Ninths, Part 2; Celestial Blues, Part 1; Celestial Blues, Part 2; Celestial Blues, Part 3; Remake of OBX Ballad; Remake of OBX Ballad (Full Studio Session); Freaky Deaky, Part 1; Freaky Deaky, Part 2. CD2 Time After Time (alternate); Time After Time (full studio session); Theme from Jack Johnson (Right Off)/ Intro; Never Loved Liked This (studio session demo); Hopscotch (slow); Hopscotch (fast); What’s Love Got to Do With It; Human Nature (alternate); Katia (full studio version). CD3 Speak (That’s What Happened); Star People; What It Is; It Gets Better; Hopscotch; Star on Cicely; Jean-Pierre; Code 3; Creepin’ In.
Personnel
Additional Instrumentation
CD1 Miles Davis: trumpet, keyboards. Oberheim synthesizer (7-8); Bill Evans: soprano, tenor saxophone; J.J. Johnson: trombone; Mike Stern: guitar; Marcus Miller: electric bass; Al Foster: drums; Mino Cinélu: percussion; John Scofield: guitar (9-10); Darryl Jones: electric bass (9-10); Robert Irving III: Linn drum programming (9-10). CD2 Miles Davis: trumpet; John Scofield: guitar; Robert Irving III: keyboards; Darryl Jones: electric bass; Al Foster: drums (1-3); Steve Thornton: percussion (1-3, 5-9); Bob Berg: soprano saxophone (3, 5-8); Vince Wilburn JR.: drums (4- 9); John McLaughlin: guitar (9). CD3 Miles Davis: trumpet & keyboards; John Scofield: guitar; Bill Evans: soprano & tenor saxophone, flute; Darryl Jones: bass; Mino Cinélu: percussion; Al Foster: drums.
Album information
Title: The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 That's What Happened 1982-1985 | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: Columbia Records
Tags
Miles Davis
Extended Analysis
Ian Patterson
The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 That's What Happened 1982-1985
Columbia Records
Marcus Miller
Al Foster
Mino Cinelu
JJ Johnson
john mclaughlin
Darryl Jones
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