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(More customer reviews)If you're in the mood to hear some excellent Miles Davis and don't have any particular biases (e.g., acoustic vs. electric), LIVE IN MUNICH (recorded July 1988) is the best video document yet of his final decade, much better in all respects than MILES IN PARIS (recorded a year later with some of the same personnel). Portions of this DVD were previously issued in Japan, but the program has been greatly expanded here, to the point where you have a nearly-complete, 132 minute-long concert with a sharp picture and fine 5.1 or 24-bit 2.0 sound (I favor the latter).
This is one of Miles' most-inspired 1980s-era ensembles, with everyone playing as a team and contributing fine solos. The underrated percussionist Marilyn Mazur is outstanding throughout, the same with acclaimed reedman Kenny Garrett. Lead bassist Foley shows a lot of range (from a whisper on DON'T STOP ME NOW to a scream on HEAVY METAL). Keyboardists Robert Irving III and Adam Holzman, bassist Benjamin Rietveld and drummer Ricky Wellman also excel whether they are soloing or not. Without exception, each bandmember has something distinctive to offer in Davis' group.
The music covers a lot of ground, from some fairly cutting-edge funk to poignant ballads that allow Miles in particular an opportunity to recast his classic muted-trumpet style in a modern musical context. Davis does not solo on every track...a number of the compositions are built as features for his sidepersons (e.g., HEAVY METAL PRELUDE for Mazur). With over two hours of material, you really get a full picture of how much stylistic ground Davis covered...in one concert, let alone his entire career. After hearing the expanded/altered live versions here of particular album tracks, you can appreciate that Miles saw his studio projects as blueprints for what would later greatly evolve on his concert tours.
The DVD extras range from superfluous (the timeline) to informative (Holzman's liner notes), and there are a few examples of Davis' artwork. There is a bonus second DVD with a 30 minute Miles Davis interview that will please collectors, albeit the context of some of his comments might confuse newcomers. Overall, LIVE IN MUNICH is highly recommended if you are open to this period of Miles' career!
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For more than 50 years, trumpeter/bandleader Miles Davis was a major innovator of cool, modal, avant-garde, and fusion jazz styles.This program captures Davis's band: alto saxophonist/flutist Kenny Garrett, Keyboardists Robert Irving III and Adam Holzmann, lead bassist Joseph "Foley" McCreary, and bassist Benjamin Rietveld, percussionist Marilyn Mazur, and drummer Ricky Wellman, live in Munich, Germany on July 10th, 1988. With these musicians' sympathetic and syncopated support, Davis's trademarked Harmon-muted trumpet tones dance and trance over the combo's supple electric swing.Throughout the concert, Davis glides across the stage with the elegance and power of a dancer and a fighter, huddling with his sidemen to play and share a phrase.Interview snippets with Davis feature the trumpeter frankly discussing his other passion, artwork.All told, Miles in Munich shows that the man called "Prince of Darkness" was full of artistic light near the end of his creative life.
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