Miles and Reggie on stage
Reggie Lucas, one of the two guitarists in Miles Davis' controversial 1972-75 band, died in New York last month at the age of 65. Great commercial success came to Lucas in the 1980s when he produced the majority of Madonna's first LP, wrote her hit single 'Borderline' and, with fellow Miles Davis alumni James Mtume, co-wrote 'Never Knew Love Like This Before' for Stephanie Mills and 'The Closer I Get to You' for Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway.
The music played on stage by Miles and his band from 1972-75 was often a dense fusion hybrid that, to many observers at the time, challenged the very notion of jazz itself. In contrast 'Chieftain', a studio recording from August 1972, but which remained unreleased until 2007, is a sparse, nervy piece, pushed along by the relentless tap-tap skittering of Al Foster's rim-shots and Lucas' periodic guitar stabs. Even if you're not a fan of jazz in general or Miles in particular, this may be worth a few minutes of your time.
Miles Davis - Chieftain
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4 comments:
Huge electric Miles fan, but never knew about the Maddy & Mills connection. Thanks for the info, Swede.
I know most of your audience probably doesn't care, but I love this series. More! More! Another interesting post. Sock away that "Even if you're not a fan of jazz" line. Sadly, you may need it again at some point.
If this particular series was a bar, you two would be the most welcome of regulars. Cheers guys!
Everything about Miles's mad electric period was basically wonderful, even when it missed a little. Can't go forward without experimentation. His fellow travellers were top-notch. Madonna? What happened?
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