Miles Davis - Complete Jack Johnson Sessions D5~5-2003 EAC - FLAC (oan)

By Rod Sibley

The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions, Columbia's latest
addition to the Miles Davis reissue series, documents the period
from January 27, 1970 to June 4, 1970 and contains unedited
takes from the sessions plus previously unreleased material.

A bit of background: Jack Johnson was the world heavyweight
boxing champion from 1908-1915. Miles felt an affinity toward
Johnson; not only because Miles himself boxed, but because of
the racial issues of being a Black man in America both men
faced. Director William Clayton made a documentary movie
about Johnson's life. A Tribute To Jack Johnson is the
soundtrack to the film. The album was released in the summer
of 1971.

A Tribute To Jack Johnson was a continuation of Miles' musical
direction away from more traditional jazz forms. The densely
layered music of Bitches Brew, recorded in August of 1969, was
stripped down and became funkier and more groove oriented.
The music also incorporated more elements of rock with the
guitar work of John McLaughlin. For listeners whose only Miles
Davis recording is Kind Of Blue and want to hear some "electric
Miles," The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions may be the
starting point to work your way backward, as well as forward,
through the Miles Davis catalog

Disc Five: June 1970 and original release

Chick Corea and Dave Holland had been playing some free
music onstage in Miles' band. They left Miles at the end of
August to form the free music group Circle with drummer Barry
Altschul. The two versions of "The Mask" which start off Disc
Five serve as a sample of their influence. The first version
sounds like free music on steroids. There is some ferocious
playing happening on this track, everyone seemingly soloing at
the same time. You wish that there were more takes of this
piece, although it did become part of the band's live set. This is
The Shit!!

The second version of "The Mask" is entirely different. Holland
walks a bass line to an insistent mid-tempo DeJohnette rimshot/
high hat pattern throughout the piece. The other musicians
create a layer of sonic effects from the combinations of wahwah,
echoplexes, organ, etc. Miles and Grossman take solos
over the sounds, the others follow in turn. Although the vamp is
repetitive (and a bit long), it is never boring.

The last two tracks are the final versions of "Right Off" and
"Yesternow" from A Tribute To Jack Johnson. The box set's
remastering sounds great. Hiss is at a minimum. The sound is
more alive and open. The recording has more detail and the
disc playback is louder than the Sony Legacy reissue.

Teo's editing of these tracks almost shares co-billing with the
music itself. For "Right Off," there is a section of an
unaccompanied Miles solo recorded in November '69 that is
used once on this track and twice in "Yesternow." "Yesternow"
also includes edits of various "Willie Nelson" takes from the first
disc, together with an excerpt of "Shhh/Peaceful" (from In A
Silent Way ). Not only did Teo edit together different takes of
music, he edited together entirely different band personnel. The
box set comes with documentation that lists session dates and
personnel, session takes that were edited together, and the
timing where those edits occur.

The last section of "Yesternow" is an edit of an orchestral piece
called "The Man Nobody Saw" and features a narration by actor
Brock Peters playing Jack Johnson: "...I'm Black. They never let
me forget it. I'm Black alright. I'll never let them forget it." And
neither did Miles.

PERSONNEL

Miles Davis - Trumpet; John McLaughlin, Sonny Sharrock -
Guitar; Michael Henderson, Dave Holland, Ron Carter, Gene
Perla - Bass; Billy Cobham, Jack DeJohnette - Drums; Chick
Corea, Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock - Keyboards; Steve
Grossman, Wayne Shorter - Saxophone; Bennie Maupin - Bass
Clarinet; Airto- Percussion; Hermeto Pascoal - Vocals



1. (07:49) - The Mask (Part One)
2. (15:48) - The Mask (Part Two)
3. (26:54) - Right Off
4. (25:35) - Yesternow


Playing Time.........: 01:16:05
Total Size...........: 474.70 MB



http://www.discogs.com/Miles-Davis-The-Complete-Jack-Johnson-Sessions/release/490807