http://jazzbonotes.com/reviews/decoy-miles-davis/ Fri, 18 May 2012 16:09:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 http://jazzbonotes.com/reviews/decoy-miles-davis/#comment-1876 Nigel Tue, 29 Mar 2011 19:10:45 +0000 http://jazzbonotes.com/?p=250#comment-1876 Excellent review. The 80s records are certainly hit or miss, and this is one of the better ones. For me, "We Want Miles" has a bit more heart and grit, though Miles was just sort of barely hanging on and you could argue that Stern's style just isn't as tasty as Scofield's. "Tutu" and "Amandla" might have some of the strongest writing and arranging of the period (because Marcus Miller handled almost all of this for both records, and really seemed to want to make a statement), but the shiny 80s production on both records and the brevity of the solos will turn off lots of jazz-oriented listeners. At their best, they remind me of Weather Report's mid/late 70s work in terms of the intricacy of orchestration and the emphasis on song-like melodies. Excellent review. The 80s records are certainly hit or miss, and this is one of the better ones. For me, “We Want Miles” has a bit more heart and grit, though Miles was just sort of barely hanging on and you could argue that Stern’s style just isn’t as tasty as Scofield’s. “Tutu” and “Amandla” might have some of the strongest writing and arranging of the period (because Marcus Miller handled almost all of this for both records, and really seemed to want to make a statement), but the shiny 80s production on both records and the brevity of the solos will turn off lots of jazz-oriented listeners. At their best, they remind me of Weather Report’s mid/late 70s work in terms of the intricacy of orchestration and the emphasis on song-like melodies.

]]>