Miles Davis Performance Reflection Essay
Tomas Corza
Music 306
30 March 2022
Jazz Performance Essay #2
The performance I chose to write about was by the Miles Davis Quintet. The performance was recorded on November 7, 1969 at Stadthalle, Karlsruhe Germany. With Miles Davis on trumpet, Ron Carter on bass, Tony Williams on drums, Herbie Hancock on piano and Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone.
I first notice that Miles walks on stage holding his trumpet and Harmon mute, which he then places on the piano. Williams starts the performance with what sounds to me like a sophisticated rhythm using primarily his ride cymbal and open hi-hat. Shorter only plays one short descending phrase at the start of the song before the first trumpet solo. Miles starts with a scale oriented style of playing, with ascending and descending patterns. Hancock plays what sound to me like short staccato phrases on the piano. At first Carter is playing a bass line that does not appear to be a distinct walking bass line. Rather it sounds as if he is keeping rhythm and alternating the octaves of a few notes. I then notice how Miles leaves spaces in between musical phrases for the rhythm section to fill between the ascending and descending patterns. Miles then starts to play slower, more melodic phrases. When Miles goes more melodic I can hear Carter begin to play a more distinct walking bass line. That is when I notice that Williams begins to incorporate more drum rolls on his snare drum. After a drum fill, Shorter comes in on the Tenor playing with a style that transitions between scale oriented phrasing and melodic legato patterns. I notice that Shorter's style of playing includes a lot of grace notes and also that he uses a silver plated mouthpiece. I notice that the performance primarily consists of Miles and Shorter alternating solo parts while the Drummer, Bass and Drums accompany them.
One of my favorite moments during the performance is when Miles goes into a trumpet solo. While the lighting is shut off on the whole stage minus one spotlight shining on Miles. I feel that isolating him on stage like that makes his playing seem more distinguished and pronounced. Miles starts off playing alone and is then later accompanied only by the piano. I describe Miles’s style as smooth and almost minimalistic as he plays less notes and holds them out longer with very little vibrato.
Another one of my favorite parts is a tenor saxophone solo, where the bass line slows down and it sounds almost as if the bass and saxophone synchronize in an ascending section of a phrase. While the drums are holding the rhythm in the background on the ride cymbal and hi-hat. At one point of the solo it sounds as if the song is making a slow crescendo. I would describe that to sound like a build up. The song then peaks and slows down with a more pronounced walking bass line and transitions into a piano solo. During the piano solo it sounds like the drummer plays a more simple beat on the ride cymbal.
My especially favorite part of the performance was where the piano is playing a solo accompanied by only the drummer. The drums and piano sound as if they are slowly building up a crescendo. Just as it peaks and descends, you can hear Miles come in slowly and softly on his trumpet while all the other performers come to a silence. After Miles plays a phrase he comes to a silence and then the drummer comes in with a fill. Followed by the rest of the performers playing ascending and descending phrases. The song goes from being calm to being loud and exciting. I would describe this as the musical arrangement going from dark to light.
After watching this performance, I can really tell why Miles’s playing is described as having a relaxed softer tone. It was amazing to watch Miles go from playing scale-oriented solos to more melodic parts where he sustains whole notes longer. The way that Miles makes his trumpet sound when he is holding out long notes sounds to me like a dark but curious sound. I notice that his trumpet sound is clean and has a minimal amount of vibrato.
I notice that the overall mood of the performers on stage seems to be almost apathetic. Their expressions do not show much emotional reaction to the music. Like they are concentrated on nothing else other than their instruments. This I imagine is attributed to the idea that cool jazz musicians play with more emphasis on restraint. Another aspect of the performance that I would attribute to cool jazz is how the performers place greater emphasis on smooth lyrical melodies.
My least favorite aspect of the performance is that Miles teased the crowd by bringing his mute on stage but I did not see him even use it. I think I would have enjoyed hearing Miles play with a mute. Since it is known as one of his trademarks. Other than that, there is nothing about the performance that I disliked. I really enjoyed watching this performance and watching how the performance went from what seems like a solo section to solo section. It was as if the whole performance was just one big intricate song that took you on a journey from light to dark and high energy to low energy. Even though the music had no lyrical components, it felt as if the performance was a ballad that tells a story. A story open to interpretation by the audience.
