The Miles Davis album-by-album thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by KevinP, Jan 16, 2008.

  1. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    I have a lot of time for Decoy.
     
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  2. rxcory

    rxcory proud jazz band/marching band parent

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Decoy

    recorded June ~ September 1983

    original issue: Columbia LP FC 38991 and cassette in April 1984; subsequently released on Columbia CD CK 38991 (late '84 or '85)


    Producer: Miles Davis; Co-Producer: Robert Irving III; Associate Producer: Vincent Wilburn, Jr.

    Single: "Code M.D." (album length 5:56 | 7" single length 3:59) b/w "Decoy" (album length 8:33 | 7” single length 3:59)

    [​IMG]

    From Miles' autobiography:

    "We played Japan, and some festivals in this country and in Canada, and in the late summer and early fall of 1983, we started laying down tracks for Decoy, some of which were live recordings. When we went into the studio I added Branford Marsalis on soprano saxophone and Robert Irving (who had first recorded with me on The Man With The Horn) on synthesizer, an instrument that I wanted to bring into the band. Gil Evans did some arranging.

    "I wanted to add Branford to my band, but he couldn't do it because he was committed to playing with his brother Wynton. I had heard Branford when we played a gig together in St. Louis. I think he was playing with Herbie Hancock, Wynton, Tony Williams, and Ron Carter in a group that was calling themselves the Reunion band. I had liked what he had done and asked him if he could make some recordings with me."


    [​IMG] Miles in Osaka, Japan, May 26, 1983

    From Miles’ own website:

    "Here again are the boys from Chicago who brought Miles back with The Man With The Horn. Robert Irving III on keyboards took over the role that Miles had assumed with a true sense of harmony and only a rudimentary mastery of synthetic sounds and movements. Irving shared the responsibilities of directing with the trumpet player’s nephew Vince Wilburn, but Al Foster continued to lead the tempo. John Scofield drew the funk of bassist Darryl Jones in the direction of chromatic abstraction. The two tracks that he co-wrote with Miles are fragments of solos, “That’s What Happened” reprising the beginning of his solo on “Speak” (Star People). On another note, the participation of Branford Marsalis in the September 1983 sessions convinced Bill Evans to leave the band. This rather short album was extended with two recordings from the 1983 Montreal Festival. In spite of this, Decoy offered a good balance between the dominant funk that subsequently took over and the jazz tradition, reflected by Scofield’s angularities, Marsalis’ freedom of tone, and the breadth of Miles’ playing that had recovered its full power."

    [​IMG] Robert Irving III

    From The Last Miles by George Cole:

    "At just over 39 minutes in length, Decoy is rather short. The main problem seems to have been a lack of time. "We had to finish and deliver the master to Columbia on a deadline prior to Miles' fall tour (my first tour). There was no time to edit and mix and more material," says Robert Irving.

    "Decoy is a disparate mix of music combining live heavy funk tracks, with the bluesy "That's Right," Irving's electronics-dominated tracks and Miles' quirky offering, "Freaky Deaky." But despite the patchiness of the music, Decoy has many redeeming features, not least some excellent tunes as well as some inspired performances and arrangements. The rhythm section, bolstered by Jones, is superb; Marsalis shows a gift for melody and Scofield is, as ever, imaginative, inventive and exciting. Irving deserves much credit for his arrangement skills.

    "At around the time of Decoy, Miles' musical powers were in the ascendant, and his stamina, range, tone and control are noticeably stronger than on previous albums.

    "Robert Irving points out that: "It would be the only time Branford Marsalis performed with Miles. The chemistry between Branford and Scofield was electrifying. The polyrhythmic foundation with the drum machine, Al Foster and Mino Cinelu was powerful. This, to my knowledge, had never been done before. "Decoy" is, of course, my favorite track. When Miles came into the studio to play over the track there was only one take and it was magical."

    "
    Decoy finds Miles at the musical crossroads, moving towards a new phase of music and, more crucially, a new way of making music. In fact, Decoy would set the template by which Miles would create music for almost the rest of his life, often using younger musicians who were comfortable with the electronics and whose ears were sharply attuned to the contemporary sounds of the day. It marked the time when Miles took a step back from the active creative process in the studio."
    [​IMG]
    Miles in Chicago, 1983
     
  3. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Cole kind of criticized the cold, robotic feel to some of the tracks on Decoy. But I like that aspect a lot.
    It does represent Miles kind of stepping away from the role as producer and musical director, which he had been up to that point together with Teo.
    Apparently he took more of an executive role, listening in by phone a lot, while Robert Irving did the labor.

    Decoy and Code MD are two great, futuristic tunes by Irving (a bit reminiscent of Herbie Hancock's work at the time). Improves a LOT on his contributions to The Man With The Horn.
    That's Right is a lovely blues, continuing on from It Gets Better from the previous album. Great solos.
    Robot 415 and Freaky Deaky are plain weird in a very Milesian way.
    What It Is is basically only a great riff and bass line but worked fine live.
    That's What Happened is an excerpt from the riff the band always played at the end of Speak in concert. It also features at the end of Speak on Star People.
    As for the band, Bill Evans had his solos cut on the live tracks and was replaced by Branford on the studio tracks, so he was on his way out, Miles apparently growing tired of his playing.
    Branford, Darryl Jones and Scofield are all excellent on the album.

    It does have a sort of slapped-together feel, a bit rushed. But I like the end result, and it's representative of what the band did live.
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2018
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  4. ciderglider

    ciderglider Forum Resident

    Listened to Decoy today for the first time in years - never made the effort to get it on CD - found a dead spider in the gatefold. I was surprised to find that bits of Decoy reminded me of what was to come on Tutu. I'd also forgotten that some parts of Decoy look back the blues focus of Star People.
     
  5. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    I haven't listened to it either for literally decades. I think I got burnt out on it as I played it so much. I thought he was just the coolest musician around at the time.
    Zapping through it on Youtube now, I don't think I could really listen to it and enjoy it as much now. My favourite track remains the slow blues "That's Right" with Scofield weaving his magic.
     
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  6. Musicisthebest

    Musicisthebest Exiled Yorkshireman

    Location:
    Manchester, UK
    For me the side 2 of the vinyl ie What Is Is, Thats Right, Thats What Happened is far more enjoyable than side 1 which leaves me feeling uninvolved.
     
  7. rxcory

    rxcory proud jazz band/marching band parent

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    I got the chance to see Vince Wilburn, Robert Irving and Mino Cinelu as the "Miles Electric Band" in concert earlier this year and I was really blown away. For years I'd heard people talk about Vince like was Pete Best or something, somehow not quite up to par, but he really slayed it at the concert. Seeing Mino performing made me realize for the first time exactly what a percussionist does, and also how amazingly great he is at it. But I think the biggest unsung hero for me was Robert Irving, who is a phenomenal keyboardist and arranger. You can tell he has a vision for the music and knows how to set the scene in terms of textures with different synths, voices, etc. He can make them sound like a 60's electric piano, a 70's ARP or Korg, a cheesy 80's Yamaha, and pretty much anything else. I love the mix of funk, soul, and jazz on Decoy, even though I admit it's a bit disjointed and uneven. I'll add that the original US pressings were cut by Bob Ludwig, sound ballsy and most used record shops have like 6 copies.
     
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  8. slapbass

    slapbass Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Decoy is very much a transition album, and as indicated above, set the road to Tutu. The arrival of Darryl Jones and Robert Irving III was a welcome addition to the band, and it was great to see John Scofield given more space. For me, Sco, "The Munch" and Baabe Irving formed one of the strongest triumvirates in Miles's post-retirement phase. As much as I love Marcus Miller, I feel that Darryl Jones' playing was the best fit for Miles' music, and Sco is simply a monster player. Great to see someone point out the contribution Irving made to Miles' sound. I have mixed feelings about Decoy. I love the title track (how the hell did Jones come up with a bass line like that?) and "That's Right" is simply sublime (what a shame Branford didn't join Miles' band. Then again, we might not have got Bob Berg...). But "Robot 415" and "Freaky Deaky" are fillers. In view of the short length of the album, I don't know why the live tracks were edited (poor Bill Evans doesn't get a solo).
    One also mustn't overlook the contribution by Miles' nephew Vince Wilburn Jr, who was associate producer. Wilburn and Irving opened Miles' ears to new sounds and new possibilities.
    I love the Decoy video even though Miles wasn't that keen on it. Oh, and before I forget, I love the album summaries you put together rxcory!
     
  9. penguinzzz

    penguinzzz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Charlton, London
    I really like Decoy - as has been said, very much an album of two halves. The second side is an update of the then-current band's sound, moving between funk and blues, more concise and easier on the ear than what we heard on Star People. I think it sounds great.

    But side one is another matter - most definitely a first attempt to really position MD's music in the new decade. If this is meant to be commercial I don't hear it - the title track (my favourite on the LP) is hard and menacing with some typical angularity from Scofield, the balance of density and minimalism gently recalling the On The Corner era. Code MD is even more spare - live versions really took off, but I still like the economy of the LP version with its terrific MD solo at the end.

    As for Robot 415 & Freaky Deaky, I'm going to stick up for them - they're weird but also compelling. The circular bassline of the latter might have had its origin in the '78 'Miss Last Summer' sessions with Masabumi Kikuchi, and in some ways that session and Kikuchi's subsequent work like the LP 'Susto' is in a similar place to side 1 of Decoy. But Miles (and his collaborators) didn't really explore this further and for this reason Decoy is a bit of an intriguing dead end.
     
  10. slapbass

    slapbass Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    I love the live versions of Decoy at Montreux 1985, where Sco and Berg traded fours. If you want excitement, check it out!
     
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  11. pbuzby

    pbuzby Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, US
    The Miles autobio had a long section about Miles deciding to fire Vince Wilburn. I haven't heard much of his playing but in the George Cole book Mike Stern commented that Wilburn didn't deserve to be treated that harshly.
     
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  12. rxcory

    rxcory proud jazz band/marching band parent

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    After the Miles Electric Band concert was over the guys all came out and sat next to the merch display to chit chat, shake hands, sign autographs etc. I hadn’t been expecting them to do so because that’s kind of rare, otherwise I would have brought some LPs for them to sign. Anyway, I talked with Vince and Bobby and was struck at how genuinely kind and friendly they were. I brought my two kids, ages 13 and 9, and the guys asked them which parts of the show they liked, shook their hands and thanked them for coming. I guess I had kind of been expecting some residual of Miles’ ‘Prince of Darkness’ attitude but these guys were just sincerely warm and friendly. And phenomenal musicians. I can’t wait to see them again.
     
  13. penguinzzz

    penguinzzz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Charlton, London
    There is a brief (edited) Evans solo left in 'What It Is'
     
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  14. penguinzzz

    penguinzzz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Charlton, London
    also, just to keep the conversation going, here's a reminder of the session in '78 which I think has a proto-Decoy flavour:
     
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  15. slapbass

    slapbass Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    I stand corrected penguinzzz! :D
     
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  16. slapbass

    slapbass Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    I thought Miles was rather mean in the way he described the sacking of Wilburn Jr, stating that was let go because he kept "dropping time," one of the harshest criticisms you can make about a drummer. I saw Wilburn Jr play live in 1985 and 1986 and was impressed with his playing (and stamina!). Same goes for the many 1985-86 concerts I've seen or heard on audio and video.

    I think that when Miles sacked someone from the band it was often more a case of him searching for a new sound or direction, rather than a better player. Case in point is when Miles stopped using Sco and Stern he went through a raft of guitarists - Robben Ford, Garth Webber, Blackbyrd McKnight, Hiram Bullock, Bobby Broom and Alan Burroughs, before settling on Foley, who didn't even play lead guitar! Technically, Foley wasn't a patch on someone like Sco, but he had that gritty, street sound that Miles was looking for.

    Same goes for Wilburn Jr's replacement, the much-missed Ricky Wellman, who was one those behind the Go-Go beat. Different drummer, different sound.

    Wilburn Jr knew how to lay down a deep and heavy groove, which is what Miles wanted at the time. It's why Wilburn Jr replaced Al Foster, who didn't want to play any more heavy back-beat. One of my favorite performances of Wilburn Jr's is on "Carnival Time" in Montreux in 1986 - I love the percussion duet that he and Steve Thornton play. Technically, the drumming is quite simple (not that I could play it!), but as the saying goes, "Making things simple is hard." It's at roughly 1hr 20 min into the recording. It's also on DVD.
     
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  17. slapbass

    slapbass Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    I often wonder where this band could have gone if Miles had been in better shape.
     
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  18. frightwigwam

    frightwigwam Talented Amateur

    Location:
    Oregon
    "Freaky Deaky" puts me a bit in mind of "He Loved Him Madly." Not as expansive or on the same level of achievement, but a similar atmosphere and sound with the guitar/keys/bass. Like his live shows at the time, the album generally sounds like a friendlier version of what he was doing in the '70s. "What It Is" is a direct spin-off of "What I Say." Scofield does a nice job with his blues features, but seems a little tidy in comparison to McLaughlin, Cosey, or Coryell. I know, that's unfair, but it's hard to avoid comparing to what had come before. I don't really hear it pointing the way forward so much, but maybe that will become more obvious to me after listening to You're Under Arrest and Tutu again.

    Right now I'm listening to 7/7/83 Montreal, the source of the "What It Is" and "That's What Happened" excerpts. I can understand why Miles and the label wanted to put out new studio material, and it's really not bad, but I prefer listening to the band spread out and do its thing on stage.
     
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  19. Alien Reg

    Alien Reg Forum Resident

    No discussion of a Miles album is complete without a few comments about his health.
     
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  20. Alien Reg

    Alien Reg Forum Resident

    I'm always impressed by how solicitous Miles fans are about his physical condition at the time he makes an album or does a tour. The poor man obviously suffered. I'm sure other artists have to contend with health issues too, but you don't read about it so much - not in these threads anyway.

    I think my interest in his music ends around this time. And it's not really because of Miles - it's just my general dislike of synths and 80s music and recording technology. But it's still interesting to read about him in the 80s - how he battled with advancing age and a changing musical environment.
     
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  21. macdaddysinfo

    macdaddysinfo Forum Resident

    Currently listening to the 1988 montreux set (from the box), so I am a bit ahead, but I am always taken aback that there isn’t a guitar player here, and that it is Foley doing it on the bass...

    I will go back to 1985 next to put me instep with the thread...
     
  22. Musicisthebest

    Musicisthebest Exiled Yorkshireman

    Location:
    Manchester, UK
    I don't have my Montreux Box Set to hand but All Music suggests that Foley only supplies vocals & is given composer credits! Not sure I believe that. The Complete Miles Davis at Montreux 1973-1991 - Miles Davis | Credits | AllMusic
     
  23. macdaddysinfo

    macdaddysinfo Forum Resident

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  24. slapbass

    slapbass Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    You definitely don't want to be believe that! if you listen to the Montreux CD boxed set or watch the DVD boxed set, you can see and hear Foley is all over the place. He also gets to solo a lot.
     
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  25. slapbass

    slapbass Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Have you heard Larry Coryell's version of "Miss Last Summer?" Larry Coryell "Miss Last Summer" by Miles Davis
     
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