Rated X

Miles Davis is this anomaly in the realm of jazz. While his contemporaries continued to push boundaries like him, they weren’t quite as vilified as he was when he wanted to push the boundaries of his music. I guess it’s not like Cotrane, Andrew Hill, Sun Ra, and Ornette Coleman were hailed by the jazz […]

Abercrombie’s Gateway Drug

It was quite a few years ago that I’d first heard John Abercrombie in Gateway. “Back-Woods Song” just randomly came up while I sat at my desk listening to the jazz channel on internet radio. I was floored. Groove till the cows came home, with the rhythm section of Dave Holland on bass and Jack […]

Herbie Hancock and the Warner Years

I’ve been listening to Herbie Hancock for nearly ten years now. I started out with his seminal funk/fusion masterpiece Headhunters. I’d just gotten out of an 8 hour Hazmat training session in South Bend and my mind was fried. I stopped at a Borders book store before heading home to grab a coffee and just […]

Miles Davis :: Miles at The Fillmore

I’m about 10 minutes into “Paraphernalia” on the recently reissued Miles at The Fillmore and I feel like I’m coming down from some bad trip. Not the kind of trip you’d have with your pals in mom and dad’s basement on a Saturday afternoon. Not a sugar buzz, or LSD. No, like some back alley […]

If Miles Were Jimi: Bitches, Brews, Big Fun, and a Dandy Boxer

I guess you could say I’ve got an affliction. It’s something I can’t seem to get over, and to be honest I don’t want to get over it. You see, I’m in the midst of a Miles Davis binge. It’s more than a binge, though. It seems more like an absolute electric Miles infestation of […]

Discovered :: Miles Davis’ Pangaea

If you’ve never been to Jazz Record Mart on Illinois St in Chicago, you don’t know what you’re missing friends. It’s a chunk of vinyl history tucked into a small building that if you blinked you’d miss it. I’ve been there three, maybe four times and each time I end up leaving knowing I could’ve […]