Track Listing

1. Right Off
2. Yesternow

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6723 in Music
• Released on: 2005-01-11
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered

Amazon.com essential recording
Miles Davis was a gifted composer of film soundtracks, and this is arguably his best. Certainly it's his most listenable film piece. A boxer himself, Davis had a feel for movement in the ring, and this recording overflows with the admiration he had for the grace, style, and confidence of fighters like Sugar Ray Robinson. Jack Johnson was, for a long time, Miles's favorite of his own recordings, and you can see why from the first note: guitarist John McLaughlin steps out and strides across a shuffling groove that is closer to barroom R&B than it is to rock; Davis weighs in with that clipped but plaintive sound which promises you that no matter what kind of music he takes on next, he will always be Miles. And then when--midway through the first of two long jams--Herbie Hancock muscles his way into the mix on organ, of all things, you realize that they could go on like this forever. A joyful, liberating record. --John Szwed

Customer Reviews

great!
Miles here recorded for several months in the studio, tape forever rolling, "jam session style." Afterwards, (since there were too many cuts to be included on an LP), they selected these 2 songs for the record. Mile's producer, Ted Marceo (who had been with him since around 1958), inserted a tape on trk 1 from a previous session containing a scary muted trumpet sound. He also toned the drums down on some parts for a "drumless" effect (which would otherwise be forever playing). Herbie Hancock wasn't scheduled to be on the session. He just walked in back from the supermarket still holding his grocery bags to drop off a copy of his latest LP (today it is a CD) for Miles. He never intended to stay. But Miles had other plans. He saw how adding keys to the session could make it better. So... he just pointed to a small Farfisa organ in the corner & said "play!" Herbie had never seen the thing before and anyways, he HAD TO GO. They argued for a while but Miles was firm. At last, Herbie went over to the thing and tried to figure out how to turn it on. After that, he played his solo, gave Miles the record and left. Enjoy this CD and let's hope after all that arguing, Herbie has some energy in his solo!

Well-deserved parade of 5-star reviews
Hard to add much to the great comments already here, but this is one piece of jazz that will get you up off the couch and MOVING.

MILES DAVIS AT HIS ROCKING HOUR
I have to say that this CD is a masterpiece. The first song "Right Off" is really great, Miles does rock n' roll and jazz (like Miles jazz trumpet and Joe Satriani hard rock) and that is really one of Miles' best recordings ever, and one of my favorite Miles nearing 27 minutes of driving rock and jazz. Yesternow is more like other Miles a lot slower and calmer, but in the middle has a background of the first song of "In a Silent Way", in the end there is a voice for Jack Johnson. This is great Miles from the seventies and it is one of his greatest recordings. Every Miles Davis CD or Record collection should have this.