Track Listing

1. Jean-Pierre
2. Back Seat Betty
3. Fast Track
4. Jean-Pierre
5. My Man's Gone Now
6. Kix

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #77981 in Music
• Released on: 1992-01-20
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Import, Live
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Album Details
Recorded in 1981 and originally released as a 2 LP set (contained here on one CD). This album features sidemen such as Mike Stern (guitar), Marcus Miller (bass, guitar), Al Foster (drums), Bill Evans (saxes) and Mino Cinelu (percussion). Includes the songs: 'Jean Pierre', 'Back Seat Betty', 'Fast Track', 'My Man's Gone Now' and 'Kix'.

Customer Reviews

THE BEST LIVE MILES YOU'VE NEVER HEARD
When you ask some Miles fans, what are his best LIVE recordings? Most would say, get the LIVE AT THE PLUGGED NICKEL sides or LIVE EVIL from the BITCHES BREW era. Or get the dark Sivad Selim side of Miles on DARK MAGUS or AGHARTA. I tell them to get WE WANT MILES first, then buy the others.

Miles was continually changing sidemen and experimenting with his sound. Coming out of retirement, Miles was looking for that new combination of rock, funk, and avant-garde, that would take him into the 80's. Miles would always rehearse his musicians LIVE before taking them into a studio. My God, if these guys were just rehearsing I can't imagine what they might have produced if they'd have stayed together. They did one other recording after this called STAR PEOPLE, but it didn't quite sound as awesome as this LIVE outing. Some of the cast like Bill Evans on soprano sax, Al Foster on drums, and Marcus Miller on electric bass had played on his previous THE MAN WITH THE HORN. Miller and Foster continued to play with Miles for a few years. But the man who really made this session stand out was Mike Stern on guitar. Say what you want about John McLaughlin (and John was great), this guy was born to play with Miles.

What you get is the thundering drive of rock and funk under Miles and Stern, who play blistering solos on a lot of open trumpet and electric guitar. Evans takes his turns on sax too. (But Miles upset Evans to no end by continually making him lay out on his performances.) Like a stripped down jazz rock sound with two horns, an electric rhythm section, and Mino Cinelu on percussion. There is no sign of the electric keys that often muddied the waters of Miles' more unusual compositions. IT'S GLORIOUS. Miles was know for laying out and letting the rest of his band stretch out and improvise long passages in a LIVE context. Not at this show. While Stern gathers a large portion of the spotlight (because Miles loved guitar), Miles turns in some of the best soloing I've ever heard from the man. At the time of this recording, Miles was making a comeback after maintaining a seriously dark coke habit. The playing on this shocked many critics who felt that Miles had lost his chops and was finished as a musician. His chops never sounded better. Some of his high notes are breathtaking. And, you can usually tell when musicians are psychically tuned in to one another, but these men were reading each others minds that night. THIS RECORD SMOKES!! BIG TIME!!

This is my favorite Miles Davis recording. Even over BITCHES BREW, KIND OF BLUE, and any other Miles favorite you might happen to mention. And I own a lot of Miles. MILES AND HIS BAND WERE IN THE ZONE. This is meaningless, but it also won a Grammy. If you don't own it, I urge you to buy it and TURN IT UP as loud as possible. I'm sure it will at least become ONE of your favorites. I'd give up The whole 8 CDs of THE PLUGGED NICKEL BOX SET for 8 CDS of this LIVE band. I know you think I'm crazy, but it's that good. (Wait, maybe I would give up something else.) AND I CAN'T SEEM TO GET THIS OUT OF MY CD PLAYER.

This was originally released as a 2 record set. Now it's on one disc. There are very expensive IMPORTS of this recording and it's supposedly out of print. But, search it out. I found a copy for 12 bucks a week ago at Tower Records. If you have to - beg, borrow, or steal it, because you have to have it. THE BEST 12 BUCKS I EVER SPENT.

AND AS MILES WOULD HAVE SAID, "WE WERE ALL UP IN THAT S#%T LIKE A MUTHAF#%KA. IT'S CLEANER THAN A BROKE D#%K DOG."

We want MORE Miles
At first listen, I thought the album title was kind of a joke, or actually a literal request seeing as how Miles really doesn't play a lot on this album. However, Miles really knew WHEN to play, and when he does, he always hits the right notes. We want MILES! But we get Mike Stern, with amazing progressive guitar solos that really dominate the album.

This is fusion all the way, and as others have said, you could buy this album just for Marcus Miller's stellar bass playing, but you could also buy this for some insane guitar work from Stern. Of course, Miles is great, and so is Minu Cinelu on the percussion. Different from most of Miles' catalog, but great music!

as good as it gets
The title "We Want Miles" refers to the excitement and shroud of uncertainty upon Miles' return from few years of absence. His first studio album in years, "The Man with the Horn", pointed to exciting new direction yet Miles playing was frail. It was the uncertainty related to Miles future at that time that prompted Columbia to follow and record him live everywhere he played. The material issued on this recording comes from mostly, relatively small, club settings (including Boston's "Kix"). On some tracks you can hear the audience and the club's clutter. It's a fantastic collection. Again, Miles the voodoo master, brought the best in his bandmates. You can hear Marcus Miller at his best, Mark Stern's guitar never again had so much fire. My favorite track is Gershwin's "My Man's Gone Now". Clocking at about 20 minutes it offers, alternatively, classically swinging treatment of the theme and funked up solo passages. Somewhere at half point Miles lays off and it's time for Mike Stern. He, together with Marcus Miller and Al Foster slowly builds his solo to such a driven climax that it gives me goose bumps. The pulsating funk groove coming from Foster and Miller is unsurpassed. Miles must have liked what he heard because few minutes later Stern's solos again. I find this recording to be Miles Davis best from his final period; an absolute must!