Miles Electric - A Different Kind of Blue

Rating:
Summary: A different Kind od Brew!!!
Review: AN AMAZING 38 MINUTE CLIP, MILES WAS ON TOP OF HIS GAME AND SO WERE HIS SIDEMEN. I RECOMEND TO AND JAZZ FUSION FAN!!! THE INTERVIEWS ARE COOL AS WELL

Rating:
Summary: Very good!
Review: I've waited for Miles' 38 minute Isle of Wight concert on DVD release since it first was intended; over two years ago. I didn't wait in vain though. This documentary, featuring musical performances and fresh interviews with Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland, Airto, Carlos Santana, Joni Mitchell and many more is entertaining and informative (musically too). It rounds off with the 38 minute long piece "Call it Anything" from Isle of Wight - the rock-festival where Miles and his band, in 1970, played in front of an audience of 600.000 people. One problem with that performance on this disc is that picture and sound does not always sync. Here and there it looks fine, but Miles' fingers on the trumpet and DeJohnettes sticks on the drums does generally not make sense to what you're hearing. This made me frown a bit, but the picture and sound quality are fine, and I'm glad to have seen and heard the concert and what the people involved in the event had to say. It's nice to hear the interviewed musicians talk about the music itself.

Rating:
Summary: Simply amazing!
Review: Just bought this DVD and I saw it from start to finish in awe. Very insightful interviews with Hancock and Santana as well. The era of where Miles went against the status quo and forged his own brand of new progressive music. Miles made took jazz away from the "snobs" and made it hip even for the Woodstock generation. To this day this music is still amazing and definitely rocks! If you are a fan of Miles Davis' electric period or just a music lover that is open minded, this DVD is worth every penny.

Rating:
Summary: at last!
Review: the world is beginning to assess the totality of miles davis' career, not just the much ballyhooed "good old days" the gatekeepers of jazz are so fond of caressing. this documentary benefits from interesting insights from the likes of carlos santana, chick corea and keith jarrett. even stanley crouch's naysaying contributes to the argument/assessment of miles' foray into (gasp!) electric music.
oh, and there's the 1970 isle of wight performance itself... listen carefully, electric naysayers.. the stately, searching melancholy associated with the aforementioned trumpeter is, aha! present, accounted for, and in fine form....
whats that old expression? "too soon we get old, too late we get smart."


Rating:
Summary: finally !!!
Review: This dvd is a dream (of mine at least) come true! What we're getting here is the complete show (38 minutes) of the Miles Davis septet at the Isle of Wight festival, August 29, 1970 (uninterrupted and without voice-over !) in the best sound (5.1 and PCM) and picture quality. In addition to that we get interviews with all of Miles' sidemen of this show - Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Gary Bartz, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette and Airto Moreira (who takes the opportunity for a spontaneous percussion session) and with sidemen from other periods (Dave Liebman, Herbie Hancock, Pete Cosey, Mtume, etc.. All of them obviously still enjoy telling us what an exceptional musician and band-leader Miles was and why. The power of Miles' inspiration still lingers with all of them and it is also mentioned that very few of Miles' former sidemen ever played as well again as when they were with him. Two exceptions that come to (my) mind are John McLaughlin and Keith Jarrett, of course. Interspersed wit these interviews we get (short, unfortunately) excerpts of other Miles concerts, like the Steve Allen Show in the 50s, Copenhagen '69 and '71, Stockholm and Tokyo '73, etc.. I really hope this dvd becomes a commercial success. Thanks a lot to Murray Lerner, the filmmaker and producer of this show. You did a great job! In my opinion, the Miles Davis gig was by far the most interesting of the whole I.o.W. festival, with Jimi Hendrix a close second. If this dvd is a commercial success, we might still have hope for further releases of other great Miles Davis shows from the period of '69 to '75 (my favourite) and would not have to turn to internet auctions and other sources for video copies of mostly inferior quality. It's about time also, that the Miles Davis Estate finally wakes up (look at the activities of the Jimi Hendrix Estate !) and does something in this direction instead of leaving everything to the black market. I think - the commercial possibilities aside - the Estate owes this to Miles.

Rating:
Summary: Superb!!
Review: This is an awesome DVD! First rate interviews and top it off with an incredible show from the 1970 no less! What a tribute from Herbie Hancock! WOAH!

Rating:
Summary: Electric Light
Review: This is an excellent DVD of Miles' Electric Period. To anyone who knows anything about Miles's music, from KIND OF BLUE on thru the sixties, his going "electric" was not some stunt to sell more records. It was the natural progression of an artist who didn't give a shhhh about following standards. He was true to himself. He created and moved on with each period up until his passing when he was beginning to deal with rap music.

It was great to see all the original musicians and it was also funny to watch stanley crouch, a pseudo-intellectual critic who couldn't get or understand Bitches Brew, even when he used drugs. That in itself shows that he has absloutely no real connection to the sprirt of music or creative artistry.

The concert was off the hook!!

Rating:
Summary: AND SOME KIND OF BREW
Review: THIS IS EVERYTHING I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR AND MORE. THE DOCUMENTARY PRECEDING THE COMPLETE PERFORMANCE AT ISLE OF WIGHT OWES A LOT TO PAUL TINGEN'S EXCELLENT BOOK "MILES BEYOND", AND SHOULD CONVINCE ANYONE WHO WATCHES AND LISTENS THAT MILES' ELECTRIC MUSIC WAS ANYTHING BUT A SELL-OUT - QUITE THE OPPOSITE. AS ALWAYS, AS THE WORLD AROUND HIM CHANGED SO DID HIS MUSIC. MANY OF THE MUSICIANS WHO WERE INVOLVED WITH MILES DURING THIS "CONTROVERSIAL" PERIOD, INCLUDING ALL OF THOSE AT ISLE OF WIGHT, PROVIDE FASCINATING INSIGHTS. THE 38 MINUTE PERFORMANCE ITSELF IS MINDBLOWING AND MESMERISING, A FANTASTIC BAND AND THEIR LEADER AT THE TOP OF THEIR GAME IN FRONT OF 600,000 PEOPLE. AS BASSIST DAVE HOLLAND SAYS, EVERY TIME MILES PLAYS HIS TRUMPET IT'S AN EVENT. THIS IS DRAMATIC STUFF, AND THESE GREAT MUSICIANS ARE SIMPLY PLAYING THEIR INSTRUMENTS. SOUND AND VISION ARE EXCELLENT - IF YOU LOVE MILES YOU'LL LOVE THIS.

Rating:
Summary: Just Terrific
Review: This is just terrific - great music that I never thought I would have the chance to hear. I followed Miles' music from Coltrane/Garland/Jones through Shorter/Hancock/Williams and I liked virtually all of it. After Bitches Brew, I began to lose the thread but I got this music the first time I heard it. The now/then interviews are a nice bonus.

Rating:
Summary: Speechless
Review: This is the best music DVD I have yet seen. The concert is a spiritual experience, and the interviews are the most insightful and interesting I have ever seen from any musicians. I never thought I would be laughing, crying, thinking, and feeling, all while watching a DOCUMENTARY! And I'm not even a musician... but the knowledge you get from watching this DVD could apply to art, writing, or anything you do... This is an inspirational experience, and an essential purchase.