
A story about Miles Davis and the nature of true genius - pascal07
http://www.elezea.com/2012/05/true-genius/
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bhousel
First.. I'm a huge fan of this stuff, and Kind of Blue is one of my favorite
records.

That said, I think that the author is making a mistake by taking Stephen
Thomas Erlewine's review too seriously. When you read things like _"an album
that towers above its peers, a record generally considered as the definitive
jazz album, a universally acknowledged standard of excellence..."_ take it for
what it is -- fawning praise written 50 years later by a fanboy.

Read a bit further... _"this music never flaunts its genius,"_ a line that
stuck with the blogger. In fact, anybody who knows a bit about Miles Davis is
probably laughing now about how backwards this is. Miles was Mr. Flaunty
Genius.

 _"Kind of Blue is more than easy listening. It's the pinnacle of modal
jazz"_... I think at this point, modal jazz was just getting started, not
reaching it's pinnacle.

 _"...this is an exceptional band... one of the greatest in history, playing
at the peak of its power. "_... Um, no! None of these musicians were at the
peak of their power at all. They all went on to do more.

Unfortunately now the blogger is trapped in this line of thinking, and he
writes... _"I think what draws me to this album is the enormous restraint that
each of these brilliant musicians show... They were all extraordinary
musicians at the top of their games, and yet they came together and produced a
piece of work that doesn’t feel strained or over the top. There is a sense of
comfort – of rightness – to every note on the album."_... In fact, there are
other critics that have said that Cannonball Adderley was really a wrong
choice for Kind of Blue - his playing stands out as being too bluesy and he
didn't really "get" the modal jazz like the other musicians.

Anyway, I guess my point is to be wary of empty praise. The author was clearly
moved by the music, and the Erlewine review reinforced those feelings, but he
is missing out on a lot of interesting lines of criticism that might bring him
new insights. Jazz, like other abstract arts, is especially interesting
because of how _malleable_ it can be, with each listener bringing their own
perspectives and opinions into how they perceive the work. The best ones (and
Kind of Blue is among them) will grab your attention, play off your memories
and emotions, and inspire you.

~~~
noname123
Can you explain how improvisation is different in modal jazz vs. improvisation
over chord changes?

I understand that instead of targeting the tones found in chord progressions,
Miles Davis etc. focused on playing the tones in D Dorian mode for "So What?"
which has notes that could be actually dissonant to whatever chord-
tones/walking bass being played. But how does one actually construct a modal
solo and does one not think about at all the chord-progression being played at
all or is chord consonance still very important?

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zedshaw
Well, three things about modern Jazz to understand:

1\. Dissonance isn't bad or good, it's just more or less tension. 2\. You can
alter chords with substitutions, effectively creating a "chord abstraction
theory". 3\. If you can get abstract about chords, and that lets you play
similar chords where other chords are, then you can do the same thing with
scales.

They then just play fewer chords. If you only have 3, or even 1 chord, then
you can simply stay in one key and solo all day long. You can then go outside
the key to add tension with dissonant notes by picking a new "abstraction".

This reduction in the number of chords in the song then lets you play with
abstractions on the chords being used. You can start doing substitutions with
chords that are similar to give the song a feeling of progression where there
really is none.

If I remember correctly, Freddie Hubbard's "Mr. Clean" is just a F-7 chord for
the whole song, but check out what they do with it:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5CNYsmAJwI>

BTW, I hate that song.

~~~
noname123
Hey Zed, your video a long time ago about not being a corporate programmer-
serf is what inspired me to take up guitar, so appreciate that. What you said
about chord substitution, do you mean some chords are more dissonant sounding
compared to its major chord counterpart (e.g., dominant 7 or half-diminished)?
So in scales, you have different scalar patterns that also have different
qualities (e.g., minor pentatonic to the minor scale) - but how do you
actually then use the scales creatively instead of just playing over the minor
pentatonic scale to a blues jam because it's a stereotypical bluesy scale.

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davidthewatson
Well-stated retrospective that gets at a common point between great art and
great design.

Charles Mingus said, "Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the
complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity."

I only wish that kind of sentiment drove more modern design work, or music for
that matter. I guess the fact that it's so exceedingly difficult to do
explains why we only see it once in a decade in a given domain. Still, I find
striving for what Mingus describes, and what Davis achieved, a worthwhile
goal.

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m0skit0
Nice article, but you failed to focus one of the real co-authors of Kind of
Blue: Bill Evans. There would be no "Kind of Blue" or Miles Davis without Bill
Evans. You can even say "Kind of Blue" is a Evans' LP by how much his
influence on composition and arrangement is strong, how his "impressionist"
way of playing is permeating everything... One of most underrated musicians
ever.

~~~
demet8
Bill Evans played with Miles Davis for no more than a total of 8 months. Miles
Davis was a genius before he met Bill Evans. Bill Evans was a good piano
player who complemented Miles's playing style @ the time. Without Miles Davis
there's no Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Philly
Joe Jones, Paul Chambers, etc.

~~~
stephencanon
All of the players you mention would be remembered as greats with or without
Miles Davis. Their playing might have been different, but Miles wouldn't have
been Miles without them, either.

Calling Bill Evans a "good piano player" is like calling Feynman a "good
physicist".

~~~
surement
Even though I consider all of these musicians to be greater than Miles Davis,
it was Miles Davis who, as a band leader, let these individual members not
only play in his band, but also shine by letting each of them solo on pieces
instead of just him.

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chernevik
IANA Musician but rumor has it that Davis wasn't a great technical trumpet
player, that he lacked the speed and range of others. The essence of his
genius was in his understanding of the music and his ability to examine and
re-arrange its principles.

It's worth considering in the discussion of the value of 'rock star'
programmers.

~~~
tjr
He was something of a groundbreaking musician, establishing new concepts and
then moving on to yet more new things, while others picked up his ideas and
ran with them. His "Birth of the Cool" music, for example, really wasn't very
popular at the time he did it. As I recall, the recordings weren't even
released until years later, because it just wasn't expected to be well-
received. In retrospect, it was great music, and helped set the stage for a
whole sub-genre of jazz.

He was also adept at discovering / identifying great up-and-coming musicians
and associating himself with them, to the benefit of both parties.

~~~
sebphfx
as the great Tony Williams

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jmmcd
The application of these artistic principles to _startups_ is such a stretch.
If it was just about coding, fine: restraint is good, technical ability is
good, cooperation is good. But why should a startup be worried about whether
it's flaunting its genius?

~~~
rglover
I think it comes down to a matter of taste. Having the ability to restrain
one's ego is the mark of a true professional. If you're good, you don't have
to flaunt it, your work just speaks for itself. For startups, this doesn't
mean you can't promote or sell your product as you see fit, but you shouldn't
run around saying "what we've come up with is the most brilliant thing in the
world." A lot of people do this and it's quite the detractor. Again, though,
this is a taste thing and not a universal preference.

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scutfarkas
How do you know somebody owns a 180g vinyl copy of "Kind of Blue"?

Don't worry - they'll tell you.

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parenthesis
For me, the real genius of Miles Davis was in his role as band leader, in
particular in choosing his bands. A large number of great jazz musicians from
successive generations (1950s to 1980s) played in his bands early in their
careers. He was a jazz professor with them his grad students.

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daeken
Unrelated but awesome anecdote about Miles Davis: After Sketches of Spain (his
most impressive album IMO) was released, there was a huge debate about whether
it was 'jazz' or not. When asked about it, he responded "it's music, and I
like it." Perfect response.

~~~
surement
Equivalently, it's difficult to say whether Anthony Braxton's or John Zorn's
music is jazz, even though they use improvisation, and are referred to as jazz
musicians.

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jorangreef
Miles Davis knew when to keep silent. He played the notes and the space
between them.

~~~
vijayr
This. Bruce Lee said the same, about his movements

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jules
Can somebody help me to appreciate the genius of jazz music? When I listen to
Kind of Blue it does sound nice, but I am not deeply moved by it or able to
appreciate its genius, like I can with some classical music. I have the same
question for people knowledgeable about poetry and abstract art (and some non-
abstract art).

~~~
bhousel
Here's a thought. Do you know your Meyers-Briggs type? It sounds like you
might be more of a "thinker" than a "feeler".

If you're more of a "thinker", start at the beginning, learning about the
roots of blues and ragtime, what life was like in New Orleans in 1900.. Then
work your way forward, learning about how jazz evolved into more modern forms.
It's a really fascinating story.

You could check out the Ken Burns documentary. I also really recommend this
"coffee table" book, which really covers everything (in case you don't want to
watch 20 hours of documentary about something you don't really care much
about): [http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-John-
Fordham/dp/0751300500/ref=sr...](http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-John-
Fordham/dp/0751300500/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336613394&sr=8-1)

This approach will work for art, literature.. really anything..

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mark_integerdsv
I'm feeling a little cranky over this... possible viral from the upvomgin
biopic starring Don Cheadle?

(Hopefully this will be the Oscar that Cheadle has already earned in my
opinion...)

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planetguy
Wow, people sure do fall over themselves to declare people "geniuses"
nowadays.

~~~
bitops
That may be true, but Davis really was a genius.

