Miles Davis - Star People

I went through quite a rigmarole getting hold of a copy of this. I ordered a copy off Discogs, and received a message from the seller saying they won’t be able send it for a few weeks, because they’re away, is that OK? Well, no. Got a refund and ordered another copy from a different seller. This seller contacts me this morning to say they’re out of town and would I like to come and collect it from his wife, who lives about 20 minutes away. Sure. I drive over and pick it up from a closed down shop. Looking past the wife into the store, it looks like a fucking treasure trove. Just as well they didn’t invite me in for a look, because I’d have left a few dollars lighter.

This album is Davis’ last before the big synth sounds and drum machines which prevailed on his eighties work had fully emerged. It's an album where they use the blues as a reference point throughout.

Two guitarists, John Scofield (his debut with Davis) and Mike Stern (formerly of Blood, Sweat & Tears) slug it out over a rhythm section of bass players, Marcus Miller (in his absolute pomp around this time) and Tom Barney (currently the bass player for The Lion King on Broadway, apparently), Mino Cinélu on percussion, and Al Foster (the John Bonham of jazz). Bill Evans is on here, but had a lot of his solos cut apparently (burn!), and Davis plays his horn and Oberheim synthesizer, sometimes at the same time.

There was an old British sketch comedy show, called The Fast Show, which had a regular feature called 'Jazz Club', which was a very accurate parody of jazz. The opening track on this album, Come Get It, is as close as you will get to Desolate Shore.It’s gone straight into my top ten favourite Miles Davis tunes. Niiice.