Thursday, August 13, 2009

Seven Steps to Heaven


By God! Miles is screeching with his motherfuckin’ mute. I never could understand why he did not listen more to Dizzy when he would apply the mute. I just don’t get the idea. You have great guys like Clayton, Edison, Newman, Navarro, Dizzy, and many others, every one of them a master with the mute. I am just surprised why people make so much fuss about Miles. I do not want to name the greats like Williams, Coleman, and Autrey with the mute. It is a shame. The same Miles plays the open horn in “Joshua”; he is so fantastic in tone and attack. The same Miles does a nasty job on "All the things you are" with my most beloved drummer Frank Butler. Such great rhythm section and you play that darned muted trumpet. Just dig Feldman, Carter and Butler’s company. Thanks God Feldman has more space on “basin’ street”. Listen carefully to Butler starting with brushes after Miles has finished with his opening statement; Soft as dream of an unborn flower. Butler is without a doubt one of the most brilliant jazz drummers ever. One of the most underrated as well. The hell with the history and those who make it.
-- By ARP

Line up: Miles Davis – Trumpet/George Coleman - Tenor Saxophone/Victor Feldman - Piano (April session)/Herbie Hancock - Piano (May session)/Ron Carter - Double bass/Frank Butler - drums (April session)/Tony Williams - drums (May session)

"Seven Steps to Heaven is recorded in 1963 by Miles Davis. On the 16th and 17th of April, a quintet comprising Davis, George Coleman, Victor Feldman, Ron Carter and Frank Butler recorded all six tunes plus "Summer Night", for an album to be titled "So Near, So Far". A month later, Davis re-recorded three of the tunes (tracks 2, 4 & 6) with a new quintet, replacing Feldman with Herbie Hancock and Butler with Tony Williams. The new rhythm section of Hancock, Carter and Williams would form the nucleus of Davis's working band for the next five years. This is the last of Davis's studio albums which relies substantially on standard tunes - once Wayne Shorter joined the quintet in 1964, tunes on studio recordings were almost always composed by members of the group."

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