Great Miles Davis Quotes

Whether you like Miles Davis or not, you gotta give him credit for not simply resting on his laurels and continually changing jazz music in general.  At 18 years old, in the early 50s he was playing with the likes of Charlie Parker, and throughout his career one of his best talents was assembling the greatest players on the scene at the time.  Just look at the lineup for his album in 1959 Kind of Blue.   Anyway, I ran across a terrific site called brainyquote.com.  These are some of the quotes listed there for Miles Davis.  They pretty much sum up the attitude and style of Miles Davis.

 

A legend is an old man with a cane known for what he used to do. I'm still doing it.
 

Do not fear mistakes. There are none.
 

Don't play what's there, play what's not there.
 

For me, music and life are all about style.
 

I'll play it and tell you what it is later.
 

It's always been a gift with me, hearing music the way I do. I don't know where it comes from, it's just there and I don't question it.

 

Harlem Renaissance - Fats Waller, Duke Ellington Count Basie Nat King Cole

Harlem Renaissance / Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Nat King Cole

A fabulous look at Harlem and its greatest musicians of the 20s, 30s and 40s: with extraordinary archival, full song performances by Fats Waller (This Joint Is Jumpin', Ain't Misbehaving, Your Feets Too Big), Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (Let's Scuffle), Dorothy Dandridge (Easy Street), Cab Calloway (We The Cats Will Hep You), Mills Brothers (Caravan, Cielito Lindo), Tiny Grimes (Romance Without Finance), Duke Ellington (Cottontail, Satin Doll) , Count Basie (The Start of Something Big, Take Me Back Baby)), Dizzy Gillespie (Salt Peanuts), Sidney Bechet (Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen), Nat King Cole (Frim Fram Sauce, I'm A Shy Guy, That's My Girl, Calypso Blues), Louis Armstrong (Swingin' On Nothin') and others. Featuring commentary by distinguished historians and the performers themselves, this program traces the roots of the music of the Harlem Renaissance, its social impact on society and its eventual acceptance in mainstream culture. 2004 Production.

List Price: $19.95
Amazon Price: $17.99
 Used Price: $11.84

Customer Review: Great collection
It is certainly hard to find films in jazz from this time period, so this collection is a very valuable one. The quality of the recordings are incredible considering their age, and the representations of the music/musicians sometimes surprising, even for those who study jazz culture. Although the commentary may not give you much information beyond an introductory level, being able to see jazz performance is something which simply reading about the period can't compare to. One thing to mention--though this DVD is entitled Harlem Renaissance, it seems like several of these films were produced after renaissance was considered to be over.

Customer Review: An essential for anyone who wants to learn about/enjoy this period of time.
I have seen so many films about the Harlem Renaissance, I was beginning to think that there was no film that both captured and explained the history of the period and also made learning fun for students. As a teacher, I use this DVD with my 12 and 13 year old students. The full versions of songs on the bonus part of the DVD shows the power that visual and audio images can have and had way before MTV. For the price and quality, this is a must have for educators, and a joy for historians and music lovers in general.

Voicings For Jazz Keyboard by Frank Mantooth

Frank Mantooth was probably one of the most intelligent people have ever met and certainly one of the most intelligent people I've been good friends with . He had perfect pitch and anyone that knew him soon realized that his sense of humor and his wit were unmatched .  As smart as Frank was he had the uncanny ability to make very complicated things extremely simple . Voicings for Jazz keyboard is one of his first publications and I believe one of the finest . This book takes complicated jazz harmony and makes it simple . If you are remotely interested in how to construct very hip jazz chords in a very simple and easy to understand way then get this book .

 Voicings For Jazz Keyboard

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Well  respected soloist, clinician and writer, Mantooth has written this book for any keyboard player interested in developing better jazz chord voicing. Written more as a 'how-to' book than a textbook, Voicings will make a valuable addition to the library of any performer, arranger, teacher or jazz theorist.
List Price: $12.95

Amazon Price: $10.36

Used Price: $8.75

Customer Review: Gets right to the point--very informative
This book explains away all the mysteries involved in quartal jazz harmony, as well as provides great insight into using triads over dominant sevenths and voice leading. Frank gets right to the heart of the matter and presents it in a straight-forward, easy to understand manner, which is the way it should be. Great for ANY instrumentalist and a great resource for jazz arrangers.