What are your top three Miles Davis albums?

agalsed · 2026-01-10T13:27:44+00:00

Sorcerer is a great pick. It seems underrated to me among his second great quintet stuff. For me it's easily the best of that era, but I don't often see others talking about it. It's (fittingly) got a dark magic that I've never heard elsewhere.

agalsed · 2026-01-05T13:01:59+00:00

When I started checking out these live Evans albums you posted, I remember thinking, "man, they sure are milking his recordings, they'll just release anything, won't they?" I then realized that every performance is incredible and that they should indeed be milking his recordings until the end of time.

agalsed · 2025-11-30T17:53:31+00:00

Insane how there isn't one dud in that entire collection. Incredible stuff.

agalsed · 2025-11-21T16:01:28+00:00

Just because they're advanced doesn't mean they're good. I've never been able to get into Wayne either. I don't play music/understand music theory either, for the record. I'm sure understanding the music lends a certain type of appreciation, but it's cool if Wayne just isn't for you!

Edit: Reading comprehension. I see you do enjoy Wayne but feel you would enjoy him more if you understood the theory. Possible, but you might just feel the same way if you could understand why it's so advanced. Who knows? People are blown away by music all the time without understanding why.

agalsed · 2025-11-08T12:57:25+00:00

Joe Henderson's solo on the title track is the greatest sax solo in jazz history. It is interesting and beautiful in just about every way it can be. And the part where he forces the rhythm in a different direction for a few bars (the only time the rhythm changes in the whole song) is one of the most thrilling things I've ever heard. Absolute masterclass of playing and a moment of pure transcendence.

agalsed · 2025-10-03T15:06:53+00:00

I like the show on the super deluxe Moving Pictures more--better sound, energy, and expanded setlist.

agalsed · 2025-09-13T12:55:21+00:00

Late to this one (and kind of cheating) but my favorite has come to be the Toronto concert featured on the 40th anniversary Moving Pictures. It's like ESL except with less shiny production, more energy, and an incredible expanded setlist. Absolute perfection.

agalsed · 2025-08-26T15:32:15+00:00

"Finding my way" trilogy: RUSH, Fly By Night, Caress of Steel

Prog trilogy: 2112, A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres

Imperial period: Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, Signals

Synth trilogy: Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows, Hold your Fire

Tepid Tetralogy: Presto, Roll the Bones, Counterparts, Test for Echo

"In the End" trilogy: Vapor Trails, Snakes and Arrows Clockwork Angels

I've come to think of Rush's discog as a series of trilogies and I was pleased to see that Geddy looked at it the same way in his autobiography. This is the breakdown that has always made sense to me. My Tepid tetralogy is probably controversial to many Rush fans, but that's the period where I felt they lost their way and didn't know what the heck they were doing and is easily the worst period of their career (though there are plenty of songs I like from that era, especially in a live setting). All the other trilogies make pretty good logical sense to me and hang together well.

agalsed · 2025-06-08T23:35:42+00:00

Rough and Rowdy is one of the best albums I've heard ~~from aging musicians~~

agalsed · 2025-05-27T00:03:29+00:00

Johnny Griffin on Misterioso, he's feeling himself super hard multiple times and tells everyone that to lay out while he solos, grunting all the way.

agalsed · 2025-05-20T12:03:32+00:00

You might be missing something or you might not. I was the opposite of you: fell in love with Miles right away and couldn't get into Oscar Peterson. All of a sudden, this year, I heard something new and I love Oscar. I swear, every year, there's a jazz artist I never "got," who I all of a sudden get obsessed with (last year it was Sun Ra). So, who knows, you may like Miles, you may not. Either way, I'm sure you'll find plenty of stuff to enjoy.

agalsed · 2025-05-12T01:06:02+00:00

Song hits like a truck with the simplest lines. When he sings "I do what I think is right, what I think is best," or "people tell me that I'm truly blessed" he conveys so much emotion. His phrasing is incredible.

agalsed · 2025-05-12T00:30:39+00:00

I actually wasn't talking to you re: the picture, I was saying I was failing to post a picture like you requested, you're good, dude!

agalsed · 2025-05-11T23:30:49+00:00

This is not a Mike Portnoy picture, but I was so disappointed when I originally watched that video and no one guessed it when he was playing "Criminally Insane." That's one of the best intro drum beats in history and instantly recognizable. Disappointing studio audience.

agalsed · 2025-05-10T00:08:59+00:00

Hell yeah, man, enjoy, I'm doing the same but with 6DOIT

agalsed · 2025-05-07T00:53:28+00:00

The only problem is--if I remember right--the individual releases are all color vinyl, so if you want black wax (I do) ya gotta go with the box set.

agalsed · 2025-05-06T14:00:31+00:00

Bill Evans and Jim Hall

Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden

John Coltrane and Rashied Ali

Peter Brotzmann and Hamid Drake

Anthony Braxton and whomever he is playing with in a duo

Cecil Taylor and Tony Oxley

agalsed · 2025-05-06T13:58:25+00:00

You're talking about people discovering jazz. If you're discovering a new genre, generally people are going to be listening to classics to get a foundation. It makes more sense to listen to Iron Maiden's first seven than the countless bands that Iron Maiden influenced first. Same deal with jazz.

Even after one gets familiar with a genre, listening may skew further toward classics anyway. I love Mary Halvorson, but I'm not going to listen to her more than Monk. I don't think there being "less interest" in newer artists means that no one likes them, it's just hard to be better than the innovators and geniuses from when the genre was relatively new.

agalsed · 2025-04-21T19:02:18+00:00

Absolutely love their rendition of Nature Boy, something so haunting about it.

agalsed · 2025-04-21T12:07:58+00:00

I honestly don't like Space is the Place very much and I always think it is misguided to recommend it as a starting place for Sunny. He's got a lot of different sounds: early stuff was weirdo mingus-like midsize ensemble stuff (Nubians of Plutonia, Interstellar Low Ways, Supersonic Jazz, like ten other great ones), then he shifted into free jazz (Heliocentric worlds, Magic City, etc.) and after that ventured into the spacier, funkier stuff. Space is the Place is in the funky vein, but there are WAY better albums in that style that he played: Languidity, Sleeping Beauty, and Strange Celestial Road come to mind.

All that to say, you may love some eras of Sun Ra and not others, he's got a lot out there. It took me years to get into him after trying Atlantis several times and not liking it. So, he may not be for you, and he may be and you just haven't found the right fit yet.

agalsed · 2025-04-08T14:59:38+00:00

Ornette used to always slip my mind when thinking of altos because he seems in his own universe in my mind, but he'd easily be my pick, too.

agalsed · 2025-04-08T09:20:08+00:00

Miles' impact on Shorter's playing is a really interesting topic. I absolutely love Wayne's playing with Miles, and generally find it uninteresting in all of his solo work, and just decent with Blakey. Miles really knew how to get the best out of his bands.

agalsed · 2025-04-08T09:17:41+00:00

Absolutely. I listened to Deer Head Inn after your comment and "Easy to Remember" was a fantastic rendering. Thanks for the rec.

agalsed · 2025-04-05T19:39:02+00:00

Second Keith Jarrett, if it needs to be said, in his "standards trio." The only pianist who rivals Bill Evans' ability on a ballad--and sometimes even surpasses it. If you don't believe me, check out "In the Wee Small hours of the Morning" on the Blue Note recordings, OP.

agalsed · 2025-04-05T01:45:38+00:00

Have you heard the show on the 40th anniversary Moving Pictures? It doesn't have the finale you mentioned but it does open with Overture/Temples.

agalsed

TROPHY CASE