Improvised Music For Stoners Like Me

I don't know if any of you dig modal improvisation? It's pretty eclectic so probably not many... but I highly recommend it on a mountain bike with AK-47.

Lately I can't get enough of Miles Davis Isle of Wight.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/yepzn2f

I linked it to the 3rd video because Miles sounds so fukin' cool soloing over that funky base thread... but definitely check out the whole set if you're into it. While you're at it fast forward to the solo at 2:20. It's so good it literally makes my wife cream her jeans.

Please post references to any good improvised music. I'm definitely looking for anything that's hip hop or funk based.

Later.

Hey towlie I am a huge Miles fan...
If you are not familiar with his album Kind Of Blue you should check it out.
Here is some info...


It's the pinnacle of modal jazz — tonality and solos build from the overall key, not chord changes, giving the music a subtly shifting quality. All of this doesn't quite explain why seasoned jazz fans return to this record even after they've memorized every nuance. They return because this is an exceptional band — Miles, Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb — one of the greatest in history, playing at the peak of its power. As Evans said in the original liner notes for the record, the band did not play through any of these pieces prior to recording. Davis laid out the themes before the tape rolled, and then the band improvised. The end results were wondrous and still crackle with vitality. Kind of Blue works on many different levels. It can be played as background music, yet it amply rewards close listening. It is advanced music that is extraordinarily enjoyable. It may be a stretch to say that if you don't like Kind of Blue, you don't like jazz — but it's hard to imagine it as anything other than a cornerstone of any jazz collection. [Legacy's greatly expanded 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition was issued in 2008.]

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0pfixzekldhe

Wavels said:

Hey towlie I am a huge Miles fan... If you are not familiar with his album Kind Of Blue you should check it out.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reference Wavels. I should have mentioned I’m pretty familiar with all of Miles work. My father was a professional trumpet player. His favorite album was/is Kind of Blue. I studied jazz guitar for 4 years in college. The associate professor was ruthless.. it started out as a class of 40 and by the end of the first yr it was 8. The tests consisted of ‘you’ improvising on stage in front of class while he set a rhythm behind you. If you rocked he’d grove his head like Stevie Wonder. If you sucked he’d make faces… The whole class would be laughing and you didn’t know what the fuck he was doing behind you. Anyway this dude’s favorite album was Kind of Blue also, and I had my Mr. Miyagi “Wax On/Wax Off” moment after a year of learning theory and modes, then technique… ripping through scales then chords built on the cycle of fifths then built on modes, and the whole time I’m thinking “What the fuck, I still don’t know how to play Jazz…” Then out of the blue he writes a mode on the board. Has everyone solo over the scale, then spells out a standard 12 bar blues progression, extends it into a 24 bar progression while replacing chord sections with other chords taken from the mode… Set’s the metronome and points to the chords while the class plays them… By the first turn-around I realize it’s ‘So What’ then he points at me and says solo. I instantly realized then I knew how to play jazz… So I guess the short answer would be “Yes I’ve heard of it.” The long answer would be did you hear Columbia released the 50th anniversary box set? It’s killer.

That’s the great thing about Miles. The bulk of his work really starting with ‘Birth of Cool’ was based on getting world class musicians together at his home to improvise over different modes with different percussionists (sometimes being a keyboard player.) Then he’d assemble them into a band and they’d spontaneously generate incredibly brilliant melodies. My point is that each album consists 100’s of hours of the best jazz musicians at the time. The Cellar Door Series Box set, for example is simply the entire live set series performed by Miles, Jarrett, McLaughlin (same line-up as Bitches Brew) used to compose “Live Evil.” This for example is “It’s about that time”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxrJk3CPu98
Not kidding… Same ditty that’s on ‘In a Silent Way.’

Anyway, the point of this thread was to learn of any new modal improvisation that’s out there. I’ve recently heard some interesting funk/hip-hop that’s somewhat groovy (Cornell West Theory) for example.

Anyway… Heard of any?