Miles Davis – Filles De Kilimanjaro (1969)

First boot fair of the spring in a nearby village, and the guy with the CDs is still about. Hiding in his two quid box, sat this sealed Miles Davis album, so it wasn't difficult to relieve him of it.

It's a 1969 all star line up, so expectations are high.

At this point, a little confession. It's been ten days since I did the intro and I've only just got round to doing this, partly due to my busy international playboy lifestyle (those who know me will be suppressing a little giggle there), but mostly, after hearing the album, I wasn't relishing returning, nor clear what I might say.

I've struggled to get on with this album. I'm told this is viewed as a transitional album between Nefertiti and In A Silent Way, and I can see that. And perhaps it's hardly surprising that it fails to impress in the same way. Those are still to come, and there's at least one nailed on five-star rating there. I'll keep it to myself which one, just to maintain an air of suspense and mystery.

It's not a bad album, it's a pleasant enough listen. It just feels devoid of anything memorable or any hooks. Opener Frelon Brun hops along at a medium pace, with a beat and a sporadic melody, although I can't recall it, despite it just finishing. The Tout De Suite is a more relaxed piece, with some nice electric piano from Herbie Hancock under Davis' trumpet and Wayne Shorter's sax, before the pace livens for solos from the three lead instruments, before the long playout, in the style of the opening. Petits Machins (a co-composition with Gil Evans) is another pleasant tune, lots of virtuoso playing, again following the intro, trumpet solo, sax solo, electric piano solo, outro formula but without grabbing the attention. Filles De Kilimanjaro is a little more laidback, again with some fantastic playing, but quickly slips into the background, and final track from the original LP, Mademoiselle Mabry, is a very gentle stop-start piece with a glorious feel to it, like a warm blanket, but stretching the analogy, just as likely to fade into the background and encourage forty winks.

This CD reissue ends with an alternative version of Tout De Suite, but frankly the original didn't register deeply enough for me to tell the difference.

It's nice background Miles, with nothing that makes you think 'wow, listen to this', and harsh though it sounds, there's quite a lot of that about in jazz.

Link to album tracks

3* - a pleasant album, but I always come into a Miles Davis album expecting brilliance.