The whole point of this exercise is to make me listen to CDs on the shelves (and tucked away in the drawers) that rarely attract my attention, so it’s a little ironic that the arcane rules I’ve devised for choosing what’s next throw up so early something I probably listen to on a weekly basis.
So much has been written about this album, by people who actually understand music, that my thoughts and praise will add nothing. Of course it was bought as a “everyone says this is the best, I need to hear it” entry to jazz (not really - there was stuff in the 1970s that made it obvious I’d end up here), and of course I was blown away. Not that it was new, I’d heard much of it and not realised what it was. And what it is, is six of the world’s greatest jazz musicians, led by the greatest, playing at their peak.
About ten years ago, we went on an evening dinner jazz river cruise in Prague. My reflex reaction is extreme nervousness at being promised a jazz band, since my expectation is usually of old men in striped blazers playing When The Saints Go Marching In on banjos. Thankfully, it was a trio playing mostly restful jazz vocal standards, but I was blown away when, just as the sun started to set, they pulled out a magnificent arrangement of So What on guitar and flute. Magical!
Of course, it’s…
5* - and it’s not even my favourite Miles album!
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