Miles Runs The Voodoo Down

Miles Runs The Voodoo

Down

William Blake HollandMusic 1010

Miles Davis*Miles was born in Illinois in 1926

*In high school, he played with his heroes Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie

*He attended Julliard in New York for one year before dropping out to play with Charlie Parker

Birth of the Cool

*Davis left Parker’s band to form his own band, the Miles Davis Nonet

*Birth of the Cool sessions helped to launch the “Cool Jazz” movement

*Cool Jazz Stressed melody, harmony, and slower notes as opposed to the more chaotic Bebop

Paris 1949*In 1949, Davis traveled to Paris for the first Festival International de Jazz.

*Davis was struck by how respectful people in France were. Especially compared to 1940’s Jim Crow America

*When Davis returned to the United States, he felt deeply disillusioned, and entered a dark period of his life

Dark Times*Soon after returning from Paris, Davis developed a heroin habit that would plague him through the next 5 years

*Davis sometimes resorted to petty theft and even pimping to feed his habit

*Finally Davis was able to kick the habit and came back better than ever

Hard Bop*Hard Bop was the second major jazz style Davis helped to pioneer

*was said to “reflect the intensity and hustling tempo of city life”

*”Walkin’” is a famous early example of Hard Bop

Kind of Blue*Marked a movement away from virtuosic chromatic harmonies

*Characterized by “fewer chords and less concentrated harmonies where scales override harmonies.”

*Kind of Blue is the most famous Modal Jazz album, and is Davis’ best selling and most well known album

Jazz Fusion*Was a mixture of jazz and other newer genres of music such as Rock and Roll, and especially Funk

*Davis’ “In a Silent Way,” and “Bitches Brew,” are seminal jazz fusion albums

*Marked the first time Davis uses Electric Guitars in his music

Later Years*Davis took 5 years off from making music in the the mid 1970’s

*Started making music again in the 1980’s, and continued to release albums until his death

Miles Dies*Miles Davis died of a stroke on September 28th, 1991 in Santa Monica, CA

*He is buried in Woodlawn cemetery in The Bronx, NY

Miles Runs the Voodoo Down

*Miles Runs the Voodoo Down is the 3rd song on the second disc of the album Bitches Brew

*It is fourteen minutes long and features 11 musicians

Bitches Brew*Considered a seminal Jazz Fusion album

*Funk music by artists like Sly and the Family Stone was influential to the sound of the record

Recording*Bitches Brew was recorded in August of 1969 at 30th Street Studio in New York City

*Used a highly improvisational approach where Davis, “would direct, like a conductor”

Players*11 in total*Miles Davis –Trumpet*Wayne Shorter-Soprano Saxophone*Bennie Maupin-Bass Clarinet*Joe Zawinul-Electric Piano 1*Chick Corea-Electric Piano 2*John McLaughlin-Electric Guitar*Dave Holland- Electric Bass 1*Harvey Brooks-Electric Bass 2*Dan Alias-Drum Set 1*Jack DeJohnette-Drum Set 2*Juma Santos-Congas

Reception and Influence*Bitches Brew was released in April of 1970

*It sold more than 500,000 copies in its first year

*Became extremely influential to jazz fusion artists

Song Structure of Miles Runs the Voodoo Down*Song is centered around 5 different instrument solos

*Structure-Intro 0:00-0:34-Solo 1 Trumpet 0:34- 4:10-Solo 2 Guitars 4:10-6:15-Solo 3 Soprano Sax 6:15- 8:00-Solo 4 Electric Piano 8:00-10:43-Solo 5 Trumpet 10:43- 13:00-Outro 13:00-14:02

Intro*Opens with a halting drum beat

*Guitar, bass and Clarinet come in

Solo 1*Trumpet Solo

*Other instruments begin to build underneath

Solo 1 Continued*Trumpet get a little louder and more wild

*Electric pianos compliment the trumpet

Solo 2*Two Guitars duel as electric pianos provide counterpoints to the rhythm

*Shortest solo

Solo 3*Soprano Saxophone solo

*accompanied by electric pianos and bass clarinet

*Drums finish the solo and set up the next part

Solo 4*The electric pianos finally get their own solo

*Lots of rhythm section happening

*the guitars punctuate the pianos

Solo 5*Final Solo is Davis on Trumpet

*Accompanied by all the other instruments

*Is resolved by a descending series of notes and sets up the outro section

Outro*All the instruments begin to build until they are at a fever pitch

*Lots of dissonance

*The song ends slowly with the individual instruments fading out until only the bass is audible

*The song ends

Works Cited

Works Cited *Tingen, Paul. "Miles Davis and the Making of Bitches Brew: Sorcerer's Brew." Jazz Times. May 2001: n. page. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. *DeVeaux, Scott, and Gary Giddins. Jazz. New York City: W.W. Norton & Company, 2009. 371-483. Print.

Further Listening

• The Birth of the Cool-Miles Davis

• Kind of Blue-Miles Davis• Bitches Brew-Miles

Davis• Bird and Diz-Charlie

Parker and Dizzy Gillespie