The Last Word - The Warner Bros. Years Miles Davis

• 1 Tutu 05:17
• 2 Tomaas 05:38
• 3 Portia 06:19
• 4 Splatch 04:45
• 5 Backyard Ritual 04:50
• 6 Perfect Way 04:36
• 7 Don't Lose Your Mind 05:51
• 8 Full Nelson 05:06
• 9 Lost In Madrid Part I 01:49
• 10 Siesta - Kitt's Kiss - Lost In Madrid Part II 06:55
• 11 Theme For Augustine - Wind - Seduction - Kiss 06:34
• 12 Submission 02:32
• 13 Lost In Madrid Part III 00:50
• 14 Conchita - Lament 06:44
• 15 Lost In Madrid Part IV - Rat Dance - The Call 01:41
• 16 Claire - Lost In Madrid Part V 04:34
• 17 Afterglow 01:41
• 18 Los Feliz 04:35
• 19 Catembe 05:37
• 20 Cobra 05:16
• 21 Big Time 05:41
• 22 Hannibal 05:51
• 23 Jo-Jo 04:52
• 24 Amandla 05:21
• 25 Jilli 05:06
• 26 Mr. Pastorius 05:43
• 27 Kimberley Trumpet 02:30
• 28 The Arrival 02:07
• 29 Concert On The Runway 04:16
• 30 The Departure 01:59
• 31 Dingo Howl 00:41
• 32 Letter As Hero 01:23
• 33 Trumpet Cleaning 03:57
• 34 The Dream 03:50
• 35 Paris Walking II 02:04
• 36 Paris Walking I 03:17
• 37 Kimberly Trumpet In Paris 02:14
• 38 The Music Room 02:42
• 39 Club Entrance 04:24
• 40 The Jam Session 06:21
• 41 Going Home 02:12
• 42 Surprise! 05:16
• 43 Mystery 03:57
• 44 The Doo-Bop Song 05:02
• 45 Chocolate Chip 04:41
• 46 High Speed Chase 04:41
• 47 Blow 05:07
• 48 Sonya 05:32
• 49 Fantasy 04:39
• 50 Duke Booty 04:57
• 51 Mystery (Reprise) 01:27
• 52 Introduction By Claude Nobs And Quincy Jones (Live at Montreux) 01:25
• 53 Boplicity (Live at Montreux) 03:40
• 54 Introduction To Miles Ahead Medley (Live at Montreux) 00:09
• 55 Springsville (Live at Montreux) 03:33
• 56 Maids Of Cadiz (Live at Montreux) 03:38
• 57 The Duke (Live at Montreux) 04:00
• 58 My Ship (Live at Montreux) 04:11
• 59 Miles Ahead (Live at Montreux) 03:38
• 60 Blues For Pablo (Live at Montreux) 06:06
• 61 Introduction To Porgy And Bess Medley (Live at Montreux) 00:28
• 62 Orgone (Live at Montreux) 04:09
• 63 Gone, Gone Gone (Live at Montreux) 01:48
• 64 Summertime (Live at Montreux) 02:54
• 65 Here Come De Honey Man (Live at Montreux) 03:41
• 66 The Pan Piper (Live at Montreux) 01:40
• 67 Solea (Live at Montreux) 11:47
• 68 In A Silent Way (Live at Indigo Blues Club 12/17/1988, New York, NY 2nd Show) 01:50
• 69 Intruder (Live at Indigo Blues Club, New York, NY 12/17/1988 2nd Show 04:52
• 70 New Blues (Live at Greek Theatre 8/14/1988 Los Angeles, CA 05:35
• 71 Human Nature (Live at Liebenauer Eishalle 11/1/1988 Graz, Austria) 12:48
• 72 Mr. Pastorius (Live at Le Zenith - Domaine de Grammond 04/12/89 Montpelier, France 03:32
• 73 Amandla (Live at Pallazo Della Civita 'The Steps' Rome, Italy, 07/26/1989 05:52
• 74 Wrinkle (Live at Casino De Montreux, Montreux International Festival 07/20/90 Montreux, Switzerland 07:17
• 75 Tutu (Live at Casino De Montreux 07/20/90 08:53
• 76 Full Nelson (Live at Osaka Expo Live Under The Sky Festival,, Tokyo, Japan 08/7/88 02:48
• 77 Time After Time (Live at Chicago Theatre - JVC Jazz Festival Chicago, IL 6/9/89 09:59
• 78 Hannibal (Live) 07:23
• 79 Opening Medley ('Theme From Jack Johnson' / 'Speak' / That's What Happened')( Live at Nice Festival, France, July 1986) 15:11
• 80 New Blues (Live at Nice Festival, France, July 1986) 05:21
• 81 The Maze (Live at Nice Festival, France, July 1986) 10:16
• 82 Human Nature (Live at Nice Festival, France, July 1986) 09:04
• 83 Portia (Live from Nice Festival, France, July 1986) 07:55
• 84 Splatch (Live at Nice Festival, France, July 1986) 17:11
• 85 Time After Time (Live at Nice Festival, France, July 1986) 07:23
• 86 Carnival Time (Live at Nice Festival, France, July 1986) 04:20
• Total Runtime 06:57:17

Info for The Last Word - The Warner Bros. Years

In 1985, Miles Davis shocked the music world by moving from Columbia to Warner Bros.. He immediately started working on an album called Perfect Way after a tune by Scritti Politti, later renamed Tutu by producer Tommy LiPuma. When Tutu (a tribute to Desmond Tutu) was released in 1986, it re-ignited Miles Davis’ career, crossing over into the rock and pop markets and winning him two Grammy Awards. A definitive collection of the later part of Miles Davis’ work, lavishly packaged and remastered, from the Warner Bros studio albums Tutu, Amandla and Doo-Bop, the Dingo and Siesta soundtracks, live recordings with Quincy Jones, and the likes of Kenny Garrett, Foley and Adam Holzman.

„Change isn't always welcome. As long as things are going okay, folks would just as soon leave things the way they are. But what's okay for one person or group may not be the same for others. So, when Miles Davis hit the 1970s and 1980s with a fusion of hip, electronic, synthesized and mainstream sounds in one tight package, some folks resisted. Some even complained. Even today, many feel that everything Davis did after 1969 isn't worth collecting.

There are some recordings from those years that are well worth collecting. This 4-CD collection contains all of Davis' Warner Bros. albums plus significant, previously unissued material. It's over five hours of modern jazz, some of which you may already own. Complete albums Tutu and Amandla provide an interesting look at what changes the veteran leader had in mind during this late period of his career.

Then, there's Doo-Bop. Completed posthumously, the album rivals the Dingo soundtrack album for the honor of being Davis' worst ever: not for style, but for the uneven trumpet work he displayed at that time.

Guest appearances Davis made on albums by Shirley Horn, Paolo Rustichelli, Kenny Garrett, Cameo and Toto are included in the collection. Each provides a suitable reminder of why the trumpeter remained so influential all those years. Pieces from film soundtracks, some of it previously unissued, feature Davis' trumpet in a variety of settings. Music from the films Street Smart, Siesta, Scrooged , The Hot Spot and Dingo reveal how natural it was to have Davis sit in just about anywhere. The creative music from Siesta recalls Davis' collaboration with Gil Evans on Sketches of Spain. The swinging piece from Scrooged pairs the trumpeter with David Sanborn, Paul Shaffer, Larry Carlton and a crew of merry hipsters. The blues themes from The Hot Spot pair him with John Lee Hooker and Taj Mahal.

Previously unissued material includes 'Maze with Bob Berg, Mike Stern and others, 'Rubber Band with Stern, a reflective 'See I See with Stern and Adam Holzman and an up-tempo 'Digg That with John Bigham and Jeff Lorber. The pieces include some hip-hop and some of the same synth/vocal effects found on Doo-Bop. Two stellar excursions from the 1986 Nice Jazz Festival and three selections from a 1989 appearance on the NBC television series Night Music , with David Sanborn, Kenny Garrett, Marcus Miller and others, make you wonder why they were never released before. Well, they're her now; in stores already, and listing for a fair price. It's bound to make many collectors happy, and, hopefully, it will open some ears to the positive aspects of the work from Miles Davis' last years.“ (Jim Santella, AllAboutJazz)

Trumpeter Miles Davis grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois, just across the river from St. Louis, Missouri. His parents were affluent, and had the means to support his musical studies as a boy. He began playing the cornet at age nine, and received his first trumpet at around twelve or thirteen. He studied classical technique, and focused mainly on using a rich, clear tone, something that helped define his sound in later years.

As a teenager, he played in various bands in St. Louis, which was rich with jazz, as big bands often stopped there on tours throughout the Midwest and southern states. The most important experience he had was when he was asked to play in the Billy Eckstine band for a week as a substitute. The group included Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Sara Vaughan. After playing with these stars, Davis knew he had to move to New York to be at the heart of the jazz scene.

In Pursuit of Parker:

In 1944 Davis moved to New York City where he had earned a scholarship to study trumpet at the Juilliard School of Music. Upon arriving however, he sought after Charlie Parker, and meanwhile spent all of his time in jazz clubs listening to bebop. He was transfixed on the music, and grew utterly bored with his classical studies. After less than a year at Juilliard, he dropped out and tried his hand at performing jazz. Although not particularly stunning, his playing was good enough to finally attract Charlie Parker, and Davis joined his quintet in 1945. He was often criticized for sounding inexperienced, and was compared unfavorably to Dizzy Gillespie and Fats Navarro, who were the leading trumpeters at the time. Both boasted stellar technique and range, neither of which Davis possessed. In spite of this, he made a lasting impression on those who heard him, and his career was soon set aloft.

Cool Jazz and a Rise to Fame:

Encouraged by composer and arranger Gil Evans, Davis formed a group in 1949 that consisted of nine musicians, including Lee Konitz and Gerry Mulligan. The group was larger than most bebop ensembles, and featured more detailed arrangements. The music was characterized by a more subdued mood than earlier styles, and came to be known as cool jazz. In 1949 Davis released the album Birth of the Cool (Captiol Records). Change of artistic direction became central to Davis’ long and increasingly influential career. After dabbling in hard bop as a leader on four Prestige recordings featuring John Coltrane, he signed with Columbia records and made albums that featured Gil Evans’ arrangements for 19-piece orchestra. These were Miles Ahead, Porgy and Bess, Sketches of Spain, and Quiet Nights. He rose in popularity with these recordings, in part due to his signature sound, which he often enhanced by using a Harmon mute.

Kind of Blue and Beyond:

In 1959 Davis made his pivotal recording, Kind of Blue. It was a departure from all of his previous projects, abandoning complicated melodies for tunes that were sometimes only composed of two chords. This style became known as modal jazz, and it allows the soloist expressive freedom since he does not have to negotiate complex harmonies. Kind of Blue also featured John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, and Bill Evans. The album is one of the most influential in jazz, and is Columbia Records’ best-selling jazz record of all time. In the mid 1960s Davis changed directions again, forming a group with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, and Ron Carter. This group was known for the excellence of each individual member, and also for its unique performance approach. Each night the tunes would sound different, as the musicians would sometimes only loosely adhere to the song structures, and often transition from one right into the next. Each player was given the chance to develop his solos extensively. Like all of Davis’ previous groups, this quintet was highly influential.

Late Career:

Despite health problems, drug addiction, and strained personal relationships, Davis continued to play, changing his approach with each new project. In the late 60s and 70s, he began to experiment with electronic instruments, and grooves that were tinged with rock and funk music. Two famous recordings from this period are In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew. By the time the 1980s rolled around, Davis was not only a jazz legacy, but a pop icon, whose music, persona, and fashion style were legendary. Davis died in 1991, as perhaps the most influential jazz artist ever. His vast body of work continues to be a source of inspiration for today’s musicians. (Jacob Teichroew, About.com Guide)

This album contains no booklet.