Miles Davis is one of my favorite trumpet players of all time. If you are jazz lover, you definitely cannot ignore this genius! The music of Miles Davis has been a big impact on lot of trumpet players and upon the direction of jazz music in general.
What I truly love about him is his style of playing and his sound (the round non vibrato pure trumpet tone). "I prefer a round sound with no attitude in it’ he said once, ‘like a round voice with not too much tremolo and not too much bass. Just right in the middle. If I can’t get that sound I can’t play anything."While listening to his music I have a feeling that he is talking directly to me, fulfilling my soul and taking me through some memories and experiences. It is mind blowing how well balanced are his solos in every way especially his sense of leaving space between the notes and letting the music breathe.
“Solar” is composed by Miles Davis and it is consider as a jazz standard. “Solar” is part of the compilation album “Walkin’“ released in 1957 (the tracks are recorded in 1954) with Horace Silver on piano, Percy Heath - bass, Kenny Clarke - drums and David Schildkraut on alto saxophone. In this composition, but also that period in the middle 50s Miles Davis began using the Harmon mute (later on became his signature). In “Solar” he plays very relaxed, laid back time feel. The form of the composition is based on 12 bars. It is also interesting that the first two measures from the melody are engraved in the tombstone of Miles Davis.
Before recording this album, Miles had a long battle with his heroin habit (at some point his drug addiction affected his playing ability), in which he succeed. About the album there are some critics that say that Walkin’ is the album that created hard bob.
Miles Davis played a lot of styles in his career such as bebop, cool jazz, modal jazz, post-bop, jazz fusion etc. I am sure that we are all grateful for his melodies and songs he left behind.
