Miles from India

Jazz and Indian music have been “buddies” for a long time now. Even before the likes of Tom Scott, John Coltrane, and John McLaughlin, Indian influences have been present in Western musical culture, but it was the sixties that brought its expansion, particularly in jazz. A decade after, L. Subramaniam pioneered a new movement of Indo-Jazz fusion, which he called "Neo-fusion." It became very popular towards the eighties, after the release of his albums such as Fantasy Without Limits (1979), Blossom (1981), Spanish Wave (1983), Conversations (1984), Indian Express (1985), and Mani and Co. (1986), in which he collaborated with master jazz musicians such as Stephane Grappelli, George Duke, Stanley Clarke, Tony Williams, Herbie Hancock, Larry Coryell, Emil Richards among others. But Miles Davis was never a part of any spiritual or inter-cultural awakening. He was the Prince of African-American music, the fighter rather than a disciple. Miles didn’t have anything against other cultures, I mean he was among the first to include the sitar on a jazz record, but it’s hard to imagine Miles in a lotus position meditating over Bhagavad Gita. Still, it was him that invented modal jazz, the sub-genre in which Indian music found the best nesting place, mostly because of the similarities in Indian classical music and the principles of modal jazz. In that sense, Miles’ music sounds very natural in an Indian flavoured environment and instrumentation. Producer Bob Belden and Times Square label owner Yusuf Gandhi immediately recognized the brilliance of the idea during an informal discussion about Miles’ use of Indian instruments. They assembled a remarkable team of superb musicians from both camps and in 2008, a year after the initial conversation, “Miles from India” saw the light of day. This phenomenal record brings together a number of India's finest musicians alongside some of Miles’ finest sidemen, such as Jimmy Cobb, Gary Bartz, Chick Corea, Mike Stern, Pete Cosey, Dave Holland, Dave Liebman, Ron Carter, Marcus Miller, Ndugu Chancler, and Lenny White. The album closes with the only track Miles didn't record: "Miles from India," penned by John McLaughlin for this set. The boldest move by the producer and the musicians, is that they included songs from Miles’ repertoire that have nothing to do with his fusion period, such as “All Blues” and “So What” from Kind of Blue, or "Blue in Green" which features Wallace Roney, Miles Davis’ only immediate disciple. The irresistible beauty of Miles from India is how these masterful musicians from different cultures and backgrounds meet on Miles' turf with their individual voices completely intact. The album was recorded in Mumbai, India, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Saylorsburg, and would not have been possible without the studio techniques Macero pioneered with Miles decades earlier. This masterpiece is something Bob Belden should (and probably is) exceedingly proud of.