miles davis

Like any normal jazz fan I have 30 or 40 Miles Davis albums. It was impossible to stop adding to the collection because Davis' music was always moving ahead. Take this new set by the Miles Davis Quintet, "Live in Europe 1967." It's the first installment of the new Bootleg Series, and though it's from the tail end of Davis' acoustic period, the feel is electric.

It's a wild ride, and the band's creative energy is unstoppable. Trumpeter Davis is playing with Herbie Hancock on piano, Wayne Shorter on sax, Ron Carter on bass, … Read more

Great-sounding albums are becoming increasingly rare, so when I find noteworthy efforts I'm happy to share the news. The goal is highlighting new stuff--or at least newly recorded/remastered music--so there's no need to include Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" or Steely Dan's "Aja." I assume you're already hip to the best music from decades past; I'm trying to spread the word about the best new music over a range of styles, with something for every taste.

For more sonicly superior music, check out my "How to make your speakers sound better: Play better-sounding music&… Read more

You don't have to be an audiophile to appreciate good sound and music, so I've put together a healthy selection of great gift ideas, all priced under $300. Tuesday's blog has nine more, and they're all less than $100 each!

The Sherwood RX-4503 stereo receiver ($130) would be a great way to start building an awesome-sounding budget hi-fi. I briefly auditioned the Sherwood and came away really impressed with its sound quality. The stereo receiver serves up 100 watts into each of its two channels, and includes a mono preamp output if you decide to add a powered subwoofer. It has Dolby Virtual Surround and Dolby Headphone faux surround processors. A front-panel connection is also included for the Sherwood BT-R7 Bluetooth Audio adapter, allowing wireless streaming from your mobile phone or other devices. The Sherwood could also work wonders in a stereo home theater system.

B & W is one of the more legendary names in British hi-fi, and its speakers are used in many of the world's top studios, including the Beatles' favorite, Abbey Road. B & W is also known for its sleek styling, and its P5 on-ear headphone ($300) is definitely a looker. Its real leather earpads and chunky tubular metal construction put all of the other similarly priced headphones on the market to shame. The P5 sounds best plugged into an iPod or other portable music players.

The Audioengine P4 is a bona fide audiophile mini speaker that sells for $249 per pair. I gave it a very positive review last year, and now I love it so much I retired my self-powered Audioengine A2 ($199 a pair) speakers. While the A2 is still amazing in its own right, the P4 is better in every way, but it has to be used with a receiver, like the Sherwood on this list, so the P4 winds up costing a lot more than an A2. If you have the dough, or a spare amp, the P4 is the way to go. … Read more

Miles Davis' music has always been a feast for the ears, but now it can reach all five senses: hearing, seeing, touching, smelling, and tasting.

It's the release of Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew" in a "40th Anniversary Collector's Edition" box set that inspired the album's new sensory explorations. The set comes with a 48-page book; three CDs (two CDs containing the original 94-plus minutes of music with six bonus tracks); a third CD with a previously unreleased concert by Davis' group with Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette, Airto Moreira, and … Read more

The Fillmore East didn't last all that long, from March 8, 1968 to June 27, 1971, but a ton of great music was played there. Pretty much every legendary 1960s band--except the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Cream, and Bob Dylan--graced the stage. Led Zeppelin; The Who; Pink Floyd; Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young; Elton John; Fleetwood Mac; Derek and the Dominos; Creedence Clearwater Revival; Santana; and the Doors rocked the 2,700 seat theater in the East Village, in NYC. Ticket prices, as I recall, were always affordable: $3, $4 and $5, and there were usually three acts … Read more

Maria Schneider is a jazz composer, but on "Sky Blue" (artistShare) her music doesn't immediately sound like jazz--it's more meditative and expansive than what you might expect--it glides more than grooves. On paper her group, which has been together since 1988, looks like a big band, but it definitely sounds like an orchestra.

I recently spoke with Schneider about her music and she said "I want to create beauty and hopefully each time you listen to the CD, you'll hear something new." Well, with arrangements as densely layered as Schneider's that's … Read more

"A mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it's not open."--Frank Zappa

We all tend to like what we like--the music we know--but finding new music that breaks through can be almost impossible for some folks. I'm always on the prowl for something different, it's just that too often the new music that immediately grabs my ear bores me in a week or two. I've learned over the years the music that doesn't instantly connect is the stuff that sometimes sticks around for the long haul. I remember when … Read more