Jazz for aficionados

O-10, this is a little like the “what is West Coast Jazz and what is East Coast Jazz” issue in that there is a lot more nuance to the situation than is taken into account when discussing it.

Miles was already someone of tremendous stature (and tremendous ego). Already twenty four records as leader. Cannonball was a newcomer and SIDEMAN in MILES’ band. Then there are the facts presented by pryso re the particulars of the material. Add to all this the fact that the producer has a tremendous influence in how it all goes down and it is easy to see that, at most, it was a collaboration. I would bet anything (and many others agree) that this power dynamic (which exists in all projects like this one) was much more slanted toward Miles than anyone else. “Leader”, “boss”, “sideman”, whatever; Miles had much more than the typical sideman influence on that record. And much of the feeling of the music reflects this.

As far as the merits of SE vs KOB goes, I won’t get into a debate about that again. There is so much written about the importance of KOB in the history and evolution of jazz that it seems silly to debate it.  SE was a great record. KOB was a game changer. I am not surprised that in some “circles KOB was barely considered an also ran”; time stands still for some listeners.

Randy Weston - R.I.P.