Sometimes it's Got to be Miles....

I have some Miles Davis on, "The Man With The Horn", done in 1981. Sometimes I like to just go sans vocals/lyrics and let instrumental jazz weave it's way through me. This album has no keyboards on it, just guitar, bass, drums, percussion and sax along with Miles on his unique, hypnotic trumpet. I wish I had more of his stuff, all I have is "Kind of Blue", "In a Silent Way" and "Bitches Brew"--in a perfect world I'd have all of his work. He did many, many superb albums on Columbia, as well as other companies. I also got a cassette of some nice stuff from the 50's (The Collection/A Retrospective) in place of some other one that didn't arrive from a cool ebay seller. As it turns out, in an interesting coincidence, the guitarist on most of the cuts of "The Man with the Horn" CD is Barry Finnerty, who just happened to be the guitarist I saw with the Crusaders in that live show after Larry Carlton left. Small world. I remember at the time we were wondering who he was...and was he even introduced? ha ha...hard to say. Of course, not having read the liner notes real carefully I had always thought Mike Stern was on EVERY cut on this, but he's just on one. Finnerty is on the rest. Stern is great, plays a very wild, modal and often chromatic type style. He's also a player I learned some really nice chordal voicings from, as well as different rhythmic chops. And Miles with his use of space, it's truly a thing of austere beauty to listen to how he uses rests. I have the utmost respect for jazz players, lets just say there isn't alot of money in it. There has to be a true devotion and love for the music...