Miles Davis - Full Concert - 08/18/70 - Tanglewood (OFFICIAL)

Ian Gold (former member of ECM) and I were watching this video over the weekend and it got me thinking about our group. MasterDJProfess. GuruGurv mentioned yesterday his hope for the ensemble to get to the level where we maneuver transitions, phrase durations/shaping, and the general performance without someone directing. I feel this video captures that sense of collective understanding among a big group of musicians quite well.



I don't really expect people to watch this entire video (although YOU SHOULD, THIS JOINT IS INCREDIBLE), BUT I WOULD ASK.......LET ME TURN OFF CAPS LOCK...that peeps would  watch the first few minutes and these specific time points to get a sense of the deep connection evident in this group-- to the point where, with seven musicians, the overall sound isn't too cluttered, and they all transition together without anyone saying anything. This is demonstrated perfectly at 8:00 where Miles plays a descending line and the rest of the band brings the energy way down with him. Another incredible example is when at 11:45, the band is in this free section, then Chick Corea (on keys) out of nowhere plays the opening chords of the next song and everyone else immediately catches on, hitting the next note with him. That level of mental intimacy is scary.



Also, note the dialogue between Miles and the drummer, Jack DeJohnette, at 9:45. That's the kind of dialogue I'm thinking of when, in the piece I brought in, there are a couple people playing over each  section and each person is essentially soloing and feeding off each other's ideas.



Sorry for the long winded post. Thanks to those who made it this far. Just have a lot of thoughts on these notions. Especially given how many people are in the group, listening becomes all the more crucial to our sense of trajectory and the impact of our musical statements.



P.S. I just want to note....................how cool they look.