Miles Davis
Sorcerer
(Vinyl Me Please)
Jazz is like art to me. I don’t understand it, I think it’s pretentious and I think it hasn’t been good for decades, but I know what I like when I experience it. What’s a person like me to do? It’s been more than a decade that I decided to give jazz a shot and I haven’t looked back since. I have my favorite artists, albums, and songs. I have no idea what makes them special, but I recognize that feeling I get in my brain when I hear what I like. Jazz is more and more becoming something scholars and other jazz musicians can truly experience. The rest of us are left watching from the outside admiring the tip of the iceberg, completely oblivious of what’s left hidden beneath the surface.
There is absolutely nothing we can say on this site to put Miles Davis into context for our readers. Many other journalists have done it already, and done it pretty well. So, let’s just say Miles Davis is one of the essentials. Personally I categorize his music as before and after the electric period. The “before” stuff sounding more straightforward and what the laymen would consider “normal” jazz, and the “after” which sounds abstract and “nuts”. It’s an ignorant way to label the man’s work, but it helps me make sense of his chaotic career.
Sorcerer finds us right before his electric period begins, and as far as abstraction is concerned, it’s in a pretty interesting place. It’s definitely not as easy to “get” as Birth of the Cool or Kind of Blue, but also not as “out there” as Bitches Brew. Instead, the songs collected on Sorcerer vary between hard bop, more laid back numbers, and some moody and soothing stuff. It’s remarkably accessible considering where Davis would be going with his music in just a couple years.
As for me, the “philistine”? I’m shocked that I still have the wherewithal to appreciate Davis’ music and find new things to enjoy in it. In that sense, Sorcerer was a delightful surprise to me. I don’t “get” it, but I sure as shit really like it.
Vinyl Me Please does its vinyl curating right by offering this album to its subscribers. Like we said, being exposed to Miles Davis is a requirement for music fans, and this album is most definitely one that will be revisited and should be appreciated over and over again for its listeners. Impressive – both the choice and the album itself.
Learn more about Vinyl Me Please’s issue of Sorcerer and sign up here.
