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Miles Davis: Tutu

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s

Artist: Miles Davis
Title: Tutu
Released: 1986
Label: Warner Bros.
Time: 42:22
Producer(s): Marcus Miller, Tommy LiPuma, George Duke
Appears with:
Category: Jazz
Rating: ******.... (6/10)
Media type: CD
Purchase date:  2000
Price in €: 9,99
Web address: www.milesdavis.com

 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Tutu - 5:15
[2] Tomaas - 5:32
[3] Portia - 6:18
[4] Splatch - 4:45
[5] Backyard Ritual - 4:49
[6] Perfect Way - 4:32
[7] Don't Lose Your Mind - 5:49
[8] Full Nelson - 5:05
 

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Miles Davis - Trumpet

George Duke - Trumpet
Omar Hakim - Percussion, Drums
Steve Reid - Percussion
Michal Urbaniak - Violin
Bernard Wright - Synthesizer
Adam Holzman - Synthesizer
Paulinho Da Costa - Percussion
Jason Miles - Piano
Marcus Miller - Multi Instruments

Peter Doell - Engineer

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


After 30-plus years with Columbia Records, Miles Davis departed to sign with Warner Brothers Records. TUTU finds Miles entering the world of MIDI, chaperoned by former sideman, Marcus Miller and pop jazz hitmaker Tommy LiPuma, and beat box music would never be the same again. TUTU is the birth of a new kind of cool, based on the emblematic street beats of the mid-1980s, brimming over with orchestrally-styled keyboard programming. The album is a showcase for Miles' evocative muted horn, functioning like a featured vocalist. Not since his work with Gil Evans had Miles deferred so much to a collaborator, and TUTU is a platform for the arranging talents of Miller, who in addition to his distinctive, popping bass lines, plays nearly every instrument on the session - from keyboards to bass clarinet. And from "Tomass" through "Full Nelson," funk is the order of the day. A tune such as "Perfect Way" sets up a striking call and response between major and minor themes, so that Davis is never simply blowing over repetitive modes. "Don't Lose Your Mind" employs an infectious reggae groove, driving rhythm samples and a taut violin solo by Michael Urbaniak to set up Miles' re-entrance on open horn in a related key center. The title tune colors a catchy shuffle in a rich plumage of contrary motion and secondary themes, while "Portia" reprises a favorite Spanish air, employing synthesizers to parallel the deep brass voicings Gil Evans used so effectively on SKETCHES OF SPAIN. TUTU is a compelling excursion into contemporary pop waters.




This controversial but memorable recording is mostly a duet between Miles Davis and the many overdubbed instruments of producer Marcus Miller (although violinist Michel Urbaniak, percussionist Paulinho da Costa and keyboardist George Duke are among the other musicians making brief apperaances). Certainly the results are not all that spontaneous but Davis is in top form and some of the selections (most notably the title cut) are quite memorable.

Scott Yanow, All-Music Guide



On 1986's "Tutu," Miles entered yet another musical world, collaborating with bassist/producer Marcus Miller on the best recording of his final period. Utilizing electronics, the music is a fusion of catchy street beats, orchestrally-styled keyboards and Miles' evocative, muted horn. Dedicated to the South African civil rights leader and Nobel laureate, "Tutu" was the first time since Gil Evans that Miles relied so heavily on a collaborator. It proved to be a particularly masterful vehicle for Miller's arranging, as well as his popping bass. (Miller's keyboards and bass clarinet are also prominent.) Those seeking a musical deja vu should look elsewhere. Miles' standard response in his latter days to those nostalgia buffs was "I don't play that way no more," yet although the setting may be worlds apart from "Birth of the Cool" or "Porgy and Bess," underneath the contemporary fittings, it's still genuine Miles. Enigmatic, legendary jazz pioneer Miles Davis has been described as the man who changed the face of jazz-more than once. On Tutu, Davis hooks up with co-producer Marcus Miller for a devilishly delicious outing that blends African rhythms and techno dance patterns with bits of guitar and bass, adding layers of high end synths that, when teamed with Miles' trumpet work, generate a mysteriously seductive aura. As Miller sends the jazzed and funky rhythms gracefully swirling about, Miles jumps in with his muted tones to either cast a spell or do his dance on you. Nobody handles a horn the way he does. And speaking of dance, Miles offers a playful version of Scritti Politti's joyful "Perfect Way," a wigged-out reggae trance-dance in "Don't Lose Your Mind" and the happy, funked-up "Splatch" (love to see Alvin Ailey interpret this one!). If Miles' monumental LP Kind Of Blue was inspired by an African ballet (as is supposed) then Tutu must qualify as a universal street dance of the eighties-as could only be choreographed by the great Miles Davis.

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