| | |  | ICON Fine Art | Home » » Complete on the Corner Sessions | | | | | | | Product Details: | | | Audio CD Release Date:
| September 25, 2007 | | Studio:
| Sony Legacy | | Number Of Discs:
| 6 | | Format:
| Box set | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 38 reviews |
| | | Track Listing: | | | Disc: 1 | | | 1. | On the Corner | | 2. | On the Corner | | 3. | One And One | | 4. | Medley: Helen Butte/Mr. Freedom X | | 5. | Jabali | | | Disc: 2 | | | 1. | Ife | | 2. | Chieftain | | 3. | Rated X | | 4. | Turnaround | | 5. | U-Turnaround | | | Disc: 3 | | | 1. | Billy Preston | | 2. | The Hen | | 3. | Medley: Big Fun/Holly-Wuud | | 4. | Medley: Big Fun/Holly-Wuud | | 5. | Peace | | 6. | Mr. Foster | | | Disc: 4 | | | 1. | Calypso Frelimo | | 2. | He Loved Him Madly | | | Disc: 5 | | | 1. | Maiysha | | 2. | Mtume | | 3. | Mtume | | 4. | Hip-Skip | | 5. | What They Do | | 6. | Minnie | | | Disc: 6 | | | 1. | Red China Blues | | 2. | Medley: On the Corner/New York Girl/Thinkin' Of One Thing And Doin' Another/Vote For Miles | | 3. | Black Satin | | 4. | One And One | | 5. | Medley: Helen Butte/Mr. Freedom X | | 6. | Big Fun | | 7. | Holly-Wuud | |
| | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 38 customer reviews )
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34 of 34 found the following review helpful:
 a collection of truly ground breaking recordingsOct 25, 2007
By James W. Goetsch
The key to understanding what Miles was doing in The Complete On The Corner Sessions is revealed in a Changes magazine interview in 1974: "I think it's time that people changed where they put the melody. The melody can be in the bass, or a drum sound, or just a sound".
With these sessions, Miles left behind the standard approach of the solo as the sole source of melody. From the first notes of "On The Corner", the soloist became one of the many sources of melody, which now coming from all corners of the band. A large part of this was the work of a young Englishman named Paul Buckmaster, who Miles met in 1969. He was greatly impressed by Paul's sophisticated version of this approach, which came out of his fascination with composers such as Stockhausen, Lutoslawski, and other 20th century masters.
The set incudes complete takes of the "On The Corner" sessions with new mixes that allows the listener to really hear all the inner parts so this approach can be fully appreciated, as well the original edited mixes. One fabulous feature is notes by Paul Buckmaster giving the untold story of how this record came about, detailing the process that he and Miles used.
This set also includes tracks from "Get Up With It", an equally important and influencial record for the world beyond jazz. "Rated X" has been cited by some producers as the genesis for dark drum and bass. Brian Eno considers "He Loved Him Madly" as major inspiration for his ambient works that followed.
But best of all this set includes around 2 hours and 45 minutes on unreleased tracks, all of which this reviewer would classify as very worthwhile. They are too numerous to list, but included are great takes from the large group that threw sitar and tabla into mix, plenty from guitarist Pete Cosey, reedman David Liebman, and the unmatchable bass of Michael Henderson, whose rock solid grooves were central to all this music.
For jazz fans who believe there is life beyond 1967 and electronic fans looking for new ideas, this set is a piece of history that's worth the big price.
45 of 48 found the following review helpful:
For Fans of "On the Corner"Sep 27, 2007
By directions
"neuralbuddhist"
If you are a fan of "On the Corner" chances are you are going to purchase it (if you haven't heard "On the Corner" by all means check it out now). Otherwise, you may find some of the out-takes to be repeatitive and uninteresting (they are called out-takes for a reason). Also this really should be titled Miles 1972-5 as it goes way beyond the 1972 "On the Corner" sessions (though the actual out-takes of "On the Corner" itself are essential listening for anyone who is into that album). Some of the material is on "Big Fun" and "Get Up With It" as well. Also the titles of the unreleased materials were guestimates and from what I've read they were edited and remixed as well. I would agree with one reviewer that the official live albums are superior but I personally would start with "In Concert: Live at Philharmonic Hall" (with the actual "On the Corner" line up)as well as "Pangaea" and "Agharta" (if you can find the official Japanese remasters). Also some of the later pieces such as "Minnie" and "Hip Skip" tend to reminescent of Miles 80's stuff (which fortunately they are not doing a retrospective of, by then he was dangerously close to smooth jazz) which shows that had Miles not gone into retirement that he would have still lost his edge. This does not in anyway, diminish my enthusiasm for "On the Corner" at all. Still if you enjoyed the multiple out-takes of the same track on the "Complete Jack Johnson Sessions" (actually a better boxset overall) and are a completist, then this may be your thing).
28 of 29 found the following review helpful:
For the hard core fan/collectorOct 29, 2007
By Santa Dog
I got this a few days ago and have listened through the entire box and re-listened to some of the things I had not heard before.
Firstly: The packaging is quite impressive. The set comes in a metal box with color reproductions of the original artwork raised into the metal and printed in color. The booklet inside is beautifully printed with a number of new illustrations by Corky McCoy. The liner notes are mostly reprinted from the most recent remaster of the stand alone On The Corner CD but without the track details. There is a nice essay from Paul Buckmaster though.
The music:
Disc 1) This is all previously unreleased material. I regard this material as essential listening. You get to hear the unedited master recording of the material that makes up the original LP. In addition there are some strong recordings that didn't make the original cut. Great stuff!
Disc 2) Ife is already available on Big Fun and Rated X on Get Up With It. The balance again is unreleased material. The two pieces entitled Turnaround and U-Turnaround are the basis for the frenetic number which opened Miles' live concerts with the "funk collective" but are clearly in development here. Interesting but not particularly riveting for this listener.
Disc 3) Other than Billy Preston (Get Up With It), this is a CD of previously unreleased material. I won't comment on this having heard this side only once.
Disc 4) Calypso Frelimo and He Loved Him Madly - both from Get Up With It. No new material here.
Disc 5) Maiysha and Mtume - both from Get Up With It. The balance of this disk is previously unreleased. What They Do is absolutely burning! This track stands with the best of any of the live material from the "funk collective" in my view. Scorched earth intensity live in the studio - I regard this as essential.
Disc 6) On The Corner presented as Miles and Teo originally envisioned it with the addition of two 45 RPM sides.
Is this worth owning? For me; absolutely, however I am a fairly hardcore fanatic when it comes to Miles' electric music. Quite a bit of this is available on On The Corner and Get Up With It - both available in recent (and very good) remasters. Nevertheless, the wealth of previously unreleased recordings here make this essential for me. The sound is superb since all of this is mastered 24/96.
The only reason I left off a star is because of all the previously released material in this set. Most hard core fans ( and let's face it, that's who is buying the box sets ) already have On The Corner and Get Up With It
96 of 126 found the following review helpful:
 rip-offSep 26, 2007
By new unoriginal pseudonym
let's see ... well over $20 per cd for six cds of material that has been, for the most part, already released in finished studio form, that is, as intended by Miles and Macero, on the single disc On The Corner and the double disc Get Up With It, or, in blistering live form, on the fantastic Dark Magus. if this set were priced in the range of how the original metal-spine release of the Complete Jack Johnson Sessions was when it debuted in 2003 ($69.95 or so, if I remember my purchase price correctly- I guess it could be around $79.95 for this particular set, as it does have one additional disc), I wouldn't be posting this 1 star review, but hey, you know what, Sony needs to be called out for their marked greed...
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
A treasure for MilesiologistsFeb 11, 2009
By H. Lim
In November 1971, Miles Davis made a momentous decision. He dismissed his old band, and the last remaining links to his jazz roots; musicians such as Keith Jarrett and Gary Bartz, who were steeped in the old bop/postbop tradition.
In 1972, facing unexpected attention from the IRS, a terrible hip problem, an attempted murder on himself and a debilitating cocaine addiction, Miles made another of his radical artistic changes. People had been accusing him of transplanting jazz improv in top of funk and rock beats, an accusation that gained more force as his music became more funky through late 1970 and the whole of 1971.
However, in 1972 Miles made an even more extreme leap in that direction, hiring musicians who often had no links whatever with the jazz tradition - such as Pete Cosey, Khalil Balakrishna and his old bass player Michael Henderson.
In 1972, Miles's music became extremely dense and fugue-like, layering instrumental lines on top of each other in a kind of percussive melange, perhaps best demonstrated by the track "On the Corner". Even Miles's trumpet, normally electrified, becomes little more than another percussive voice. The last traces of a jazz beat are gone. Beats are often stiff funk-style drum riffs under repetitious bass ostinatos.
In the studio Miles began to splice stuff together to an extent not previously attempted. For example, "Rated X" is a dizzyingly complex percussion track squashed together with a completely unrelated organ solo by Miles. Tape loops and small samples gave a foreshadowing of modern hip-hop techniques. For example, the original "Black Satin" is almost unrecogniseable here, as the final result was mixed liberally with drum loops, an unrelated bass line, and weird samples of clapping and whistling.
In 1973 Miles sacked a lot of the extraneous members of his band, and his music became a little less dense and more like his earlier styles, concentrating more on solos. Two electric guitarists, Pete Cosey and Reggie Lucas (Lucas recogniseable by his vibrato and effects pedals, Cosey by his aggressive bluesy style) were hired, along with David Liebman on the sax and Al Foster on drums. The aggressive style of this band is exemplified in tracks like "Calypso Frelimo", with its endless ostinatos and fierce soloing over a repetitious drum groove. However, this band could also be tender, as on the remarkable "Mr Foster", aka "For Dave", which became a live staple for Miles in 1973-5.
Miles's style remained mostly stable from 1973 to 1975. His music seemed to become more melancholic, as shown in "Mr Foster" and "He Loved Him Madly", which share a brooding, mournful air. Miles's increasing health problems, drug abuse and depression probably affected this mood.
Even the hard rocking tracks like "U-Turnaround" (aka Agharta Prelude") seem infused with a sense of experimentation and mature emotion that seem far removed from mere pop-based fusion. By August 1975, his music was funereal and morbid, with weaker solos from the master and an increasing use of strange synthesised samples. His last recorded concert before his retirement contains a version of "Ife" making use of strange ocean sounds and an almost total lack of melody.
This box set is ideal for anyone obsessed with the music of this later period. However, to me this particular period is best experienced through Miles's live performances. Many of the unreleased tracks seem not very distinguished. Someone who is not a fan of this period is likely to find them a little repetitious and perhaps gloomy.
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