| | |  | Music | Home » » Man With the Horn | | | | | | | Description: | | The Man With The Horn was Miles Davis's first comeback record after his almost six-year hiatus from performing and recording. With Davis, Bill Evans on soprano, and electric bassist Marcus Miller forming the core of his band, Miles Davis was ready to embark upon the next juncture of his career. | | | Product Details: | | | Audio CD Release Date:
| October 25, 1990 | | Studio:
| Sony | | Number Of Discs:
| 1 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 31 reviews |
| | | Track Listing: | | | 1. | Fat Time | | 2. | Back Seat Betty | | 3. | Shout | | 4. | Aida | | 5. | The Man With The Horn | | 6. | Ursula | |
| | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 31 customer reviews )
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17 of 20 found the following review helpful:
 Please Have Some HumilityJul 22, 2006
By Stuart A. Macniven
If I rate Get Up With It a five, or maybe Live/Evil, or Big Fun, or On the Corner, fives, or maybe even Sketches of Spain, a five, or Kind of Blue, then I guess this is a three and a half, or a four, so I give it a four, as if this were American Bandstand. But it's a Miles Davis record. If it's Miles or Coltrane, or, oh I don't know, Poulenc, perhaps people could "check themselves" just a bit. Man With the Horn is a fine record, a bridge in some ways, if you will, between some of the pre-electric Miles, as "jazz," and the psychedelic fusion, and then the later fusion funk. Man With the Horn is precious to me, and not enough people appreciate it, in my opinion. Personally, I love the vocals on the title track, maybe for sentimental reasons, like why I love 10 CC's "I'm Not in Love," or even Brian Hyland's "Gypsy Woman," or Marvin Gaye's Mercy, Mercy, Me," if I catch them in the grocery store or on the street. If you can't dig that, well ... I was listening to Kind of Blue yesterday and loving the solos by Miles, Coltrane and Cannoball. I was listening to Aura while typing day before yesterday and thinking not enough people seem to have appreciated that very beautiful collection of abstract soundscapes. Even Miles Around the World deserves some serious attention and respect. I say it that way because the slap bass funk, even by the great Folly, isn't exactly my thing, but I was blessed to see that band live. I'll never forget it!! For me anyway, the song "The Man With the Horn," goes straight to my heart. Whatever else you say, Miles is gone. You won't see him perform again. Like Lester Young, Duke, Bird, or Trane, or even Sun Ra, or Elton Dean, like so many others, they're gone. But we have the magic of their music. So to the critics, like Christopher Walkins said on Saturday Night Live, "young man, you're not all that." He also said, "Baby girl, let your freak flag fly." Miles would second that. Maybe put doo-bop in your car stero and drive around some urban soundscape, maybe Williamsburg, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights or Flatbush. Roll down the window. Dig Mystery, The Doo Bop Song, or Blow or Fantasy. Christoph Anders once sang that he was old when he was young. Miles was young when he was old.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 3 1/2 stars-- The comeback album.Dec 09, 2008
By Michael Stack
Having not performed or really played his horn since 1975, Miles Davis appeared to be done by 1981, when his 'comeback' album, "The Man With the Horn" materialized. Inspired by his nephew Vince Wilburn's band's recordings, Davis reemerged, recording first a pair of tracks with that band (Randy Hall on guitars and synths, Robert Irving III on keys, Felton Crews on bass and nephew Wilburn on the drums), then later jettisoning them for a new ensemble who recorded the majority of the record-- drummer Al Foster (the only holdover from his '70s band), percussionist Smamy Figueroa, reedman Bill Evans, then-barely-known-now-bass legend Marcus Miller and guitarist Barry Finnerty (replaced on one cut by Mike Stern). The results are, well, different from what came before.
Time, I think, has been a lot kinder to this record than both its initial reception and even feelings in the past decade-- Davis abandoned the deep funk vamps and fierceness of his mid-70s music for a brighter sound that anticipates the best of smooth jazz. With Foster and Miller serving as a quite capable anchor, the band hits a number of nice grooves-- openers "Fat Time" with its slinking rhythms and explosive "Back Seat Betty" both find the band hitting great grooves and while Davis' playing certainly isn't what it had been, he seems to take some inspiration in just playing again. Admittedly, Evans seems the more powerful and urgent of the horn players (his solo saves otherwise limp "Shout"), and certainly "Aida" is highlighted more by Miller's staggering bass playing than anything else (although Davis' manic solo is his best playing on the record)-- but this plays to Davis' strengths as a bandleader. He gets great performances out of people, in many cases better than they play anywhere else.
Having said that, there's really nothing that could save the title track, a slice of schlock smooth vocal jazz, but it's the only really unbearable piece on the record. By and large, "The Man With the Horn" is a good, albeit, not great, record.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
It's pretty good.Mar 26, 2007
By C Jones
"cj"
I like it. I go back to this one as much as "Amandla" or "Tutu." Mike Stern sounds great, the compositions are varied and interesting, and the title track is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Cheesy, yes, but cool chord changes and nice synth tones round it out. The overall sound of the recording has a little more "gut," to me, than Miles' subsequent efforts in the 80s. That's not a good or bad thing, since I like all those ones, too, but it does make "Man with the Horn" stand out in one way.
Bottom Line: Perusing my iTunes collection of over 10,000 songs, many of the cuts from this album were among my most listened to. So, over the past year, I listened to this album more than any other Miles album I had.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Music That Changed My Life!Oct 30, 2007
By Oded Fried-Gaon
"'Musician/Composer/Philosopher'"
What a great release this is! Miles Davis comes back after a while of not recording, and is joined by a bunch of funky musicians! It's funky, poppy, jazzy, and hip. Coming out in '81, i love this period in Miles' career. He's checking out the pop tunes, starts to do covers, plays with production and electronic techniques, and displays gracefully his eccentricities. All the while remaining true to jazz form. I especially love Back Seat Betty and Fat Time. Mike Stern is especially crazy on this record! Yey for freedom of expression. Yet another from Miles Davis that should at the least take up shelf-space in your pad!
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
A decent comeback album for Miles Davis.Nov 12, 1999
This cd represents a different side of Miles, a less aggressive side of him. "Fat Time" is just that, a fat time. In understanding the art of music, in particular, Miles Davis, one can conclude that this trumpet master was a bit on edge pending his comeback. "Shout" is a nice cut in which he really let a few emotions fly. "Aida" and "Ursula" are normal Miles' tracks. The title track, "The Man With The Horn" written by Randy Hall, is simply outstanding. In order to really appreciate this cut, one must get inside this composition and look around to see what is actually going on. You have to go way beyond the solo itself, the melody, and the lyrics. I won't spoil it for those who may like it, but I am glad that I was able to catch the pure essence of "The Man With The Horn."
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