Bill Evans at the Village Vanguard

Bill Evans, the hopeless junkie whom everybody dug, is up next in today's Music for Programming with his June 25, 1961 session at the Village Vanguard with bassist Scott LeFaro and drummer Paul Motian. If you think Miles' Kind of Blue is just the thing (and some folks don't), this is even more so. Details to follow.

If we ever visit New York City, we'll hit the Vanguard to catch whoever's there.

Later: I listen to music while I think about and write code, and this just didn't do it for me as accompaniment. To enjoy this album I'd need a dark quiet room, a tall drink and a foul mood. There are great gems here - the cool spare intellectual style and the almost telepathic communication between the musicians make for some awesome moments, but like other albums, it's not hanging together for me right now.

Something old

Nothing new today in Music for Programming - after dipping into McCoy Tyner's frenetic first album and Dave Brubeck's heavy-handed 5/4 debut, I'm back in Spain with Miles. Fret not, though - Duke Ellington, Chet Baker, Stan Getz and the man whom everybody dug, Bill Evans, are on the way.

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Sketches of Spain

This morning's Music for Programming is Miles' and Gil's 1961 Sketches of Spain - more modal stuff with a big disciplined horn section. Miles' muted trumpet is a good accompaniment to code writing, and the feel of the album is contemplative: you don't dance to it, you bathe in it. It has its share of goodies, though - there's a harmonically surprising bit about 20 seconds from the end of Concierto de Aranjuez that gives me goosebumps.

Miles Ahead

Current listening for late-night programming: the 1957 collaboration between Miles and Gil Evans, Miles Ahead. I love what Gil Evans could do with a horn section.

Blues for Miles

Miles Davis died 17 years ago yesterday. Here's an article with videos.

Gah!

Alrighty then - that's enough of the old grotty King Crimson. I made it up through the 4th track of Islands and just snapped. I may return in a few months. Meanwhile, let's try some 60s-quintet Miles Davis.

Miles and Coltrane: So What, live in 1958

Our 5-year-old John says he's going to have a guitar and a trumpet when he grows up, so I googled up a video of Miles Davis playing my favorite of his, So What. Coltrane's there, too, and lots of guys smoking in the background. Good, good stuff: