On the Corner
On the Corner is a studio album by jazz musician Miles Davis, recorded in June and July 1972 and released later that year on Columbia Records. It was scorned by critics at the time of its release and was one of Davis's worst-selling recordings. Its critical standing has improved dramatically with the passage of time, as it is now seen as a strong forerunner of the musical techniques of post punk, hip hop, drum and bass, and electronic music.[2][8]
Joining previous multi-disc Davis reissues of In a Silent Way, A Tribute to Jack Johnson, and Bitches Brew, On the Corner was reissued on the 6-disc boxed set The Complete On the Corner Sessions, released in September 2007.
Music
Davis claimed that On the Corner was an attempt at reconnecting with the young black audience which had largely forsaken jazz for rock and funk. While there is a discernible rock and funk influence in the timbres of the instruments employed, from a musical standpoint the album was a culmination of sorts of the musique concrète approach that Davis and producer Teo Macero (who had studied with Otto Luening at Columbia University's Computer Music Center) had begun to explore in the late 1960s. Both sides of the record were based around drum and bass grooves, with the melodic parts snipped from hours of jams. These techniques, refined via the use of computers and digital audio equipment, are now standard amongst producers of electronically based music. Also cited as musical influences on the album by Davis were the contemporary composer Karlheinz Stockhausen,[9][10] who later recorded with the trumpeter in 1980,[11] and Paul Buckmaster (who played electric cello on the album and contributed some arrangements).
Buckmaster and Davis also recorded the song "Ife" in a session during the same period. The song failed to make On The Corner but instead appeared on Big Fun in 1974; it is possible that it wasn't included on the previous because of time constraints.
Track listing
All songs written by Miles Davis.
Side one
- "On the Corner; New York Girl; Thinkin' One Thing and Doin' Another; Vote for Miles" (19:55)
- "Black Satin" (5:16)
Side two
- "One and One" (6:09)
- "Helen Butte; Mr. Freedom X" (23:18)
The 1993 CD reissue of On the Corner (which has the "Columbia Jazz Masterpieces" logo stamped on the front cover) separates each "composition" into a distinct track so that the album has eight tracks rather than four. Later reissues returned the songs to their original, conflated status.
Personnel
References
- ^ Jurek, Thom (2011 [last update]). "On the Corner - Miles Davis | AllMusic". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r106173. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
- ^ a b Chinen, Nate (October 2007). Review: The Complete On the Corner Sessions. JazzTimes. Retrieved on 2011-02-12.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (2011 [last update]). "Robert Christgau: CG: Miles Davis". robertchristgau.com. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Miles+Davis. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
- ^ Gleason, Ralph (2011 [last update]). "On The Corner by Miles Davis | Rolling Stone Music | Music Reviews". rollingstone.com. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/on-the-corner-19721207. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
- ^ Hermes, Will (November 2007). "Review: The Complete On the Corner Sessions". Spin: 124.
- ^ Smith, Chris (2011 [last update]). "Miles Davis - On The Corner - On Second Thought - Stylus Magazine". stylusmagazine.com. http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/miles-davis-on-the-corner.htm. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
- ^ "Acclaimed Music - On the Corner". acclaimedmusic.net. 2010 [last update]. http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/Current/A2005.htm. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
- ^ Tingen, Paul (October 26, 2007). The most hated album in jazz. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2011-02-12.
- ^ "Miles Davis first heard Stockhausen's music in 1972, and its impact can be felt in Davis's 1972 recording On the Corner, in which cross-cultural elements are mixed with found elements." Barry Bergstein "Miles Davis and Karlheinz Stockhausen: A Reciprocal Relationship." The Musical Quarterly 76, no. 4. (Winter): p. 503.
- ^ In Davis' autobiography he states that "I had always written in a circular way and through Stockhausen I could see that I didn't want to ever play again from eight bars to eight bars, because I never end songs: they just keep going on. Through Stockhausen I understood music as a process of elimination and addition" (Miles, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989, p. 329)
- ^ "In June of 1980, Miles Davis was joined by the German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen in the studios of Columbia Records; the recording of this collaboration is still unissued." Barry Bergstein "Miles Davis and Karlheinz Stockhausen: A Reciprocal Relationship" The Musical Quarterly Vol. 76, No. 4 (Winter, 1992), p. 502
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