Henry Kaiser/Wadada Leo Smith - Yo Miles!

Like the career of Miles Davis himself -- and, in particular, the part of his career to which this two-disc set pays homage -- this album presents a maddeningly uneven collection of material and performances, ranging from intense and lovely elaborations on Davis' original themes to numbingly tedious and overlong expositions of others. The experiment was the brainchild of experimental guitar hero Henry Kaiser and trumpet player Wadada Leo Smith, who teamed themselves up with bassist Michael Manring, drummer Lucas Ligeti and a large number of other musicians both famous (John Medeski, Elliott Sharp) and obscure to rework some Miles Davis compositions from his electric jazz-funk period. Read More