Miles Davis
Doo Bop

Talking about a work like "Doo Bop" is a unique experience, much like the peculiar artist who composed it. For Miles Davis, the fusion of genres was a strong necessity, an internal vibration that led him to create increasingly diverse albums each time. Even in a series that is naturally homogeneous, I refer to the quartet "Cookin'-Relaxin'-Steamin'-Workin'," there was always something that made each individual record distinctive. Moving forward, against everything and everyone, constantly looking beyond and pushing that damn trumpet into ever-new and unexplored territories, certainly daring (who remembers the 'flipped-out' sounds of "On The Corner?") but also gifting us incredible masterpieces like the heavyweight "Bitches Brew" that to this day perplexes, astounds, and fascinates. With premises like these, how do you think an artist of such caliber's last work could be? From my humble perspective, I can only say: controversial! Miles sniffed out musical trends like a hunting dog follows the blood trail left by a wounded prey: he wasn't satisfied until he found a way to establish a dialogue with them because that's what he did, he didn't just take rock and 'jazzify' it, no, he sought ways to make it communicate with his trumpet, to incorporate it into his cultural milieu without denaturing it. In works like the aforementioned "Bitches Brew," the whole revolutionary power of a genre deeply rooted in the Afro-American culture of Blues and Jazz itself is not at all diminished by the intervention of the good Miles, a man who could play seamlessly both in front of a crowd of hippies and in a serious, composed concert hall. My friends, forgive the digressions, but they are necessary to get into the mood of an LP that merges Jazz and Rap, electronic samples, and minimal trumpet phrases that base almost all their effectiveness on the atmosphere they manage to create. Let's say it right away: Davis no longer soars. He is very calm, some would say subdued; he rarely raises his voice, and his way of playing makes me imagine him as if, cloaked in a black leather coat, he strolls casually through a metropolis pulsing with lights and noise. So "Doo Bop" is this: an urban stroll, we are external observers of a universe that moves around us at frantic speeds. The carpet of samples and rap serve as the ideal backdrop to this Davisian promenade in which he allows himself some space for reflection expressed through short phrases, not resigned but certainly different from the flamboyant Miles of the golden years. There is a certain continuity between the phrasing of "Tutu" and "Amandla," but it's undeniable that by now he prefers to 'lean' on the soundscape rather than directly influence it. Obviously, all the discussion about Davis's last years of life heavily impacts his playing style in "Doo Bop," and criticisms of this work are understandable and justifiable, yet this first, according to many, example of Acid Jazz pleases me greatly. It's that trumpet, guys, I can't help it. I imagine him there, while a whirlwind of cars, motorcycles, and passersby weaves around him, and he stands still, gazing at something for a second before launching a few phrases. Miles Davis's last works were all about this: smoky atmosphere in "Tutu" and bright colors in "Amandla," and finally the urban fusion: city lights and shadows described with words and sounds, Rap and Jazz, novelty that accompanies tradition. Once again, Miles Davis proved himself unique, not immune to criticism, but precisely because of this, real and moving.